b'props or rooms or editing videos. This workedRehearsal for Life: Drama and Mindfulnesswell, as we still were all able to collaborate and come up with ideas together, but delegated rolesHolly Coveto make the most of our time and individual skills. I also began using Edward de Bonos SixIn this dissertation extract, Holly Cove discusses the ways in which drama and play may contribute to childrens wellbeing, ena-Thinking Hats towards the end when we wantedbling benefits similar to mindfulness practices: presence, non-judgement, and the management of emotions.to perfect scenes or had become so used to the performance, we needed to view it from a differ-ent perspective. The Six Thinking Hats allowedWhen the roots of the dramatic form and played in the development of many different ancient me to view for myself what needed to be donecan be traced back to the Ancient world, it is easyand contemporary teachings and traditions, there in different areas, as each hat represents a dif- to see why discourses have posited drama as aseems to be a universal acknowledgment of its ferent view, such as the Judges Hat, in whichfundamental part of being a human being, forintention to facilitate a presence in the moment, you must assess the risks that are being taken,storytelling is how we make sense of the world,and a focus on reacting to reality from a place of and judge critically, as opposed to the Optimistsand drama acts as the perfect outlet for rehearsingnon-judgement (Carrion et al. 2019, Goldstein Hat, in which you view things in as positive alife (Courtney 1974: 9; Seymour 2009:27).1980, Bishop et al. 2004); it is pure, moment to light as possible. Through separating these view- moment awareness (Kabat-Zinn 1990:2). Mind-points, you can distinguish the most importantThe therapeutic quality of theatre traces back tofulness is simultaneously a state of mind and a tasks that need to be done and adjustments to beancient Greece when Aristotle created a struc- practice, and this essay will use both applications made. While using the Six Thinking Hats wouldture for drama as therapy in the cathartic outletof the term to explore the interaction between be a useful skill within projects in a workplaceit provided for an audience (Langley 2006:4).drama and increasing ones sense of mindfulness. environment, I think there is a necessity for someSince then, the evolution of drama as therapy has structured roles, as groups change so often in aexpanded to include dramatherapy, psychother- There is not space here to include a detailed working environment that it would be difficult toapy, play therapy and many other less formallyintroduction to both drama in education and establish a strong enough working relationshipidentified practices. While my primary concernmindfulness (my full dissertation examines this before each new project in order to create effec- here is not drama as therapy, the notion of dramamore substantially), but it informs my discussion tively. as a fundamental tool for making sense of theof the crossovers between the two discourses. If world around us, whether that be for educationaldrama is imperative to the creation of the self for I believe that studying Drama can provide stu- or healing benefits, could be seen as the bridg- the child and the way they relate to the world, dents with skills that are hard to pick up else- ing argument between discourses on drama andand mindfulness is the experience of the reality where, especially when it comes to working withtherapy and drama and education. Scholars in theof the moment as it is, not as we would like it to other people. Pixar and the Walt Disney Compa- field of children and drama in education such asbe (Carrin 2019:4), then drama could be seen ny have proven that creating a collaborative envi- Richard Courtney (1974), Peter Slade (1998), andas a tool for harnessing a more mindful state, ronment in which members of the community areDavid McNees (2015), all point to the reality ofand perhaps, through mindful practices, we can respected can create positive, long-lasting effectsdrama being inseparable from a childs creativity,relate to the world more clearly. Ergo, harnessing on the company and the employees themselves.imagination, development and ultimately, men- the benefits of both in tandem seems natural, While many of the skills may be more suitabletal wellbeing. Courtney argues drama allows theas theatre company Tangled Feet make evident. for more creative industry roles, I believe thatchild to explore, to test hypotheses and discoverTheir work provides a case study for discussing aspects of performer training and collaborativetruth (Courtney 1974:57). McNees takes this ahow drama and mindfulness can be used to help skills are easily transferable to any workplacestep further to posit the centrality of storytellingchildren explore their inner worlds.environment, and would create a strong relation- and drama to our everyday lives, arguing crea-ship with all employees, thus encouraging worktivity to be the defining principle of the humanTangled Feet are a theatre ensemble and charity to be produced at a higher standard. I believe thatspecies, but that it is only in stillness and silencewho create original, visually stunning, transform-the skills learnt from studying Drama differenti- that pure creativity can be found, and mindful- ative performances, and provide a multitude of ate you from other people and allow you to standness is the tool for fostering this creativity (Mc- participatory projects ranging from one to one out more easily, thus creating better professionalNees 2015). It is from this point we can begintherapeutic work to residencies, dramatherapy, opportunities. to analyse the relationship between drama andwork within schools and colleges, and targeted Catmull, Edwin.Creativity, Inc. London: Bantam, 2014. mindfulness. projects for specific groups of young people (Tan-gled Feet 2022). In 2017, they created Butterflies, The concept of mindfulness is rooted in Bud- a performance for children ages three to eight to dhist teachings over 2,500 years old, being part ofhelp explore feelings of anxiety, fear and other the 8-stage path that led to the end of sufferingdifficult emotions. In 2019 they adapted the story known as the Noble Eightfold path (Witkiewitzof Butterflies to create The Mindfulness Project, et al, 2018: 5). Whilst its long history has result- a 10-week mindfulness programme combining 36 37'