ABSTRACT
The Ballad of Dwight Fry based on the challenging theories of Erving Goffman, Thomas Szasz, Alice Cooper, Thomas J. Scheff and the early works of Laing will be presented in its family setting; the narrative exposition of events concerning the protagonist's experience of hospitalization; and the suggested effects of involuntary incarceration. Ronald D. Laing and Aaron Esterson suggested that the behaviour of certain patients deemed schizophrenic was actually understandable in terms of their individual family contexts: their diagnosis could either be a result of family conspiracy or, perhaps less controversially, a result of their relatives driving them frantic. During the Love It to Death tour, such activity would involve Alice partaking in mock acts of violence towards fellow band members; once the desired levels of musical and dramatic tension were attained, Antonin Artaud's would shower the audience with feathers, receiving both gratitude and applause.
