Hope and helplessness in the post-Covid drama, theatre and performance classroom

Fryer, Nic ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7060-9290 (2022) Hope and helplessness in the post-Covid drama, theatre and performance classroom. In: TaPRA, 12-14 September 2022, University of Essex. . [Conference or Workshop Item]

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Abstract

In this paper I’m interested in considering how we configure the notion of a group or a social body after a pandemic where groups have been a source of fear (due to the risk of illness) or illegality (due to limitations on social interaction). I will suggest that the difficulties for many led to a sense of helplessness. However I will attempt to articulate hope in these times. I will do this by engaging with a theory that originates from group psychoanalysis, Earl Hopper’s notion of the ‘fourth basic assumption’ of a group. Through gaining an understanding of how a group engages with the unexpressed pain and difficulty of a social moment, I argue, lies the possibility of hope, change and transformation. I will conclude by considering briefly how these ideas might be applied to the group of the drama, theatre and performance classroom.

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