Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is a disrupting force that cannot be ignored. For education at all levels and across all fields, there are impacts. This article uses a desktop research methodology to examine the current use of GenAI in the field of drama education. Unlike other fields of education, drama prioritises aesthetic and embodied understandings, thus presenting different affordances and limitations on GenAI use. By developing a shared understanding of current use, our field may benefit from harnessing GenAI as a productive tool capable of inspiring future directions.
In this article 'found' poetry' is used as a means of re-presenting the experience of participating in the Kia Tonui - Flourish conference, jointly organised by 'I' is positioned ethnographically within the subject of study. Notes were taken during the sessions attended over three days. They were a combination of verbatim and paraphrased statements made by presenters, keynote speakers and participants, as well as my own reflections, as I participated. Statements which were initially hand-written were sifted and selections were then drafted and redrafted in a word document. Thematic seams running through the poem include: the rebellious tenacity of drama teachers; the indivisibility of space, time and being; and the re-positioning of the self within a pedagogic 'frame' that had slipped from its equilibrium. Ultimately, the poem is intended to capture something of the essence of the nature and state of drama at this juncture in the 21(st) Century.
This reflective practitioner paper explores aesthetic distancing within a process drama workshop titled 'Red Lanterns', facilitated by John O'Toole at the 2025 Hellenic Drama/Theatre Network conference. Drawing from the legend of the Red Lantern Festival and structured for 7-9-year-olds, the drama explored the theme of loneliness through a sequence of embodied, improvisational and collaborative strategies. Engaging in multiple roles, from village child to imperial maid, the author reflects on the layered dynamics of the elements of drama (Haseman & O'Toole, 2017), metaxis (O'Toole, 1992), Quadripartite Thinking (Bowell & Heap, 2017) and distancing (Eriksson, 2022). Central to the analysis of distancing is the concept of vertical re-framing, defined as the manipulation of distance via a vertical re-orientation of the elements of place and role, which led to the experience of temporal verticality (Bachelard, 2016). The paper highlights moments of aesthetic engagement, particularly through the metaphor of the fire-breathing goose and the paradox of exploring isolation through group artistry. The paper contributes to practice-based scholarship in drama education by offering a first-person narrative of reflective practice. Ultimately, this reflective commentary illustrates process drama as a poetic-pedagogical encounter that enables participants to interpret multiple roles and contemplate complex issues from dissonant viewpoints, through creative collaboration.
This action research project focused on a puppetry workshop for four-and fiveyear-old preschoolers who attended performances, created props and puppets, and improvised in two state preschool classes in Athens, Greece. We utilised the TCAM (Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement) test to measure creativity in both the control and experimental groups before and after our quasi-experimental interventions. Qualitative data were collected through participatory observation, daily reports from observers, and evidence such as the children's crafts. Additionally, we used videos, photographs, and recordings made with parental consent. We assessed imagination, originality, and fluency, and our research findings indicated a positive correlation between participation in the puppetry workshop and improvements in these creative parameters.
This article investigates the power of performed research outside of traditional 'ethnographic' or 'verbatim' categories, and amongst diverse audiences. Comparing a performance at a New York dance studio, with performing similar material for an 'academic' audience, allows us to interrogate the interplay between performers and audience, as well as scholarly evocation 'versus' representation. We draw on the seven tenets of non-representational theory (Thrift, 2008) as a way of considering both performative and ontoepistemological questions for the future of multi-modal performed research, audience response, and performance theory.
