Speaker
Description
This practical workshop will explore key features of classic texts that generate and support the development of process drama. Strategies that help to establish a context for the work will be included, for example, Teacher in Role. When the teacher adopts a role in the drama, it can become an effective method of initiating collaboration, of sharing power with the students. However, the unpredictable nature of process drama means there is always the possibility that something unforeseen may arise and the teacher will need to be skilful in dealing with the unexpected. Another method of launching the work is storytelling, a way of establishing atmosphere and drawing students into an imagined world. Objects and images can also be used to suggest situations and launch dramatic encounters.
CV
Cecily O’Neill is an international authority on process drama and the arts in education. She is an Associate Professor Emerita at the Ohio State University, where she established the programme in Drama Education. She holds a PhD in Theatre from the University of Ex- eter and an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Winchester and is a visiting lecturer at New York University. She works with teachers, students, actors and playwrights both nationally and internationally.
She has written several influential books on the theory and practice of drama including Drama Worlds (1996) also published in Complex Chinese in 2021;
Dorothy Heathcote: Essential Writings (2014); Words into Worlds: Learning a Second Lan- guage through Process Drama (Kao and O’Neill, 1998); Dreamseekers: Creative Approaches to the African American Heritage (Manley and O’Neill, 1997).
Structure and Spontaneity, a collection of her writings, was published in 2006 (Taylor and Warner).
Cecily is artistic director of 2TimeTheatre, a performance and publishing venture based in Winchester, UK.
