A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Drama Therapy) November 2017 / The research consists of a practical arts-based research component and a research report that surveys the practice. This document serves as the written element of the research and investigates the key theoretical standpoints, methodologies applied and creative outcomes. The research aimed to explore the dynamics of adults and play within Drama Therapy by investigating the relationship between six adult women and their personal play histories. It questioned what play meant to the individual and invited her to share her most memorable playful moments through various forms of expression in a number of individual interview-discussions. Through a practical arts-based research approach, an ethnographic narrative inquiry unfolded about women, play, childhood memory and present adulthood. The research took these shared narratives and presented them back to the six participants through various playful methods. With the use of methodologies such as inter-subjectivity, playful listening, narrative enquiry and Playback Theatre, the research offered a series of representational reflections of the shared stories. The creative outcomes were presented in a storybook representation which used imagery and poetic rhyme to document each narrative, a stop-motion film that used moving image and voice, and an presentation-installation that invited each woman to engage with her playful inner-self reflected back to her. The report is written with these playful elements which attempt to mirror the creative representational outcomes, inviting the reader to access his or her playful self. Thematically, three key factors presented themselves throughout the five-stage research process. These include the emotional experience associated with play, the notion of an inner-child or childhood and play within context. All three elements are discussed in the research report, with the use of the contextual factor symbolised by road signs to represent the intersectionality of play and its relationship to the individual. The research presents a number of key contributing factors to the discussion of adults and play in Drama Therapy. It attempts to explore alternative ways of delving into therapeutic process while respecting individual perspectives and personal narratives. It highlights the fundamental value of play within a drama therapeutic paradigm and how the notion of play and play memories contribute to the adult self. It also affirms the role of arts-based practice as a powerful tool for validation and witnessing of clients. / XL2018

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Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Fine Art in the Department of Fine Art, Durban Institute of Technology, 2006. / This study will investigate and critically evaluate the reconstitution of African women’s spiritualities in the context of the Amazwi Abesifazane project. This project forms part of the endeavours of Create Africa South, a Non Governmental Organisation situated in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, which was initiated by the artist Andries Botha. It encourages women, post trauma, to ‘re-member’ themselves by creating memory cloths of embroidery and appliqué reflecting on their experiences in pre- and post-apartheid South Africa. This interdisciplinary study theorises that it is an archive that speaks about African women resisting destructive forces and reconstituting their spiritualities through the therapeutic effects of creativity. The study will not include research into the many other activities undertaken by Create Africa South. Rupture is implied in the use of the word ‘reconstitution’. Reconstitution encompasses the act of constituting again the character of the body, mind and spirit as regards health, strength and well-being of the women (McIntosh, 1970:261). In this study, spirituality is defined as the way in which the women in the Amazwi Abesifazane project reflect upon and live out their belief in God. The power of storytelling is examined from the perspectives of narratology, narrative therapy, sewing and orality/literary studies as resources for the women’s reclamation of their lives. Defining feminisms in South Africa is problematised by issues of race, class and culture. In a context of poverty, everyday survivalist strategies are the diverse forms of resistance seen in the Amazwi Abesifazane project. The women’s stories, cloths and interviews are triangulated as primary data. They are examples of the rich art of resistance against despair and are located in a paradigm of hope. In conclusion, I strongly call for government support in declaring the project a national archive. The multidimensional mediums of the Amazwi Abesifazane/ UbuMama projects nurture the women’s creativity and revitalise their spiritualities towards personal and national transformation.

Research report submitted to the Wits School of Arts University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the field of Drama therapy April 2016 / The aim of this research was to evaluate Narradrama as a drama therapy method in assisting South African domestic workers to shift their identity towards a more positive one, so they will be able to better deal with their current socially oppressive issues. I postulated, based on research done by sociologists and anthropologists, that domestic workers still feel oppressed marginalised and differentiated even to date, twenty years after the apartheid era; the racial discrimination that was perpetuated by the doctrine of the apartheid regime and cemented the master-servant relationship as the only possible relationship between domestic worker and employer was normalised within the harsh realities of minimum wages, long working hours and appalling living conditions; oppression of women by women, sexism and racism. Moreover, the domestic workers legal rights that were established after 1994 in the Bill of Rights have not changed their lives and working conditions. These working conditions continue to affect them and are a risk to their physical and mental health. (Mohutsioa-Makhudud, 1989; Williams, 2008; Ally, 2009). The risk that is inherent in chronic perceived discrimination to one’s mental health (Mohutsioa- Makhudu ,1989:40) and the risk of developing a negative identity and self hatred by internalising the negative views of a dominant society(Phinney, 1989:34) has influenced the decision to do this research. The method of Narradrama chosen for this study was researched by Dunne (as cited in Leveton 2010) and found to be effective in working with marginalised groups but has not yet been researched with a marginalised stratum within the South African context. Narradrama, became the preferred method as it is centred on story (Dunne and Rand, 2013:7) which led to the thought it would be effective when working with a group of African women who are considered to be story tellers in the African culture. (Scheub, 1970: 119-120). Thematic data analysis was used in analysing the results. Identity shift was measured by comparing the change between the initial negative themed stories, that substantiated the hypothesis that participants do feel oppressed and marginalised, with the new, positive themes that appeared later in the research processes The Narradrama processes were analysed through the theoretical lens of Landy’s role theory, who proposes that for a person to have a healthier identity he needs to take on a variety on new roles, and to be able to play them proficiently. The playing of new roles assists participants to enlarge their perspectives, discover new identity descriptions and experience what it would feel like to move forward in life in preferred ways towards a more manageable, hopeful future. (Landy, 1994:93-97) This parallels the Narradrama notion which claims that by re-storying a client’s narrative, the client opens up to new preferred choices; a new landscape of identity and action (Johnson and Emunah, 2009:182). The research results show the start of a shift, in the participants’ re-authored stories and their assumed choices of new roles- these changes signify that the group has benefited from processes. As the researcher, I therefore recommend that these processes be resumed in order to allow these identity shifts inclusive of the suggested roles to become more substantial, and more integrated in the participants’ identity within their current living and working context. However, though Narradrama proved to be a method that can assist this group, the results of this research cannot be generalised, and further research with different groups of domestic workers will need to be done in order to be able to generalise to the wider context of the stratum of South African domestic workers.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Drama Therapy) March 2017 / The aim of this paper is to explore how Drama Therapeutic techniques can be used in self-care practice to reduce stress, burnout and compassion fatigue amongst community healthcare workers in South Africa. This is achieved by studying the case of the Zakheni Arts Therapy Foundation’s Wellbeing Workshop. The tools utilised by the Wellbeing Workshop are identified and explored to ascertain in what ways they can be useful in self-care practice. Semi-structured interviews are used to gain insight into the tools used most often and found to be most useful by both facilitators and participants in their personal self-care practice. The study shows that the care workers who participated in the Wellbeing Workshop did benefit from the training in that they gained an understanding of importance self-care and did begin to include some self-care practices into their daily routines. Participants did reflect that they found the dramatic tools useful but it is clear that care workers utilise the dramatic tools very differently than the facilitators. This raises questions about the relevance of how Drama Therapy is applied in the South African context as well as around whether drama tools are suitable tools for self-care practice amongst care workers in South Africa. / MT2018

Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Fine Art in the Department of Fine Art, Durban Institute of Technology, 2006. / This study will investigate and critically evaluate the reconstitution of African women’s spiritualities in the context of the Amazwi Abesifazane project. This project forms part of the endeavours of Create Africa South, a Non Governmental Organisation situated in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, which was initiated by the artist Andries Botha. It encourages women, post trauma, to ‘re-member’ themselves by creating memory cloths of embroidery and appliqué reflecting on their experiences in pre- and post-apartheid South Africa. This interdisciplinary study theorises that it is an archive that speaks about African women resisting destructive forces and reconstituting their spiritualities through the therapeutic effects of creativity. The study will not include research into the many other activities undertaken by Create Africa South. Rupture is implied in the use of the word ‘reconstitution’. Reconstitution encompasses the act of constituting again the character of the body, mind and spirit as regards health, strength and well-being of the women (McIntosh, 1970:261). In this study, spirituality is defined as the way in which the women in the Amazwi Abesifazane project reflect upon and live out their belief in God. The power of storytelling is examined from the perspectives of narratology, narrative therapy, sewing and orality/literary studies as resources for the women’s reclamation of their lives. Defining feminisms in South Africa is problematised by issues of race, class and culture. In a context of poverty, everyday survivalist strategies are the diverse forms of resistance seen in the Amazwi Abesifazane project. The women’s stories, cloths and interviews are triangulated as primary data. They are examples of the rich art of resistance against despair and are located in a paradigm of hope. In conclusion, I strongly call for government support in declaring the project a national archive. The multidimensional mediums of the Amazwi Abesifazane/ UbuMama projects nurture the women’s creativity and revitalise their spiritualities towards personal and national transformation.

The purposes of this study were to investigate the possible therapeutic and educational effects of writing an autobiography in an undergraduate developmental psychology course, to explore the role of structure in writing an autobiography, and to determine if any significant sex differences exist in the effects of writing an autobiography.

Thesis (MA (VA)(Visual Arts))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / This thesis investigates the concept of conversion which arose out of the process of making soap as medium for my body of sculptural works and signifying its material transformation with ‘cleaning’ and ‘conversion’ – terms encountered in research into chemical transformation (in alchemy) and further endorsed by my linking my sculptural forms, resembling fonts, to religious conversion. A line of theoretical research was thus traced into ritual as an embodied experience of recalling memory in the desire for redemption or healing. Contemporary South Africa art, it seemed, was also going through a conversion process. The movement, from the domination of apartheid to the profound change of the ‘new South Africa’, necessitated a sense of tolerance in response to the reawakening of the diversity of cultures, rituals and memories. Thus present debate surrounding the concerns of reconciliation and restitution requires a re-evaluation of the importance of memory – to forget, to renew or to uphold – in the desire for healing. This has re-awakened an appreciation of multi-cultural rituals and invoked new self-consciousness and a reformulation of identity. I was thus inspired to investigate transformation in terms of art theory, psychology and philosophy. By identifying Freud’s psychoanalytic concept of transference and of ‘working-through’ as a part of his ‘Theory of Conversion’, I arrived at this proposition: art initiates an awakening of self-consciousness. In arguing for the vitality of the mythopoetic imagination, as held within the unconscious, however, I claim that art, as an embodied process, draws from memory, and resonates within the context of a ritualised empathic interrelatedness of ourselves as humans in the environment. In attempting to understand the South African transformation, which resembles the spirit of Renaissance Humanism, I examined how historical shifts influence both inter-human and environment/human relationships. Operating largely in terms of the transference of power and belief, these moved, in an ever-recurring cycle, through sixteenth century Renaissance Humanism, which tolerated diverse religious convictions, to Cartesian reason and the quest for certainty, manifesting in religious and politically motivated wars. This revolution, I believe, has occurred again from the modern to the postmodern era. I believe, therefore, that art has a healing capacity. This flows from a metanoia – a turning around – effected in both artist and audience. Through this creative and aesthetic view of art, experienced in my practical making and substantiated in my theoretical research, art, I conclude, initiates inner conversion and thus healing.

This dissertation is a phenomenological study on the origin of expressive arts as an innate human need rooted deeply in the psyche in order to grasp and relate to the human condition. Carl Gustav Jung said, “Life has no rules and that is its mystery.” Art compensates for the chaos that originates and often rules life. The history of art and its evolution in society was explored to paint a picture of the experiences that dominate and leave permanent etchings of the complexities, attachments, and traumas on the psyche. I explored the history of art and its ability to stimulate curiosities, discoveries, and learning. Additionally, I followed the birth of art education and its crossroads within the discovery of the unconscious mind and Jungian psychology. I followed the effects of the unconscious mind and psychology on art and art education, the ecological agents of the Industrial Revolution, the birth of the middle class, and the new accessibility of art. I also discussed the Industrial Revolution and its impact on pushing the artist to new interior boundaries of altered states and the birth of abstract art. Moreover, I looked at expressive art, painting, poetry, and sculpture as the foreground to discover the psychic energy and complexes that stimulate and inspire the artist. I presented eight artist interviews randomly chosen from different backgrounds, specialties, and age. The data analysis process allowed me to gain insights into the artists’ perceptions of how art has enriched the development of their psyches and their lives.