ABSTRACT
The book concludes by returning to the drama of the present and notes the increasing uncertainty of the world during the time we have been writing it. However, we are determined to finish our treatise on notes of positivity and hope. To do this, we talk about some ideas which are rarely talked about openly, but which run to the heart of why many of us work in drama. First is pleasure and the importance of aiming for beauty, joy and playfulness in the work that we do. Next is the ongoing importance of maintaining a critical hope in our work and avoiding both unthinking practices and a pathology of hope (Kershaw, 1998). We conclude by suggesting that love and care are a big part of the reason why drama is essential as a lens through which to view and an antidote with which to treat these times.
