The Self in Performance: Autobiographical, Self-Revelatory, and Autoethnographic Forms of Therapeutic Theatre

This book is the first to examine the performance of autobiographical material as a theatrical form, a research subject, and a therapeutic method. Contextualizing personal performance within psychological and theatrical paradigms, the book identifies and explores core concepts, such as the function of the director/therapist throughout the creative process, the role of the audience, and the dramaturgy involved in constructing such performances. It thus provides insights into a range of Autobiographic Therapeutic Performance forms, including Self-Revelatory and Autoethnographic Performance. Addressing issues of identity, memory, authenticity, self-reflection, self-indulgence, and embodied self-representation, the book presents, with both breadth and depth, a look at this fascinating field, gathering contributions by notable professionals around the world. Methods and approaches are illustrated with case examples that range from clients in private practice in California, through students in drama therapy training in the UK, to inmates in Lebanese prisons. 

Susana Pendzik is Head of the Drama Therapy Graduate Program at Tel Hai Academic College, Israel, and also lectures at the Swiss Dramatherapy and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. An experienced drama therapist and supervisor in private practice, Susana does extensive international work, is a prolific author, and co-editor of Assessment in Drama Therapy (2012).

Renée Emunah is the author of the book, Acting for Real,  co-editor with David Johnson of Current Approaches to Drama Therapy (2^nd edition), and author of numerous other publications on drama therapy.  Founder/Director of the graduate Drama Therapy Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies, USA, she is an international pioneer in the field, and recipient of the North American Drama Therapy Association’s highest award for “Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Drama Therapy.”

David Read Johnson is Co-Director of the Post Traumatic Stress Center, New Haven, CT, USA; Associate Clinical Professor at the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine and Director of the Institute for Developmental Transformations.  He is one of the founders of the North American Drama Therapy Association, and author or editor of numerous articles and books on drama therapy, trauma treatment, and the creative arts therapies.