Structure and Spontaneity: The Process Drama of Cecily O'Neill

Cecily O’Neill has had a formative impact on the evolution of the creative and dynamic mode of teaching called process drama. Process drama characterizes work powered by transformatory outcomes that bring together the worlds of drama education and theatre practice.

Dorothy Heathcote and Gavin Bolton were perceived as the pioneers of a new and radical form of educational praxis but it was O’Neill who made that praxis accessible to educators worldwide. Her work on structuring classroom drama, her writings on pretext and process drama, her studies on the imagination, multicultural education, and dramatic form have been influential throughout North America, Europe and Australasia. This book is a compilation of the formative articles of O’Neill along with significant commentaries from leaders in the field. It is informed by her work but it is not simply about her.

The book explores central questions about designing, implementing and evaluating process drama: What is the critical knowledge in process drama? How can educators structure satisfying learning experiences that promote spontaneous encounters? And what are the theoretical principles in dramatic art that guide innovative teaching through process drama? The answers to these questions make this book immensely valuable to drama practitioners and teacher trainers worldwide.

Cris Warner is Assistant Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning, Ohio State University.

Philip Taylor is Director of the Educational Theatre Program at New York University. An acclaimed author, his previous book for Trentham (with Christine D.Warner) is Structure and Spontaneity: The Process Drama of Cecily O’Neill.