Drama as a Well-made Play

Author(s): Peter Millward

Source: Language Arts , February 1990, Vol. 67, No. 2, Stories and Meanings (February
1990), pp. 151-162
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41961716

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 Drama as a Well-made Play

Peter Millward

'Living Through9 Drama and the Well-made Play

Anyone interested in drama in schools is likely to be impressed by the vari-

ety of activities referred to as drama (Bolton 1984). Often, they will have
noticed, the exponents of one type of drama see themselves as being en-
gaged in a different kind of activity from many of their colleagues, and
there is frequently a sense of mistrust between teachers with different
views about what counts as 'doing drama.' So while some drama teachers
are to be found apologizing for having to 'put on plays,' others are openly
scornful of dramatic play which they may see as little more than a self-
indulgent and unstructured pastime. Indeed, at no time are these different
views more apparent than when one considers the approaches taken by
those who look for a script to provide the basis of their work and those
who are interested in dramatic playing, the 'living through' experience. The
creative impulse of the child and the discipline of the scripted play are
often thought to be at odds. More recently, of course, people have come to
appreciate again the common roots of these activities and to suggest that
both aspects are legitimate parts of the drama teacher's concern or, at any
rate, that one may lead naturally, and with developing competence on the
part of the students, towards the other. There still persists, though, the
idea of two kinds of drama and I want to suggest that this view may be un-
helpful. In order to do this, I shall take a piece of unscripted, unprepared,
and improvised drama of the 'living through' kind and look at it as if it
were a well-made play. I think the outcome is both interesting and infor-
mative.
The following extracts come from a piece of drama developed by a
group of eight-year-old children and their teacher (Millward 1988). The
drama has all the characteristics of an everyday social engagement; in fact
it looks rather like real life. In these extracts a stranger (the teacher in role)
is trying, with the help of two guides (Beverley and Shirley), to climb a sa-
cred volcano and thereby gain the acceptance of their tribe. Two other chil-
dren (Mark and Julia) are guardians of the mountain and want to prevent
the climb. They are to do so, however, in such a way that the stranger will
feel they are concerned for him and his best interests; hence they bid him
welcome, commiserate with him over his nasty experiences, and make him
some tea. They work to confound his intention as they present their father

Language Arts , Volume 67, Number 2, February 1990 151

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152 Language Arts

(Ian) who previously attempted the climb and who has suffered grievously
for it. It is with this presentation that we are concerned, so let us see how
it is accomplished.
01 Julia : I'll go and see if father can come along.
02 You stay and talk to your friends.
03 Teacher : Where are they going to?
04 Shirley : They're going to see . . . to get his
05 father.
06 Teacher: Are they? Don't they seem n
07 Mark: She's going to have to guide him
08 (because he's blind.
09 Teacher: (They seem really nice people.
10 Shirley: He's blind.
1 1 Teacher: He must be very old, I expect. If he's
12 blind now /
13 Mark: He's not that old.
14 Teacher: Isn't he? (Oh
15 Mark: (No. He didn't/
16 Bev: Well why is he blind?
17 Mark: didn't do the trip that long ago. Ah,
18 here he is now. Come on . . . careful . . .
19 over here . . . come on.
20 Teacher: I don't like the look of this (at /
21 Julia: (Mind the
22 steps.
23 Teacher: Oh dear. Poor fellow ... he doesn't look
24 (very nice.
25 Mark: (Careful . . . careful down.
26 Julia : One more. There you are. We'll
27 (get you a seat.
28 Mark: (******* a few ¿ays ago jje>s made it
29 now, as you can see.
30 Julia: There you are. Sit down on there.
31 Teacher: He doesn't look very nice.
32 Mark: Sit down. Right ... he made it here.

Preparing for an Entrance

This presentation of the blind man is a fine example of a person being 'put
in place' by those about him. It has implications for the way in which we
are seen and treated as people in everyday, as well as in literary, contexts.
In order to appreciate how this is done we need to go back in the transcript
to a point at which Mark (one of the guardians) first mentions the father
and prepares the way for his coming. We have to appreciate that the father
does not just arrive, but is made a part of the situation before he arrives.

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 Drama as a Well-made Play 153

He is drawn into the action as his arrival is made meaningful. He gets a

'good entrance,' and every accomplished playwright knows the importance
of that.
This is what Mark said, as he spoke to the teacher in role, "You look
like our father. He went to the top." This contribution works to identify
the stranger with the father, and it does so on two distinct levels. There is a
correspondence of appearance, "You look like our father," and there is a
correspondence of intent, "He went to the top." The old man is given sig-
nificance as he is linked with the developing context through his 'natural'
relationship with the guardians and the contrived relationship with the
stranger. He is looked for in the light of the situation they are creating (a
stranger wanting to climb the mountain). Mark's contribution tells us about
the stranger and the context of which he is a part, and it also serves to pre-
sent the father as 'being like the stranger.' The two persons are aspects of
the same occasion and their identity is bound up with one another.
A moment later Mark says, "Shall I bring him to meet you?" This is not
just a question about the suitability of a meeting between the two, nor sim-
ply a contribution designed to move the action forward, for it serves, as
well, to elaborate the context and put those involved securely in their
places. So we 'see' the stranger in the way in which he is treated and pre-
sented by Mark, as a visitor drinking his hosts' tea, and he is given to us in
the mannçr of Mark's speaking and in his courteous questioning. At the
same time, these words serve to put Mark in his place as an organizer. It is
Mark who is seen to be initiating the exchange, and Mark who is in a posi-
tion to make things happen. He is the host, 'at home,' and he demonstrates
this as he points to the stranger's passivity through his words. Finally, the
father is also put in place. He is not presented specifically as being dis-
abled, but there are signs that he bears some kind of impediment ("Shall I
bring him to meet you?"). These words tell of someone who must be
brought, even in his own house. They are suitable, in a way that, say,
"Shall I call him?", might not have been. It is from details like this that we
get a sense of structure and a feeling of stability even though they may not
be appreciated at the time as we can appreciate them now. It is out of such
contributions that everyday and make-believe experiences are made mean-
ingful. They "indicate" relationships but, at the same time and reflexively,
they make sense only as those relationships are taken into account.
If we now return to the original extract we may see that Julia, in the
manner of Mark, works for the coming of the old man, "I'll go and see if
father can come along.
You stay and talk to your friends" (01-02). She makes the situation visi-
ble (and meaningful) as she provides information for an audience and stage
directions for the actors. She puts those involved in place, and shows what
they must do if the context is to be explicable. Again we are alerted to the
problems which may make difficult the old man's entrance, though as be-

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154 Language Arts

fore we are not told (in so many words) that he suffers a disability. The
point is that the words are appropriate in this context where we know al-
most nothing of the old man, and will be appropriate later as we look back
and are aware of his blindness; appropriate words, but words that will be
taken differently. Now their significance may be missed, but later, and as
we review the text, this should become apparent, and we may see the
words as indicators of the father's disability. That is because we can treat
this drama as though it were a play with the ending present in its beginning,
and it should encourage us to look for ways in which meanings are man-
aged rather than treat them as if they were passed on like tasty recipes or
unwelcome presents. The business of making contributions sensible, of
linking them with the context in which they are uttered (and of which they
are a part), is the business of making life visible. Can we accept the sen-
sitivity of Julia and Mark who spoke in a way that rewards this kind of ex-
amination? Their lines were well and truly penned.

Waiting for an Entrance

While Julia goes to get the father (who could have been produced at once,
for he is just waiting there) a short 'gap' is created by the dramatists. This
pause is presented and used by those who are left as they discuss what
Julia is up to and then focus upon the father's blindness. It is another ex-
ample of preparing the way and making his entrance meaningful. It is also a
chance to make sure that everyone knows what is about to happen so they
will be able to contribute properly and help to draw out the old man's sig-
nificance within the drama; it is an opportunity for actors and for audience
alike.
At first the teacher in role as the stranger 'refuses to see' what they are
saying and so encourages them to spell it out more clearly,
Shirley: They're going to see ... to get his father.
Teacher: Are they? Don't they seem nice?
Mark: She's going to have to guide him because he's blind. (04-08)

But still the stranger does not see what is happening, "They seem really
nice people" (09), and so he gets Shirley (the guide) to work on behalf of
the guardians in the greater interest of stability and sense in the drama. She
works as a playwright and draws our attention to the old man's infirmity,
"He's blind." (10). Even now, though, the stranger 'refuses' to také the
point of this blindness. He manages to distance the father and his condi-
tion, so that it does not touch him too closely. He achieves this as he ac-
counts for the father's blindness, "He must be very old, I expect. If he's
blind now/" (1 1-12). As Beverley says, a little later in the drama, "You are
young." and thereby ensures that the old man's disability is kept at arm's
length. This stubborn refusal by the stranger to face up to the situation is

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 Drama as a Well-made Play 155

more than Mark can bear for he is determined to make him appreciate the
significance of the father's blindness. He interrupts the teacher-in-role to
tell him he is missing the point, "He's not that old." (13), and succeeds in
forcing him out of his comfortable corner, "Isn't he? Oh." (14).
Drama of this kind, and the making of meaning in any circumstances,
will reach beyond individual concerns to the establishment of sensible sit-
uations in which different points of view may come together. We have to
work as playwrights work, and the presentation of the guardians' threat be-
hind their 'pleasant seeming' is the work of all involved in the drama.
Every contribution is a part of that presentation, and beyond their parts in
the drama these people are dramatists.

Presenting the Blind Man

Now all is ready for the presentation of the blind man; this the guardians
do as they lead Ian into the room.
Mark : Ah, here he is now. Come on . . . careful . . . over here . . . come on.
Julia: Mind the steps.
Mark : Careful . . . careful down.
Julia : One more. There you are. We'll get you a seat.
Mark: He's made it now, as you can see.
Julia: There you are. Sit down on there.
Mark: Sit down. Right ... he made it here.

From the moment when Mark says, "Ah, here he is now" (17), and
speaks as if he were not there, to when he says, ". . .he made it here"
(32), as though he were not altogether there and could not speak for him-
self, they concentrate upon the task of presenting Ian as inadequate. The
blind man appears to be blind as they treat him as blind. It is not enough to
say, as Shirley said a little earlier, "He's blind" (10), and leave it at that,
for his blindness has to be continuously presented if it is to keep its signifi-
cance and be a part of the context. Of course, a blind man is blind, but he
is, as well, other people's perceptions of his blindness. They respond to his
blindness, and in so doing, show him what it means to be blind. It is not
simply that he cannot see, like some eyeless fish lurking at the bottom of
the ocean, for there is more to his blindness than a lack of sight. It has im-
plications for the way in which he lives and is treated. People demand of
the blind man a particular kind of response, and so does he of them. Their
demands are to be found in the way in which they treat each other. We can
see it happening here as the guardians go about the business of putting the
blind man in his place, but it happens just as surely in everyday life. We
create disability through our presentations of the disabled, and so do we
create those about us whom we care to treat as normal. That is why this
example is so important, and whenever we consider the business of putting

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156 Language Arts

people in their place (whether in literary or everyday contexts), we might

think of this blind man and what had to be done that we managed to see
him properly.

The Symbolic Value of the Blind Man

Even as the guardians treat the blind man as blind, they point to the kind of
people they would wish to be; people who treat others with consideration.
The group continues the work begun by Mark when he linked the stranger
with the father, and the guardians show in their presentation that they
know what is best for them both. Now that they are together and side by
side, everyone can work to bring out the significance of the blind man for
the stranger who is visibly worried, I don't like the look of this at/ (20) Oh
dear. Poor fellow ... he doesn't look very nice. (23) These are strange
ways to talk about anyone. His words are in poor taste; the thoughts we
should keep to ourselves and never speak out loud. They work within the
drama that we may see how profound is the effect that the presentation of
the blind man has had upon the stranger. However, they work on another
level as well. They work as a kind of 'theatrical convention,' as an 'aside'
to an audience, which may be overheard by the guardians but not marked.
On this level, these contributions alert us to the symbolic nature of the
blind man and the purpose of his place in the drama. The guardians are
using him as a device and as a symbol, and the stranger demonstrates the
blind father's significance as he speaks his thoughts and shows the kind of
impression the presentation has made upon him. It is because his words
sound strange (in bad taste, though not inappropriate) that our attention is
drawn to this extra significance. We are encouraged to see how the drama
is working, and we can hear the playwright behind the stranger helping us
to see more clearly.
In order that we may understand how they manage to get the stranger to
appreciate the significance of the blind man, we need to see how the guard-
ians develop the drama as they interweave two separate exchanges.
33 Teacher : Hello.
34 Julia : He got/
35 Ian: (Hello.
36 Mark: (He slipped down. I'll get him/
37 Teacher: What thing?
38 Julia: When he first tried it.
39 Mark: I have to put this in his ear.
40 Teacher: Tried what?
41 Julia: (Coining up the mountain.
42 Mark : (Because he's . . . (he's very deaf.
43 Julia: (He went up a second
44 time, blind.

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 Drama as a Well-made Play 157

45 Bev: Why did he try it again, though?

46 Mark: He's very deaf. You'll have to talk
47 through. . . .
48 Teacher: What you mean the ... he ... he tried to
49 get up the mountain like I am?
50 Mark: (Yeah.
51 Julia: (Yes.
52 Teacher: And this happened to him?
53 Mark: Yes.
54 Julia: Oh yes . . .

Julia's task is to show the stranger how the father became blind so that he
might see it was not just old age, He got/ When he first tried it/ Coming up
the mountain/ He went up a second time, blind/ Yes/ Oh yes/. Meanwhile,
Mark is drawing attention to the blind man's deafness. It is not simply that
he cannot hear very well but that he must carry with him a mark of his
deafness (an old-fashioned hearing horn, created through Mark's words
and actions) so that everyone may experience the full force of the dis-
ability, He slipped down/ I'll get him/ 1 have to put this in his ear/ Because
he's . . . he's very deaf/ He's very deaf/ You'll have to talk through/ Yeah/
Yes. When these two strands are experienced as one, with the stranger
caught between them and involved in both, they have a startling effect. The
teacher in role is confronted by the blind and deaf father, who does not see
what is happening and cannot hear too clearly, and who came to this un-
happy pass because he climbed the mountain. The two parts come together
in the stranger's awful realization of what it means:

48 Teacher: What you mean the ... he ... he tried to

49 get up the mountain like I am?
50 Mark: (Yeah.
51 Julia : (Yes.
52 Teacher: And this happened to him?
53 Mark: Yes.
54 Julia : Oh yes . . .

Everyone contributes to the business of stripping away the illusions

which confound the stranger. As he greets the old man the two are bound
together; each is justified by the other's presence and their 'helios' ac-
knowledge this. Yet realization must come slowly and so the situation is
presented in a vague and oblique fashion. It sounds almost casual, "He
slipped down" (36). Mark sets the conversation going, and at the same
time introduces the hearing horn, "I'll get him/" (36). Although the end of
his contribution is not recoverable from the transcript, he clearly says and
does enough to let the teacher in role know what is happening, "What
thing?" (37). Julia, though, is right beside the stranger and keeps him in

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158 Language Arts

mind of the climb, "When he first tried it" (38), even as Mark holds up the
hearing trumpet, "I have to put this in his ear" (39). But this stranger, like
the blind man before him, does not hear too well, and besides, he is over-
whelmed by the state of the figure in front of him and the feeling that there
is something he does not know, "Tried what?" (40). So Julia, gently and
without any fuss, makes the link and binds the old man to the stranger,
"Coming up the mountain" (41). Still the stranger says nothing; it is as if
he does not hear. "I have to put this in his ear. Because he's . . . he's very
deaf' (39 & 42), continues Mark, and yet the stranger does not speak. "He
went up a second time, blind" (43-44), says Julia, but he does not hear.
"He's very deaf. You'll have to talk through. . . ." (46-47); and here, by
the deaf and blind father is the stranger, who could not see what was hap-
pening ("Don't they seem nice", "He must be very old, I expect."), and
would not hear nor understand the things they said to him.
But now he understands. Mark and Julia seem to know intuitively that
this old man, this symbol of the stranger and his intentions, this blind and
deaf father, will be more powerful than anything they can say or do, if only
they can present him properly and help the stranger make the right connec-
tions. It is only with hindsight that we can see how they manage to draw
out the symbolic purpose of the blind, deaf father.
Only they are not finished with him yet;
55 He went up a second time blind. My
56 husband went up and helped him.
57 Teacher: And you never got to the top?
58 Julia: Oh yes (he got to the top.
59 Mark: (We got to the top. He's a
60 Mark: member of the tribe now.
61 Julia: He went back down to the bottom and then
62 had to come all the way back up. . . . the
63 way you've come again.
64 Teacher: Yeah.
65 Julia: To get here to live with us.
66 Mark: Yes.
67 Teacher: But. . . . but when he started was he
68 perfectly all right?
69 Julia: Oh (yes.
70 Mark: (Of course he was.
71 Julia: He just had a slight limp in his leg
72 though.

How easy it would have been to let the father fail

instance, "No, he never got there, and neither w
and for nothing." But these children know what
know how much more effective (dramatically) it
succeeded and yet ended up like this. They a

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 Drama as a Well-made Play 159

done all that you want to do. He has achieved all that you want to achieve,
and look at him, blind and deaf and broken." "Oh yes he got to the top.
He's a member of the tribe now." (58-60) But before he set out on his jour-
ney he was, "... perfectly all right" (68), except, that is, for a, . .
slight limp in his leg. . . ." (71). The guardians are self-assured and full of
confidence. They are working and writing fluently. They are enjoying
themselves within the drama, and they certainly give the teacher in role
plenty to think about as they show him the consequences for one who
came, . . all the way. ... the way you've come again" (62-63).

The Stranger and the Blind Man

They complete this section of the drama by placing the stranger and the
blind man side by side.
73 Teacher: Can I speak to him?
74 Julia: (Oh yes.
75 Mark: (Yes.
76 Teacher: Do I just shout . . .just shout at him?
77 Julia: I'll bring you the horn **************
78 Teacher: Does he?

79 Mark: Yes. Don't talk too softly though/

80 Teacher: No.
81 Mark: because he's very /
82 Julia: There you are.
83 Mark: hard of hearing.
84 Teacher: Oh.

85 Julia: Speak through his horn.

86 Teacher: Hello.
87 Ian: Hello.
88 Teacher: I ... I ... I'm trying to climb up the
89 Teacher: mountain too. Is that a good idea?
90 Ian: No.

Little is required of this meeting beyond an ac

old man's purpose in the drama is served. The
what he stands for by now, and the talk betwee
However, the meeting works to make the symbo
more potent. All the preamble to their talk toge
concentrate attention on the old man's deafness.
blind man being led on, and quite another to have
horn in order to be heard. The stranger, in maki
greater understanding of what it represents,
standing is developed through active participatio
old man.

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160 Language Arts

These are only young children doing a bit of drama with their teacher,
yet they manage to bring together a blind man who needs a guide, and a
stranger, one who looks like him, intends to travel the same path, and only
sees things as they seem to be. It is quite impressive and, though not King
Lear, we may remember Gloucester, and be reminded of one who ever
stumbled when he saw.
Do I read too much into all of this? Well, in a way, yes; but no more
than can be read into it, and I can account for my interpretation as I refer
to the words and actions of those involved. I can justify my point of view,
and I am using their presentation to make sense of what they have
achieved. This is just as those in the drama must do if they are to see what
is happening, make sense of what is going on and contribute in a proper
way. Others might see it all quite differently, or see more or less, but they
will have to account for what they see. And they will have to agree, surely,
that these children are reaching towards 'literary workmanship' and ac-
knowledge that any playwright "could give instruction for this kind of sym-
bolism as part of a script" (Bolton 1984, p. 186).
They are engaged in literary discourse, but they are not making a play.
They are presenting experience dramatically and their work becomes 'liter-
ary," as we consider how they managed the situation, how they brought it
alive and made it meaningful. In examining this piece of drama as we
would examine a well-made play, we find it to be a well-made play and we
find their contributions to be well- wrought.

Literary Discourse and Everyday Life

It is all very well using the sophisticated notion of aesthetic meaning to apply
to poetry and in particular to a piece of Shakespeare verse, the language of
which resonates with profound meaning, but is it not far-fetched and some-
thing of a conceit to apply the same concept to an infant play on witches or a
fourth year secondary school improvisation about a strike? The language of
these plays can hardly be said to be dense with imagery and subtle nuances.
(Fleming 1982: p. 202)

Fleming argues convincingly against this point of view and surely dramatic
encounters of the kind we have uncovered here give force to his argument.
While this piece of drama is certainly not a Shakespeare play, it is a play.
It may not be a very good play, but it lacks neither imagery nor subtle
nuances, and we can say that the language "resonates with meaning" even
though it may not be very profound. Clearly, too, it will bear the kind of
criticism usually reserved for literary texts. It does not fall apart when
looked at in this way, and it appears to be ordered and controlled. It looks
as if those involved know what they are doing. There might not be a "focal
attention to form" (Fleming 1982, p. 285) but that does not mean that it is
formless or that those involved are not concerned about the form. Indeed,

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 Drama as a Well-made Play 161

they cannot help but be, for it is the underlying form (of which they may
not be aware) that gives to the situation a sense of stability and enables
them to take part.
It may seem surprising that a piece of children's drama such as this
should be so tightly structured; the more so as I was involved, and know
that no such thought went into it. Nevertheless, the actors and their audi-
ence work to make life meaningful, and I think we may be impressed by
the children's sensitivity and by the close attention they pay to those about
them and to the dramatic context they are concerned to create. They are
attentive to all things, and they work like good playwrights. For the mo-
ment, just look at what they have done; do not consider too deeply what it
is that they have put into the drama (for there may be no answer to that),
but see what you can take from it. It looks like a worthwhile achievement
to me.
Further, should we not give the children the chance to respond to their
creation, to take on the role of the literary critic or the social observer (as I
have done in trying to explain and account for what happens) so that they
may see from time to time how they made their drama work? A transcript
is demanding to produce, but even a short extract may be enough to help
young children see something of what has been done. Surely this would
help them to appreciate the work of other playwrights and enable them to
understand more readily how literary texts are produced? These people de-
serve the chance to look at what they have done objectively, as they
should be encouraged to connect their experience with other places and
other times. They should be able to reflect upon the managed quality of
their work.
Seeing this piece of drama as a well-made play has another level of sig-
nificance. The drama appears like this because we have a transcript before
us and not simply because of some quality which is embedded in the drama
itself. We can look at it now with hindsight and draw out a story, and as we
do that we impose our structure upon the work. The same sense of story
would not be apparent as it was created, only as we make sense of each
contribution in the light of what has gone before. It is this kind of activity
which an audience engages in as it watches a play. We find the 'mean-
ingfulness' of the experience as we are able to consider it from a detached
position, and it is within 'accounts' such as these that we find our lives to
have a sense of stability. So, rather than reflecting the world of everyday
life, such 'fictions' describe it in ways which we find meaningful, ways that
enable us to 'see' it, and see it as real. The structure is in our accounting,
in our narratives, and while we may think our stories describe social life,
that life may be made real and visible through our stories and the way in
which we tell them. We are not describing what happens, but making sense
of what happens. This account of the dramatic activity is very different
from the 'layman's view'; indeed, one might feel that it turns that view

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162 Language Arts

upon its head. Instead of drama and literary discourse reflecting the real
world, that world is made visible and 'real' through the work done by peo-
ple concerned to present experience dramatically.
So drama (the make-believe) is the necessary part of the business of giv-
ing the social life a sense of stability and meaningfulness, and it works on
two levels. First, in that the 'make-believe' aspect of the 'managed accom-
plishment' is treated as make-believe, it reinforces the sense of facticity
which upholds our experience of everyday life, and provides a means of
coping with threats to that facticity ("He's only joking!" or "It's just a
play"). We need such a make-believe world or we would be overwhelmed
by experience. In the second place, the make-believe experience provides
the sense of story, and the stucture by which we are able to treat the
everyday experience as being 'real.' We feel that our drama is a reflection
of this world of everyday living (albeit a special kind of reflection with
'heightened consciousness' or 'aesthetic meaning') and, therefore, that it
depicts an underlying structure in everyday life which can be made mean-
ingful through activities of this kind. We treat life as meaningful (and, hey
presto, we find it so) because we can tell stories about that life. In this
sense our 'fictions' are reassuring for they provide our life with stability. If
"it is in retrospect that a play tells a story" (Bolton 1984, p. 38), then it is
also "in retrospect" that our everyday life is made meaningful, and the
play is one of the ways in which that is done.
As I suggested before, many drama teachers feel that the doing of plays
runs counter to their purposes in drama. They have, and rightly I think,
tended to mistrust an activity which asks the children to produce a copy of
the world for the benefit of an audience. However, there is more to play
writing than acting before others, and this analysis seems to show that the
writing of plays and the presentation of dramatic experience may be activi-
ties of the same kind. Both rely upon the sensitive attention to context
which has been displayed by these children and both demand an apprecia-
tion (however dimly felt) of the patterned, structured, ordered nature of
our lives, and of the managed quality of that patterning, structure, and
order.

References

Bolton, G. Drama as Education: An Argument for Placing Drama at the Centre of

the Curriculum London: Longman, 1984.
Fleming, M. "A Philosophical Investigation into Drama in Education."
Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Durham, England, 1982.
Millward, P. "The Language of Drama." Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of
Durham, England, 1988.

Peter Millward teaches drama in education at the University of Durham in

England.

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