METHOD
“That’s gonna be a drama, mate! ” is an often first heard comment on the subject of 'drama’, referring to a fiercely emotional situation: a disaster, love scene or heroic play. However, the origin of the word ‘drama’ goes back to the Greek word for ‘act’, performing an action. Even though, the setting of the ‘act’ is created (where emotions can run pretty high), the ‘action’ itself is real.
A huge inspiration of mine is Augusto Boal. He explains how an individual learns through participating in drama-based activities like games, role-play, simulation and real life scenario, better than anybody:
Side note: Boal calls the acting spectators 'spec-actors'. This is a contraction of the words spectator and actor as in: actor, but also someone who performs an action.
"By participating on stage, the spec-actor becomes aware of responsible action. The scene is a representation of reality, fiction. But the spec-actor is not fictional. He exists in the scene and outside it, in a dual reality. By participating in the scene of the stage, in the fiction of the theatre, he acts: not only in that fiction but also in his own social reality. Through the change in a fictional scenario, he comes to new insights and to himself."
Here ‘drama’ stands for more than the popular meaning mentioned above. It’s a learning tool, a teaching method aiming self-development through understanding, exploring and practising, in form of actions (not just words). Damage-free, without the real-life consequence, in a safe environment.
An approach that may sound a bit out of the ordinary but has proven to be enjoyable, effective and informative.