Balancing gaps : an investigation of Edward Bond's theory and practice for drama

• Main Author: Amoiropolulos, Konstantinos
• Published: Birmingham City University 2013
• Subjects: 372.66
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.631671

This thesis presents a case study of the process involved in the staging of a Theatre in Education programme for students in secondary education, focusing on the production by Theatre in Education Company Big Brum of the play A Window, written by Edward Bond especially for the company. The main aim of the study is to clarify and illustrate the theory and practice of Edward Bond through the practice of Big Brum, in order to analyse how the working model might be developed in Drama in Education. Edward Bond is a playwright deeply concerned with finding ways to engage his audiences imaginatively, so that they can seek reason, claiming drama and imagination to have the same basis: they both address questions and provoke change, and inform values and judgments. In fact the playwright argues that drama structures can accommodate the essential need of children to ask questions and challenge culture. The theory of Edward Bond is examined and illustrated through the practice of the TIE Company Big Brum, which identifies its work in the same terms. The critical framework for examining the company’s practice is set by the theoretical arguments of the playwright as they are presented in nine basic elements of Bondian drama, defined in the process of literature review and during the field work. These elements are the Site, Story, Drama Event, Invisible Object, Cathexis, Enactment, Accident Time, Extreme and Centre. The findings of this research suggest that all these elements could be said to constitute the heart of Bond’s approach, but only if seen in light of a paradigm of questioning and of ‘imagination seeking reason’.