(Photo from Studio Emad Eddin Foundation)
People participating in drama therapy are tasked with acting out their problems or issues with the hope of reaching catharsis or discovering something new about themselves. It can help them reach into their mind and give shape to concealed ideas.
Drama therapy originally became popular in the 1960s, thanks to Jacob L Moreno as the mastermind behind this type of therapy.
Studio Emad Eddin in Egypt is preparing for its own drama therapy workshop, which will start on 17 June. Jessica Letwak, one of the therapists that will be conducting the workshop, explains their mission.
“We are drama therapists who believe in the healing power of theatre and who have devoted much of our work and life to the action methods of drama therapy, psychodrama, and playback theatre in order to encourage personal and social change through these tools,” she said.
Currently, the troupe of drama therapists at Studio Emad Eddin are more focused on regions “within conflict zones,” she explained.
In addition to being a registered drama therapist, Litwak is also a playwright, an academic with a PhD, and a member of Theatre Without Borders. She will be joined in the workshop with Ben Rivers, who is also a registered drama therapist and leads a Trauma Response Training Programme at The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, Palestine.
The workshop explores the different techniques of drama therapy, and so the participants are of a more specialised nature.
“The workshop will offer a combination of therapeutic and theatrical skills and will be an intensive and rigorous learning experience which will be both fun and enriching,” Litwak explained “This workshop is open to theatre artists, educators, social workers and psychotherapists with an interest in therapeutic drama.”
The workshop will be conducted for three days from 17 June until 19 June in the mornings, from 9am to 4pm, which will make it difficult for those with regularly scheduled jobs to participate. The workshop will cost EGP 100.
