'As a playwright it may be your intention to build a vehicle to take us to the stars. But do make sure you have people aboard.' (p.9).^
Alan Ayckbourn in The Crafty Art of Playmaking.
Quite fitting in the two decades since publication, given the rise of AI and the impact upon the arts, specifically human imagination, creativity, and livelihoods. Meaning: silence as a tool for protest, and activism is also a genre and a can be a therapuetic ally.
Going backwards - Sir Alan writes: 'Theatre for me has always been, in a way, a reflection of life writ somewhat smaller'. p.10.
While the point concerns the faith and trust placed in theatre directors by the company, there is an analogue in healthcare. The belief of the patient, in their doctor and the medical team. Or, at least the knowledge and skills they should, and appear to possess. For Ayckbourn '... the director looked as if he knew.' (p.10).
Obvious rule no. 4: 'Use the minimum number of characters that you need' (p.13).
What can I say? Society, has peeled back the patient - doctor (substitute health profession as needed) to the person whose monologue seeks confirmation of illness x,y, or z. Apparently here in the UK 1 in 4 adults have a mental health condition. The debate is ongoing as to what is going on. But the subject of Hodges' model as a possible crucible for a work of drama can certainly keep to character count down.
Not only that, but is this a book on counselling - interpersonal skills?
'An audience that doesn't care stops listening in the end. '. p.14.
As part of -
'Obvious Rule no. 5: They need to care about your characters. (So you should too.)'
So, for both playwrights and carewrights, there is a duty of care (for all of course - despite the actions of so many governments).
In health the patient is the character study. There is, should be, must be - a plan of care, a care plan. As a 'play', Hodges' model begins as a template of at least five acts [Spiritual (Four domains) ]. That is whether or not they are all 'written'. The attitude though should be unconditional positive regard.
There's no Waiting for Godot here, unless the character is social care?
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| TAU ZERO |
Could it be that as organisational hierarchies have been flattended, the notion of character has been under siege? The onion that is our identity, personality, persona unpicked, skin-by-skin by social media, social change, and policy affecting education. Character building used to be a thing didn't it? No longer needed now is it?
Sir Alan, supports this hypothesis in his 'Obvious Rule No. 28:
People in general are reluctant to reveal themselves.' (p.65).
I still wonder about the potential of Hodges' model in secondary level education. More than ever, with all the talk about resilience, recovery, mental health issues, the rising UK welfare bill, may beg the question: What is character today? But, it is not defined by a stiff upper lip.
Not to sound 'ableist', but the 'crafty' in Ayckbourn's title, can be read in health terms; the disciplines drawing on science and the arts. Plus, they involve craft - use of the self, empathy and rapport. Not limited to, but in mental health care, it could be 'crafty' in the exercise of power, so frequently a theme central in drama and the human condition.
^A nice reminder too, of a Poul Anderson's SF classic Tau Zero (and a previous post).
The Crafty Art of Playmaking by Alan Ayckbourn. Faber, 2004, softcover, ISBN 0571215106.
https://www.concordtheatricals.co.uk/s/45898/the-crafty-art-of-playmaking
https://www.isthiswhatwewant.com/
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Is_This_What_We_Want%3F.jpg/250px-Is_This_What_We_Want%3F.jpg
https://www.amazon.com/Zero-Coronet-Books-Poul-Anderson/dp/0340163364 (This was the same copy I read in my teens.)
orcid.org/0000-0002-0192-8965
