This hands-on manual offers a clear introduction to play and drama work for professionals working with adults at risk. Many adults feel nervous about drama and think that play is childish. Sue Jennings shows that by participating in play and drama people can make a difference to how they feel about themselves and the world around them. This book is suitable for professionals working with adults who are vulnerable for a number of different reasons: those who have addictions such as eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse or a history of violent relationships; adults with mental ill health; individuals and families with behavioural difficulties; people in forensic settings; those with multiple disabilities; learning impaired adults; people with strokes and other physical impairment often as a result of accidental injury. Material is chosen sensitively to enable confidence and creativity building, and the development of communication skills. Photocopiable worksheets offer the professional activities that will encourage trust and collaboration; foster independence and choice, maximise people's learning potential and stimulate everyone's imagination and creativity. Ideas are given for improvisation and movement as well as masks and myths. Cross-cultural perspectives are discussed together with boundaries for clinical groups. The importance of the healing potential of artistic expression is addressed throughout.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Author's acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 Practical play and drama -- Chapter 2 Play and attachment -- Chapter 3 Sand play: sensory play and messy play -- Chapter 4 Movement, dance and games -- Chapter 5 Projective play and calming methods -- Chapter 6 Learning to fly and keeping safe -- Chapter 7 Dramatic play, roles and drama -- Chapter 8 Masks and puppets -- Appendix 1 Assessment -- Appendix 2 Play outdoors -- Appendix 3 Messy play recipes -- References and further reading

This bestselling book is now updated with new material and more tried-and-tested ideas, bringing it up-to-date with contemporary drama. 150 ideas for drama in one practical manual makes this a veritable treasure trove which will inspire everyone to run drama sessions creatively, enjoyably and effectively. This book features advice on setting up a group, defining and negotiating aims and objectives, and how to ensure a successful session. It contains activities which encourage memory, interaction, concentration, feedback, and many other skills. It also includes games, warm-ups and starters, improvisation role-play, visual dynamics, and closures.

How dull plays are killing theatre and what we can do about it. Had I become disenchanted with the form I had once fallen so madly in love with as a pubescent, pimple-faced suburban homo with braces? Maybe theatre was like an all-consuming high school infatuation that now, ten years later, I saw as the closeted balding guy with a beer gut he’d become. There were of course those rare moments of transcendencethat kept me coming back. But why did they come so few and far between? A lot of plays are dull. And one dull play, it seems, can turn us off theatre for good. Playwright and theatre director Jordan Tannahill takes in the spectrum of English-language drama – from the flashiest of Broadway spectacles to productions mounted in scrappy storefront theatres – to consider where lifeless plays come from and why they persist. Having travelled the globe talking to theatre artists, critics, passionate patrons and the theatrically disillusioned, Tannahill addresses what he considers the culture of ‘risk aversion’ paralyzing the form. Theatre of the Unimpressed is Tannahill’s wry and revelatory personal reckoning with the discipline he’s dedicated his life to, and a roadmap for a vital twenty-first-century theatre – one that apprehends the value of ‘liveness’ in our mediated age and the necessity for artistic risk and its attendant failures. In considering dramaturgy, programming and alternative models for producing, Tannahill aims to turn theatre from an obligation to a destination. ‘[Tannahill is] the poster child of a new generation of (theatre? film? dance?) artists for whom "interdisciplinary" is not a buzzword, but a way of life.’ —J. Kelly Nestruck, Globe and Mail ‘Jordan is one of the most talented and exciting playwrights in the country, and he will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.’ —Nicolas Billon, Governor General's Award–winning playwright (Fault Lines)

This second edition is fully updated and addresses ways in which we can apply stories and storytelling with children who are troubled. Stories can empower children to take action and ask for help, including help with changes and life-plans. Stories provide a secure structure with endings and closure. The book develops the following topics: Stories for assessment Stories for understanding emotions Stories for exploring the senses Stories for managing loss Stories for ritual and drama There are new and revised stories, in particular addressing trauma and abuse. This book is written for all those people with the welfare of children as their priority.

This book considers the relevance of ritual theatre in contemporary life and describes how it is being used as a highly cathartic therapeutic process. With contributions from leading experts in the field of dramatherapy, the book brings together a broad spectrum of approaches to ritual theatre as a healing system.