Incite/Insight Spring-Summer 2019 Incite_Insight—Spring_Summer 2019 Final | Page 29

Another striking example of the
importance of spatial considerations
comes from the practice of “global
simulations” in second-language
learning, a strategy which educators
Joseph Dicks and Barbara Le
Blanc have used in tandem with
process drama structure. In global
simulations planning, the first step is
to engage students in constructing
a lieu-thème, a place-theme, which
establishes the physical and social
milieu on which to build and play. I
find myself naturally using language
that evokes places and themes
together when introducing fictional
worlds of play to my students. The
concept of lieu-thème embraces this
way of working.
One way that I can take on this
emphasis is in my choice of prompts
for dramatic play, which I often use to
open my classes. Are my suggestions
centered entirely on a character’s
actions, feelings, or movement, or do
they also awaken the consciousness
of my students’ physical and fictive
environments? I also plan to include
the active physical construction of
one part of our play’s world before
I invite participants to take on
roles in this space. As shaping and
structuring playable areas in space
is central to my work as a director, I
want to engage my students more
fully in this essential part of the
dramatic process. “Imagination,”
says Beauchamp, “is concentrated
not only in character but also in their
place of life and action.”
This imaginative work of dramatic
action,
through
the
embodied
exploration of story and character
in the physical world in which they
live, is what I wish for my students. I
have offered that looking into what
makes the stepping into dramatic
action possible constitutes a point of
convergence between the tradition
of process drama and the research
of those Francophone practitioners
whose work has inspired me. It is my
John Thiel working with students in Québec | Photo by Noël Li
hope that continued conversation
among practitioners in our field will
lead to growing understanding across
cultures and within our own traditions
of the approaches to theatre
education that will enrich the lives and
the artistic practices of our students.
John Thiel is a drama teacher, director,
and award-winning choreographer.
Recent work includes facilitating
community readings of plays as
teaching artist with ArtsEmerson,
directing with Kidding Around at
Emerson College, and teaching
creative drama with K-5 learners.
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