The Theory and Practice of Orientation Therapy

Extract

If we examine environmental theatre workshops from a viewpoint outside of the magical world of the theatre, they appear to be a form of social group work. People congregate regularly under the supervision of a group leader, and they subject themselves to certain processes that elicit great expenditures of energy on activities which apparently are devoid of specific practical results. In contrast to most human institutions of these hyperspecialized times, environmental theatre workshops are devoted to experiencing the wholeness of human life and reflecting this experience in art. In this article I examine the technology of environmental theatre in terms of basic biological and social events that occur at these sessions. I am concerned especially with the flow of energies between the perceptual and motor worlds of the performer as he achieves a high degree of interaction with other performers and with his environment.