ABSTRACT
It is suggested that the theatrical setting aims to promote the integration of the fragments that resulted from the primal ontological schism and, consequently, diminish fears of falling into the chaotic agonies of un-integration. Its aim is not primarily the moderated cathartic release of repressed impulses by lowering resistances as the classical view holds, but the integration of the fragments of the self into a whole I, the reparation of the existential tear (Hanna Segal) and the creation of meaning that makes absence (Death) more tolerable. Theater stages a “regressive” return to the original trauma in order to repeat the sequence of events that followed it and thereby re-work (Durcharbeiten) various healing processes undertaken. Aulagnier’s schema is discussed as it is helpful in conceptualizing how this takes place.
