Self-Revelatory Performance

Part III of Acting for Real explores performance in drama therapy. Chapter 9 describes Self-Revelatory Performance, a form of drama therapy and theatre (developed by the author) in which a performer creates a theatrical piece revolving around “working through” a current real-life struggle or psychological issue, with the intention of achieving a measure of healing. The chapter delineates what theatrically “working through” personal material means, and offers concrete examples of healing strands within “Self-Rev” performance pieces. The chapter also looks at Self-Revelatory Performance as theatre, and how the tension between art and therapy is held in a way that heightens aestheticism and theatricality. The risk of self-indulgence and the contrasting objective of building community and connection are discussed. Self-Revelatory Performance is linked to the culminating scenes in Phase Four, in which drama therapeutic interventions lead toward discovery, healing, or transformation. The distinctions between Self-Revelatory Performance and Autobiographical Theatre are clarified, and Self-Rev is also contextualized within the related forms of Autobiographical Therapeutic Performance and Therapeutic Theatre.

Note: Parts of this chapter are drawn from “Self-Revelatory Performance: A Form of Drama Therapy and Theatre” (Emunah, 2015, The Drama Therapy Review, 1:1). Permission has been given by Intellect and The Drama Therapy Review. Some segments are also drawn from my chapter in The Self in Performance (Pendzik, Emunah, & Johnson, 2016) entitled “From Behind the Scenes to Facing an Audience in Self-Revelatory Performance” (Emunah, 2016a) with permission by Palgrave Macmillan. Other segments of this chapter are newly written.