Imagining the Real: Towards a New Theory of Drama in Education

The current education climate has brought the development of classroom drama as an art form to a standstill. Practitioners need to make a qualitative leap forward in both theory and practice in order to respond to the cultural demands of the times.

By linking the best of the ground-breaking work of Dorothy Heathcote and Gavin Bolton with the pioneering developments in theatre form by the playwright Edward Bond, David Davis identifies a possible way forward. In part one he critiques present drama in education – Mantle of the Expert approaches, conventions drama forms and post-dramatic theatre. In part two he restates and develops the best practice of the last fifty years, centering on the key importance of ‘living through’ drama. In part three he applies the new drama/theatre form of Edward Bond to begin building a new theory of drama in education and so transform classroom practice.

Imagining the Real will be essential reading for drama students at first and higher degree level, students on initial courses of teacher education, drama teachers, lecturers in higher and further education and theatre workers generally.