Republic of the Philippines

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

College of Arts and Letters
Department of Performing Arts

Opening a Magic Shop: A Deconstruction of Duncan Macmillan's Every Brilliant Thing

Using Psychodrama Techniques for General Adults at the Life Change Recovery Center

A Research Project
presented to the Faculty of
Department of Performing Arts
Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for PEAR 30143
[Research in Theater Arts]

By
Garcia, Erika Mae D.
Bachelor of Performing Arts (BPeA) 3-1

Mr. Joseph Victor D. Deseo

Research Adviser

February 2023
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The review of related literature in this research project will present and discuss

various articles with studies that were found and evaluated by the proponent which are

associated and relevant to the topic and problematique in order to provide additional

significant information and more sufficient ideas that will make it more comprehensive and

understandable to its intended and expected readers. Consequently, this chapter of the

research is divided into themes and subtopics that would elaborate on the general subject and

specify the main points of the project. With that being said, numerous literature from general

information and different sources (primary and secondary) about the themes of the Research

Project, particularly on the main one which is Psychodrama (e.g., Drama Therapy) along with

other ones such as the Deconstruction process and “Every Brilliant Thing” play, will be

discussed thoroughly and expanded intensively.

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2.1.1. Psychodrama

In order to present the literature review of the research in a systematic and logical

manner, it is best to discuss the Psychodrama and the subtopics under it, primarily as it is

considered the principal and central theme of the project. Correspondingly, the utilization and

expansion of this certain Psychotherapy Technique will be expounded through the various

articles and literature that have been obtained and analyzed by the research project proponent.

Ranging from the history, principles, and up to its development, the thesis

requirement of Richard F. Daigneault in the year 1977 for the degree of Master of Science:

Community Psychology in the Graduate Studies Program of the College of Social Sciences of

Florida Technological University which is entitled “Psychodrama: Review and Analysis”,

have discussed the significant elements of Psychodrama. Generally, it demonstrated the

essentiality of the theory and effectiveness of the practice of this certain method as a

Psychotherapy technique. Aside from these, it also presented definite experimental data and

actual case studies of various psychological conditions and behavioral problems such as but

not limited to speech disorders, drug dependence, and even mental health illnesses like

Depression and Psychosis with their various results and responses to different

Psychodramatic methods.

Appropriately, Daigneault’s research paper relates to the topic of the creative project

as it featured and scrutinized such important details and components (e.g., instruments,

stages, and variations) about Psychodrama which are valuable for the proponent and the

readers, as well, in order to acquire in-depth outlook on this Psychotherapy method and its

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utilization. Other than that, it also provided a viewpoint on the Psychodramatic practices and

their techniques which are closely inclined and directly useful in attaining the target product

of the research. Additionally, the objective of the literature in evincing the efficacy of

Psychodrama incidentally benefits the potency of the project’s intended product, although it

is not included in the scope of the research objectives to actually prove Psychotherapy's

effectivity, it will still strengthen the creative project’s foundation in this case.

In spite of the profound context of Daigneault’s thesis paper, it fell short in looking at

the usage of existing text material/s as starting point of Psychodramatic session/s. Adding to

its paucity as a literature reference is its bygone publication time which makes its contents,

information, and ideas outdated. Nonetheless, with the research project, new and additional

Psychodrama views from contemporary sources, details on strategies and procedures, and

utilities such as performance text are on the plan of study and action.

Following this, the book that was written by Phil Jones in the year 1996 which is

entitled “Drama as Therapy: Theatre as Living” have tackled the significant matters in regard

to Dramatherapy in its four-chaptered contents which includes its nine core process.

Although it is a well-written and information-filled piece of material, the proponent has only

concentrated on the first section where Dramatherapy was defined and discussed together

with its format, structure, and processes. Besides these, the book has also appended the basic

tenets of this Psychotherapeutic technique that is composed of details about the beneficiaries

of its forms which answers the question — “Who is Dramatherapy for?” and the events in

sessions that respond to the query — “What happens in Dramatherapy?”

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 Moreover, Jones’ book stated that

“Drama is the therapy”

considering the therapeutic change it provides which correlates to the analysis of healing and

makes it directly aligned to the research project’s point of view that Performing Arts, in the

form of Drama or Acting, is an essential tool for Psychotherapy that can be actually utilized

in addressing and attending to the needs of varying clients (i.e., patients). In addition, it also

strengthens the significance of the research, as stated in the introductory part of the paper, in

a way that the book diametrically declared and explained the necessity of Drama to society

and individual living which amplifies the pertinence of Drama Therapy to humanistic

Psychotherapeutic technique. The literature has talked about the topic of “Theatre”, as well,

and how this term is interchangeably used with “Drama” while it also deciphers the fine line

between the two wherein Drama is looked at as the entrance to the pretended reality and

Theatre is seen as the production of performance which is a relevant matter for the research,

particularly in the terminologies that it will make use of in the paper considering that this is

one of the project’s fundamentals.

For the gaps of this book by Jones that may be closed in the research, one of the most

noticeable points is the lack of the discourse of interrelationship between Dramatherapy and

Psychodrama and rather presenting it as if separated from each other because of the varying

role play aspect. One more particular thing that it opened, but did not entirely elaborate, is the

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dearth of traditional or usual performative processes and activities such as staging a script in

Dramatherapy. With these being concerns, the project will deal with the connection and

relation of Dramatherapy to Psychodrama given that both of these have the same nature of

using Performance Arts as techniques for Psychotherapy and will present the aptitude and

potential of having a performance text in the form of stagable script as part of

Psychotherapeutic sessions.

To understand the theme of Psychodrama furtherly, it is important to include its

progress from the primary time it was introduced up to the present day when it is being used

which will be looked upon through the book that was edited and completed by Paul Holmes,

Marcia Karp, and Michael Watson which was published in the year 1995 that was entitled as

“Psychodrama Since Moreno: Innovations in Theory and Practice”. It offered an in-depth

outlook and understanding of the development and evolution of Psychodrama since it was

first established by Dr. Jacob Levy Moreno, the Romanian-American psychiatrist,

psychosociologist, and educator founder and pioneer of group psychotherapy, in the early

1930s via commentaries that were created through the lens of licensed and practicing

Psychodramatists. Another thing that this literature has done is address the issues and

concerns regarding the ethics and morals of the treatment as well as the artistry and creativity

of theater that is directly involved in the Psychodrama techniques.

Because it propounded the supplementary shifts in Psychotherapy through the years

such as in the approach, matrix, and system, the book provided such critical information to

the research project that can be added to the area of discovering and exploring what accurate

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concepts and appropriate efforts may be inputted in Psychodrama. It also extended the

premise of modern Psychodrama from the time it was published, which can be a prompt for

the research and the proponent to determine which strategies and features of this therapeutic

method are best-suitable and applicable for the project’s finished product which is the

performance text. Furtherly, due to its concentration on Morenian Philosophy, the nature of

Psychodrama as a form and example of group Psychotherapy is reviewed and evaluated

which validated and affirmed the accuracy in the mode and correctness in the format of the

research project’s intended output of having a dramaturgical concept of a group therapy

session.

In connection to these, the literature was rather limited and dependent than being

focused on Moreno’s core concept of group therapy that it missed to include points of view

on Psychodrama from other key people and scholar contributors like Martin Haskell, Eya

Fechnin Branham, Anne Ancelin Schutzenberger, and Gretel Leutz (Good Therapy).

Coincidentally, it dominantly covered the medical professionals, practitioners, and providers,

particularly the Psychodramatists as its subject of interest and study instead of including and

putting the limelight on the mentally-affected persons and behaviorally-afflicted individuals

who are supposedly and presumably the recipient of this service. To address these, the

project, as it was principally planned, will include complex positions and equitable ideologies

from a number of notable figures on Psychotherapy and foremost, in Psychodrama and will

highlight the needs and interests of the research subjects (i.e., individuals with mental health

needs and/or behavioral problems) as well as the possible impact to them.

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 In accordance with the growth and development of Psychodrama, it is a fact that it has

been utilized in numerous countries around the world and it had also found its way to flourish

in different periods and fields (e.g., Medical, Education, Research, etc.) which is manifested

in the online-published research article written by Zhi-qin Sang, Hao-ming Huang, Anastasiia

Benko, and Yin Wu in the year 2018 that is entitled as “The Spread and Development of

Psychodrama in Mainland China”. It presented the history of this Psychotherapeutic

method’s prevalence in the country over periods of time (i.e., Period of Pre-contact,

Preparatory, Prosperity, and New Development) and displayed the table that shows the

increase in the number of published articles that features Psychodrama in its contents and title

from having only one in the year 1980 to 1990 up to having over 236 as of the last day of

December in the year 2017 which exhibits the visible appraisal of the people about this

certain way of Psychotherapy. Aside from these, the literature also offered a view on a

specific paradigm and avenue that Chinese Psychodramatist utilized which is the Therapeutic

Spiral Model which is a combination of the classical practiced system in Psychodrama and

contemporary clinical advances in Psychology that is applied to work and healing of

traumatized patients and survivors.

Although it is centered in the People's Republic of China, it can still be considered an

essential reference for the research project as it was set in a neighboring country of the

project’s locale (i.e., the Philippines) which means that it shares some related culture,

traditions, and norms that can serve as grounds for comparison in Psychodrama’s progression

between the two nations. Furthermore, the published article shared the usage of pre-written

text material (i.e., Campus PD scripts) for Campus Psychodrama which is produced

according to the shared stories and common problems of students that aims to allow and let

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them understand their psychological knowledge through writing and performing it,

themselves, which is closely identical to the intended output of the project but with different

research subjects and context. Through these, the adaptability of Psychodrama as a method of

Psychotherapy is patently manifested, as mentioned and shown in the literature, which is a

relevant notion for the research as this gives corroboration to one of the project’s fundamental

processes and themes — deconstruction.

Even though the presence of scriptwriting was there in the published research article,

it was not actually applied, tested, and proven to the target subject of the research project

which are the actual individuals who have mental health necessities, particularly General

Adults, as it was only practiced to the students of an unspecified institution and unknown

ages. With this being said, the research project, as it was previously set, will follow the

utilization of a pre-existing script but will adapt context and narratives from its preferred

subject, just like how it is for Campus PD. Other than that, the proponent of the researcher

did not find any other gaps in the literature that needs to be addressed and discussed.

As seen and understood in the presented literature regarding Psychodrama and its

subtopics on usage and progress, it can be derived that most of the existing studies and

articles commonly lack in pointing the perspective to the utilization of text material in this

Psychotherapeutic technique and that the frame of its references are usually directed to the

procedures of how it can be provided and the practitioners who execute it, themselves rather

than it being emphasized on the side of the beneficiaries (i.e., clients or patients).

Nonetheless, the proponent of the research, taking the project’s objectives and significance

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into account, will refer to these literatures and its lapses in order to apply and produce output

that will suffice the deficiencies that were observed.

2.1.2. Deconstruction

In accordance with the attainment of the research’s objectives, it is appropriate to

explain Deconstruction which is the general and primary process that will be done in the

project. Consequently, the operation and application of this particular method will be

explicated with the several materials and literature that have been gathered and evaluated by

the research project proponent.

As an introduction to the process of Deconstruction, the “Routledge Philosophy

Guidebook to Derrida in Deconstruction” which is a book written by Barry Stocker in the

year 2006 provided significant information about the life of Jacques Derrida, who is one of

the most controversial yet influential philosophers of his time and the one that proposed the

idea of this method, covering from the year he was born on 1930 in the country of Algeria to

his student and lecturer life going to the time when he became a renowned writer

internationally due to the publication of some of his original books about several important

topics like speech, writing, and grammar until the time of his death in the year 2004 which

prompted a dismal announcement from the President of the Republic of France and a special

occasion in the country by then. Apart from Derrida’s biography, the material showed the

existing relation and apparent connection of Deconstruction to various aspects including but

not restricted to language, ethics, Philosophy, and even in Metaphysics. Ironically, the

relatedness of Deconstruction’s idea to the concept of Structuralism was also talked through

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in the literature in spite of the verity that these two are contradictory to each other given that

the first one challenges the very thought of the latter.

Given that Deconstruction is the main action that will be utilized and applied for the

research, the information and ideas about it from the book which provided the basics and

preface of it have served as an initial guide for the proponent of the project about what it is

and how it can be done. Following this, it also provided some ways to be observed in

deconstructing which are based on Derrida’s position on language and his criticism of the

other and previous systematic way of writing; particularly the Logocentric model which he

pertained as the one that privileges the oral speech over the written words (Hendricks 2), and

that is considered an essential basis in producing the performance text output of the research

as it must be created with not just single context but instead, it should have numerous source

as opposed to the core of Logocentrism and as followed to the theory of Deconstruction. In

addition, the book’s chapter “Towards a Definition of Deconstruction” have included

Phenomenology, Transcendence, and Equivocation wherein the third one stands in an

important position on the language used in writing which may be applied in the intended

written text for the project.

Although it is a book that is filled with valuable notes, Stocker’s work is still lacking

in a few relevant aspects and areas as it is too confined in elaborating on Deconstruction in

connection to Philosophy. Henceforward, the literature didn’t talk about its relation to either

the theater or scriptwriting. But because it demonstrate its application to the other literary text

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(e.g., book, essays, etc.) then this can be a ground for reference as to how Deconstruction can

be exerted into written text and certainly, in performance text.

In connection to this, Deconstruction, as a literary process, is dynamic as it went

under development, as a whole, over the years which is discussed in the book that is entitled

“Essential History: Jacques Derrida and the Development of Deconstruction” which was

published in the year 2005 by Joshua Kates. Through this material, it was revealed that

Deconstruction, itself, is incapable of performing Derrida’s intention and vision, in a full

capacity, and thus, a new treatment that is through its progress is essential at that time. With

that, a new interpretation of the idea and utilization of Deconstruction was worked upon

through his engagement with Husserlian phenomenology which eventually led to its success

in actuality.

Because the book is not just about Deconstruction, itself, the proponent of the

research project has selected a few portions and areas of it that will be the focal point of this

review which will focus on the chapter “The Success of Deconstruction: Derrida, Rorty,

Gasché, Bennington, and the Quasi-Transcendal”. This part of the literature delivered

specifications on how Derrida, himself, used and applied the method in order to achieve the

“mature” kind of writing that was seen and read in his original work “Introduction” and

because of that, it can be ascertained that deconstructing a material and then utilizing it for a

text is attainable considering his own output and in that way is how the research project is set

and planned to be accomplished. Patently, with the improvements and modifications to its

operation, there are few but new approaches in comprehension and application of

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Deconstruction have been added to what can be the source of references in the

Pre-Production phase of the research project.

However, even if there are advancements in the core thought of Deconstruction, as

stated in Kates’ book, it still did not mention particular examples and specific applications

regarding the Theater and its elements (e.g., play, script, staging, etc.). Accordingly, the

entirety of the literature and the specific chapter that was focused on was concentrated on

Derrida’s writing and work only that it overlooked other types of literature. Considerably,

these gaps in the material are not severely concerning and taxing as they can still be adapted

and applied in the project’s product in a way that the writings of Derrida and the inputs of

Kates can be cited as the basis of actions in the research.

In order to have an in-depth outlook on Deconstruction, the application of this process

to particular aspects will also be looked into so as to substantiate its impact as a method to be

utilized, and with that, the book entitled “Deconstruction: A Reader” which is written and

edited by Martin McQuillan in the year 2000 will be a great reference to see how it is to

actually put deconstructing in to use. First and foremost, the literature presented the contents

of the book by introducing compound strategies of Deconstruction that covered its entire

work in the past and the present. Additionally, it also stated that Deconstruction, for what it is

worth, has become an area of learning and progress in its own right given that it led to

numerous research, studies, discussions, and even debates among scholars and philosophers,

as well, after it was contrived.

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 Focusing only on the introductory part of the material, it opens the idea of

“Deconstruction is History” by implying that in order to understand the meaning of a

significant matter, perhaps it is writing, and to appreciate its idea, function, and essence,

history is required because discovering the roots and inscribing the nature are necessary parts

of deconstructing and phallogocentrism undoing which suggests that understanding the origin

and context of the selected text material for this research project is absolutely vital. It also

justified Derrida’s statement in his English-published 1976 book “Of Grammatology” —

“There is nothing outside of the text”

which has been oftentimes misinterpreted for what it really meant and intended so,

McQuillan defended that the misunderstanding of this phrase is a “consequence of the

mnemonic qualities” of the words’ translation made by Gayatri Spivak when in Derrida’s

perspective, this quotation means that the meaning of a text must be set within a context that

is relatively inclined with its language and the other factors (e.g., grammar, vocabulary, and

history, rhetoric use, and societal knowledge of the language used) that complete it (Rich).

Through these, the act of deconstructing the text in the research project will be aligned and

organized along with its origin and context.

In actual fact, the book is supplied with pertinent things that can be of great reference

for the research project but only as a reader or writer. Since Theatre is the area of this

research and the way of writing in this sphere is somewhat distinct, the propositions that were

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offered by McQuillan’s material can only be a groundwork for the project in a way that it can

be adjusted for playwriting and/or scriptwriting. Aside from this concern, the research project

proponent did not see any more gaps in the literature which require either management or

explanation.

To set the lens of the literature review in a more associated point of view on the

research project, the journal article written by Stratos Constantinidis in the year 1989 that is

entitled “Is Theatre Under Deconstruction? A Retroactive Manifesto in a Language I Do Not

Own” presented the views of Deconstruction in theatrical productions with the view that it

destabilizes the traditional and standards of the theatrical system. It questions the importance

and validity of three particular subjects of matter in Theatre as which of the kinds is the most

relevant to the theatrical experience — playtext, performance-text, prompt-copy, or the

rehearsal-text in terms of the textuality of the piece, playwright, director, designers, actors, or

audience in the matter of voice in authorship and of interpretation by readers; with these

being based off the “hierarchy of priorities” and “chain of command” in a production. In line

with this, the role of Deconstruction appears as the unsettling displacement of the

“logocentric” system of play-production in Theatre.

Through this journal, the function of Deconstruction in theatrical production is put

into highlight which provides an overview for the proponent and reader of the research

project of what it really does and how it actually and directly brings impact to the usual

arrangement in Theatre. For the Western theatre plays and companies, based on

Constantinidis’ material, this action method has fundamental positions that challenge the

15
organizational chart and power relation that has been implemented in the theatrical traditions

of Westerners which enables it to displace and express the “voice” of all “authors” in the

production team and prompted it to establish a valiant arbitration that is set to provoke the

conventional network of play production and interpretation. The exposition and clarification

of Deconstruction’s role in a theatre production in this article is a crucial factor in assuring

the convention of the research as this will presumably be the impact that it will bring upon, as

well, in the future production and application of the project.

Constantinidis’ discernment and reflection on this journal article actually focused on

the Deconstruction of theatre but it did not include the particular actions and specific results

of doing and employing it in a text material of a play (i.e., script) that will be performed and

presented in the theatrical production. Besides, it only incorporated the system of theater

companies in the Western side that has figurative and literal differences from the practices of

other countries and regions such as in Asian Theatre traditions. By that remark, the proponent

of the research will be looking at how to bring this application of Deconstruction to Western

theatre productions to the premise of the Filipino theatrical system through the project.

Looking and reflecting on the provided materials about Deconstruction and its

subtopics on process and utilization, it can be deduced that the majority of the published text

and books are usually concentrated on either the philosophical or structural side of the

method rather than its application to actual write-ups such as in the script. Nevertheless, the

research’s proponent, considering the limited reference and knowledge on deconstructing,

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will make use of these literatures and its contributions along with its gaps, in order to utilize it

for the finished product of the project.

2.1.3. “Every Brilliant Thing”

In following the nature of the research project which is Dramaturgy in Theatre Arts, it

is expected and analytical to deal with the textual aspect of staging and for that purpose, the

proponent of research has selected a particular text material for the project which is the

“Every Brilliant Thing” (EBT), a play that was written by the English Playwright Duncan

Macmillan in the year 2013 that is about the topic of Mental Health Problems such as but not

only Depression as well as Suicide and even Fears of an individual. Collectively, the play

composition and production history of the piece will be elaborated on the numerous readings

and guides that have been collated and assessed by the research project proponent.

To provide a deeper and wider understanding of the play, it is most appropriate to start

with an overview of it which can be acquired from the “ASF Study Materials for Everything

Brilliant Thing” that is written by Susan Willis who is the resident dramaturg of Alabama

Shakespeare Festival in the year 2018. Naturally, it includes the general information of the

play which are the (1) characters, (2) time, and (3) authors (i.e., playwrights). Aside from

these, it also presented some varying samples of the play’s structure outline where there are

three attempts with different types of lists (e.g., plain list, more list, and typed list), and

adding to it is the crises that can be encountered which involve the dialogues, images, and

issues within its plot.

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 Other than that, the study materials have also provided a breakdown and explanation

of what kind of play is EBT which is an important matter for the research as it will serve as a

starting point for the deconstructing stage of the project. Additionally, it opened the idea of

adding and using music for the play’s performance which may be taken into consideration as

an ancillary part of the project’s output. Moreover, in the latter part of it, just after the details

are discussed, guide questions, activities, and worksheets on what to do at the pre-show and

post-show of EBT production are given which will help in discovering the proper things that

are needed to be identified prior the production and exploring the appropriate matters which

are essential to be determined even after the play which is also the things that are actually

necessary to be regarded for in the process of making the research project.

In spite of the information and details about EBT that the study materials presented,

the interactive nature of it was not taken into discussion considering that it is one of the main

and distinct components of the play which makes it a vital part of it. With that happening, the

relevance of spectators to the performance, itself, was not also explained as audience

participation was not mentioned in any section of it. With these said, the research project will

adapt and include the interaction segment in its performance text output, as it is in the play,

wherein the actor and the viewers actively connect to each other via impromptu conversations

and contributions throughout.

In connection to the previous literature, Anne Hering and Brandon Yagel of the

Orlando Shakespeare Theater, which is much known as the Orlando Shakes, have also written

“Study Guide 2021-2022 Every Brilliant Thing” in the year 2021. As its introductory section,

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the guide reviewed the theater roles (e.g., playwright, director, actors, designers, stage

manager, shop and stage crew, and front of house staff), missions, and system wherein it

looked back on the Actor/Audience relationship and emphasized that

“The Audience is the reason Live Theater exists”

and as well as the Talkback session and how it is usually held after the performance. It also

presented the summary, characters, and playwrights of EBT and “the list of everything that’s

brilliant about the world”, as well and exceptionally, it includes a part that directs about what

to do and what to say in conversations and interactions with an individual, particularly a

friend, who has mental health problems, specifically Depression.

Continuing, a part of the study guide that is relevant to the research project is the one

where it features discussion and themes of EBT (e.g., survival, depression, imagination,

growing up, and influence of others) which were presented with sample lines that connect to

its context as it deciphered the intention, message, and meaning of the play. In addition to

these, it also comprised of exercises, lists, and self-evaluation through a page called

“Spectrum of Differences'' which can be utilized as a questionnaire and/or survey form in

gathering context from the research subjects in the field visit stage of the study and will open

a variety of ideas that can be used as additional details and information for the project.

Furthermore, it showed 14 songs and their artists that were played in the EBT’s original

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production in the year 2013 at the Ludlow Fringe Festival which can also be modified and

included in the performance text to be made for the research project.

Be that as it may, the material did not utterly present the role that music took in the

play but only made a list of songs that were part of the first performance of EBT. One more

thing that it did not elaborate on is the position that the audience will have on the

performance of the play although it mentioned that for the theater company, Orlando Shakes,

itself, the relationship of performers to the spectators is particularly appreciated as it has an

exclusive “give and take” formula that makes them an active participant of the event.

Considering this and the first literature, it is crucial that the research project primarily use and

apply the interaction ground of the play, generally.

Aside from the general information and certain elements of the play, the literature

review will also offer a look at the production and application of EBT at a particular time and

aspect; one of which will be from the performance analysis that was created by Jim Farmer

on the year 2022 that was entitled “Horizon’s Every Brilliant Thing, a Perfect Play for a

Pandemic Moment”. Basically, the article has taken a look at the recent EBT staging of the

Horizon Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, USA which happened in the February of the same year

that the play review was published which is still during the COVID-19 global pandemic time

that made it the Little Five Points playhouse’s 38th season opener as it has not staged a full

show since the early days of 2020 which were the start of lockdowns. It provided a viewpoint

from an audience member of the play and discussed how the performance was executed on

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the stage from the beginning which is before the curtain speech up until the closing or the

curtain call.

Aside from reliving the experience, Farmer also gives out his opinions and criticisms

on the play, specifically for the actors and their performance, the set and how it was designed,

and the flow of the event, itself. Subsequently, it provides the proponent and possibly, the

readers of the research project an utmost critique when he directly stated that the actors are

brave, the set is threadbare, and the latter part of the show is repetitive. One more notable

factor in the play, according to the critic, is the varying approach of the three actors that were

lined up for the lead role to the material and how different or alike their performances which

is a significant point for the research project knowing that the output is intended to be read

and utilized by distinct individuals with a different context.

What the review and critique missed to share is the supposed one of the most

important parts of the play which is the interactions between the actor who is playing the

narrator that is the main role and the spectators as participatory characters. Although it said

that even before the beginning of the primary part of the event, the lead character has been

visibly in contact with the audience and even provided them with a piece of paper with text

and numbers which by then used throughout the performance, it still did not expand on how

the watching members take part and really engage with the casted actor. In accordance with

this, the research project will determine and specify in its finished output the segments on the

script and the roles in the play that the audience will take as part of the interaction on the

performance.

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 Going more about the play itself, the paper of Yabuz Pala that was published in the

year 2021 about EBT that is entitled “Therapy through Theatre: Duncan Macmillan’s Every

Brilliant Thing”, evaluated how the performance of this has become an innovative approach

to staging a theatrical production. Accordingly, it expressed how Duncan’s piece has been

utilized to discuss serious matters like the topic of Mental Health with its disorders and/or

illnesses in a way that is paradoxical in the sense that is through satire and comedy. As an

addition to this, the study also points its lens to the contextual and technical sense of EBT and

how its utilization in theatrical scenes unfolds a comprehensive view of seeing and

understanding subjects (e.g., Depression, Suicide, etc.) that are not yet deliberately discussed

and fully elaborated about in mass media.

Perhaps this is the most valuable piece of literature that will strengthen the project as

it presented the ways in which EBT, the exact text material to be utilized in the research,

helps in Mental Health Therapy. In a way, as said in Pala’s research, theater evolves into a

clinic because of this play as it arranges the narrator as the patient and the audience as the

therapist just like how it was also intended for the research output by the proponent of the

project. Coherently, the piece has led to the emergence of meaning-reconstruction and the

possibility of life-affirmation due to its nature and concept which is an important contribution

to the research project as it aims to deconstruct the play in a way that it can still be used as a

form of a therapeutic method.

Even though it did not openly relate the play to Psychodrama, it is still a key reference

for the research as it connected the selected piece to the project’s planned purpose which is

22
therapy. Pala’s study may have used the taped version of EBT that was shown on the channel

HBO in the year 2016, it was nevertheless used to deal with expressive arts therapy that

paved the way in associating it with therapy that involves acting as a medium. Generally, the

literature highlighted that theatre is not just how it is looked upon by common individuals and

mass media but rather, it is a potent form of Art that has the capability to bring people

together while giving and taking out something from them as there will always be social

responsibility in Theatre.

23
2.1.4. Synthesis

The review of related literature has provided and elaborated several papers with

research that were cited and appraised by the research project proponent which was regarded

as crucial to Psychodrama as the topic, Deconstruction as the method, and “Every Brilliant

Thing” as the material. Generally, it presented and discussed the utilization and expansion of

the main topic, operation, and application of the action method, and composition and

production of the text material. As a synthesis, in relating these materials to the project along

with the gaps that were found in each and every one of the papers, it can be inferred that the

research is distinctive as there are no reference studies that have the same exact concept,

variables, input, process, and output with ut that were detected.

24
2.2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The research project, with bearing in mind that it aims to deconstruct a text material

as its end product and/or final output at the end of its duration, will be analyzing and

employing the Postdramatic Theory as the ground of its theoretical framework.

Appropriately, this theory, which is interchangeably coined as Postmodern Theatre, but much

known to be as the Postdramatic Theatre, is considered as a new form and approach to the

theatrical system from the time of its conception in the late years of the 1960s up to the early

times of 1970s. In its most basic definition, Postdramatic Theory, is the notion of Theatre that

does not just, no longer or not anymore, concentrate on the dramatic text, itself, (Jürs-Munby

2) but rather, it involves the relationship and adjustment of the written material accordingly to

the premise, situation, culture, and, tradition of the actual production, performance, and the

stage, as well.

The Postdramatic Theatre, as it was primarily studied and established by the

internationally renowned German theatre scholar, Hans-Thies Lehman, who is also a

professor, author, and critic, is considered as a pioneering and innovative research study on

the new forms and fresh aesthetics of theatre after the period of 1960s. He initially did not

expect that his theory and study along with the inceptive book about this theatrical

perspective that he wrote which is entitled as “Postdramatic Theatre” and was published in

the year 1999 would actually resonate (Hoetger and Rossman) and become a fundamental

reference for discussions, research, and even debates about the contemporary theatre. In

addition, Lehman’s contributions in the form of ideas, concepts, and terms were treated as a

foundation of new and additional propositions on the theatre network of particular countries

(e.g., Brazil, Japan, Russia, etc.) around the world.

25
 To primarily understand what the theory is all about, it is best to take note that

Postdramatic Theatre did not actually replace and removed the existence of Dramatic Theatre

by the time it was initiated and established but rather, it only came after and simply just

followed this particular kind of theatrical form which, as a matter of fact, is still continuing

up until now, but in varying and developing arrangements (Crossley and Woods 8-9). In

accordance with this, the foremost and key principle that this approach to theatre follows is

that the staging of a performance should evoke an impact and response, in any manifestation

that is not just limited to emotional, amongst its spectators instead of just remaining true,

stagnant, and dependent to the text that it is utilizing. Following this, a theatre should not be

regarded as “post-dramatic” unless its account on theatre history and its connection to the

drama has been subjected to Deconstruction.

With the mention of Deconstruction, given that it is one of the principal processes that

is planned to be applied in the selected text material of the research, amongst the other

methods, it is ideal to present that this Postdramatic Theory was preferred because it covers

all of the intended procedures that will be utilized in the project including the first state with

the Devising and as well as the Recontextualization. In addition, the theory is considered

relevant to the research as the supposed objectives and the presumed methodology of the

project adhere to the core thought of Postdramatic that theatrical meaning and reality-making

can go forth beyond the text as it is a prime factor to be obtained for this certain approach

(Meades 6) . Plainly, the scheme of Postdramatic Theory or Postdramatic Theatre, as it is

commonly pertained to, will be followed as the theoretical framework of the project as it is

best suited for the research in a way that it responds to what the study needs in order to

accomplish the product and/or output.

26
2.3. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The research project, taking into account that it intends to produce a product at the

end of its duration, will be following and utilizing the Input-Process-Output (IPO) Model as

the basis for the conceptual framework it will use. Accordingly, the figure that is affixed

under, which is coined as “Opening a Magic Shop Research Paradigm”, displays the

sequential process and definite model of the conceptual framework that will be used for this

research project. Starting with the independent variables which are the factors that can be

controlled and/or changed in the research, Duncan Macmillan’s 2013 play “Every Brilliant

Thing” that is the selected piece which will be the text material for the project along with the

context that will be gathered through observations, inquiries, and interviews from General

Adults clients and residents of the Life Change Recovery Center, which is a particular

treatment facility in the City of Quezon in the country Philippines, that will be the main

source and also the general setting of the research that will be conducted, are the input(s) for

this project. Following this, both the material that will be used and the context that will be

collected will undergo to the process(es) that will be employed for the research and with this,

the elements and structure of the play will be adjusted and modified through the

Deconstruction first whilst the narratives and experiences of the subjects will be organized

and used through the Context Management afterward with consideration and application of

the Psychodrama Techniques which are Role Reversal, Mirroring, Doubling, and Soliloquy.

Concluding this with the intended finished product and project output, after these

independent variables undertake the process(es) that were mentioned, it shall lead to the

construction of dependent variables which are the dramaturgical concept and performance

text that can be regarded as the result elements of the research project.

27
Figure 2.3.1. Opening a Magic Shop Research Paradigm

28
 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1. INTRODUCTION

The research project which is under the aspect of Dramaturgy in the field of Theater

Arts will primarily concentrate on deconstructing the play that was written by the English

Playwright Duncan Macmillan in the year 2013 which was entitled “Every Brilliant Thing”.

Accordingly, the deconstruction of the script, with its structure and elements, will be done by

utilizing the Psychodrama Techniques (i.e., Role Reversal, Mirroring, Doubling, and

Soliloquy) that are mostly and commonly used in Drama Therapies. Additionally, the

research study will generally focus on analyzing and evaluating the context that will be

gathered from the individuals with Psychological needs at the Life Change Recovery Center

which is a treatment facility in Quezon City in the country Philippines in order to apply it in

the intended product and/or output. Particularly, the creative project is set to map out a

dramaturgical concept and write up a performance text that can be used as a basis for

Psychodrama (i.e., Drama Therapy) that is now being developed and applied as an

action-based Psychotherapy (i.e., Talk Therapy). In this part of the research, the methodology

will broach and explain diverse processes and procedures that are needed in order to attain

the objectives and obtain the output of the project.

29
3.2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research project, considering that it is theatrical, dramaturgical, and qualitative in

essence while taking its objectives, significance, scope, and output into consideration, will

concentrate on Performance Studies by particularly having Performance-as-Research (PAR)

as the methodology that it will utilize and apply. PAR, as generally defined, is the process of

producing and assessing “embodied and practiced performance work” (Lewis and Tulk 2). In

the simplest terminologies and statements, it will collate the data and experiences based on

“performance” which will then be organized and evaluated through the “research”.

According to the chapter “Performance Research” that was written by Terra

Rasmussen Lenox in the book “The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research

Methods” that was published in the year 2017, it is a kind of methodology that requires direct

and utmost bodily experience through facework instead of just having the abstract of the

performance. In connection with this, the International Federation of Theatre Research

(IFTR) established the “Performance-as-Research Working Group” that discovers, explores,

and assesses the concerns, issues, and methodologies about creative practices, specifically the

particulars that use performance as a crucial factor, through the research studies and working

sessions it has been conducting since the year 2006. Moreover, PAR was basically described

by Annette Arlander, Bruce Barton, Melanie Dreyer-Lude, and Ben Spatz as a discipline that

is “characterized by an extraordinary elasticity and interdisciplinary drive” in their book

“Performance as Research: Knowledge, Methods, Impact” which implies the diversity and

complexity of the methodology.

30
 Accurately, it will be used for the project where it will process and analyze the context

that will be gathered from the research subjects through the field visit of the proponent,

themself, in the form of inquiry answers, interviews sessions, and survey responses that shall

be manifested in the final output (i.e., Dramaturgical Concept and Performance Text). This

will be adapted accordingly as seen in the sample performance studies that use PAR as a

central part of their research such as in “Stages of Mourning, Staging Mourning: Dances of

Healing by U.S. Artist-Bereavement Groups in the 1960s”, a project on Performance and

Psychology; “The Sound of the Silence: The Role of the Pause in Pinter’s Dialogue”, a study

on Performance and Dramatic Arts; and Brecht’s Theory of Observation: The V-Effekt as

Tool of Social Critique, a research on Performance and Social Studies. To generalize, this

methodology was suggested and selected for the research as it will suffice the demands of the

project’s planned objectives and desired output by supplying methods that will actually

support the processes (i.g., Deconstruction, Devising, and Recontextualization) that will be

used and applied in the text material of the research project and for the reason that it was

actually grounded from an interdisciplinary extent in both academic and external context

(Barton 21); however, there are also disadvantages and/or cons on utilizing PAR as it can be

interchangeable to other methodological approaches like Practice as Research (PaR),

Practice-Based Research (PBR) or Practice-Led Research (PLR) which suggests that there

are possibilities of switching the principles and methods under it along the way but

nevertheless, the proponent of the research shall take into account the specified differences of

these methodologies in order to avoid conflict of interest among them as it will be used for

the project.

31
3.3. METHODS

Following the methodology of the research project which is Performance-as-Research

(PAR) and its nature subject matter which is Dramaturgy, the proponent of the project has

chosen and evaluated the process to be applied for the accomplishment of the project and

with that being said, the Context Management (CM) will be the method to be used for the

output of the research. Plainly, in having CM as the method, the factors (e.g., structure,

elements, etc.) that construct and complete the composition of the text material will be

subjected to adjustment and modification in order to attain the intended context. Accordingly,

as the project proponent of research with a supposed output of Dramaturgical Concept and

Performance Text, the role of being the Dramaturg shall be taken upon the application of CM

in the selected script of a certain play.

To get further on the usage of CM as the method for the project, the Dramaturg (i.e.,

research project proponent) shall be the literary manager that will provide ideas, concepts,

and feedback for the new context to ensure that the circumstances, milieu, and themes of the

Performance Text are accurate, precise, and appropriate to its setting and audience, most

especially that the research project involves a no laughing matter and far-reaching subject

which is Mental Health. Additionally, in applying CM to the project, it shall be taken into

account that it will be done with deconstruction as its primary approach and so, the

meaning-making may actually go beyond or separate from the original written text in the

script of the play. Moreover, CM shall involve a profound outlook and in-depth scrutiny of

the structure, given that it will be deconstructed, which properly include a viewpoint and

analysis on its images, symbols, metaphors, characters, geography, and patterns on spatial,

temporal, and kinesthetic (Correa 6) in order to fully accomplish the research project output.

32
3.4. WORK PLAN

In attaining the research objectives of the project, there are specific phases which are

the (1) Pre-Production, (2) Production Proper, and (3) Post-Production, that need to be

accomplished in order to come up with the necessary outputs (e.g., analysis of the text

material, inspection on the project setting, inquiries with the project subject, interview with

the staff in the recovery center, Context Management of the text material, Dramaturgical

Concept, Performance Text, and Oral Presentation of the Performance Text) that are requisite

in completing the creative project. Specifically, the research project will begin to be in motion

through these particular steps under each of it that are (1) Close Reading of the text material

that will involve analysis, (2) a Field Visit to the research setting that will include inspection,

inquiries, and interviews with the research subjects, (3) Piece Deconstruction along with the

Context Management, (4) Script Doctoring for the planned Dramaturgical Concept, (5) Stage

Reading of the written Performance Text, and then finally, (6) Script Revision that will

presumably end with the finalized version of the Performance Text. Accordingly, this course

of actions shall be managed and conducted by the project proponent that will take the role of

being the Dramaturg, considering that the research is in the Dramaturgy aspect of Theatre

Arts field, together with the vital personnel (e.g., Actors, Critics, and Commentators) who are

considerably crucial factors in the procurement of the intended and expected outcome of the

research project. To ensure that it can follow the systematic and organized flow of workload,

the phases and steps must be done in accordance with the certain timeframe (i.e., February

2024 to June 2024). With these said, the table that is attached below, which is entitled as

“Opening a Magic Shop Work Plan”, shows the precise breakdown and discrete listing of the

work plan for this research project;

33
 TIMEFRAME PHASES STEPS OUTPUT PERSONNEL NOTES

Letter of
Analysis of Dramaturg Approval
February 2024 Close Reading the text (Research must be sent
material Project to the
Proponent) Playwright
prior to this

Inspection on
Pre- the project
Production setting;
Inquiries with
the project Dramaturg Letter of
March Field subject (i.e. (Research Request must
2024 Visit General Project be sent to the
Adults in the Proponent) Facility prior
Facility); to this
Interview with
the Staff in
the Recovery
Center

Modifications
Context Dramaturg on the
Management (Research structure and
Piece of the text Project elements of
Deconstruction
material Proponent) the text
March material shall
to be identified
May
2024 Dramaturgical Dramaturg Gathered data
Production Script Concept (Research and context
Proper Doctoring and Project from the Field
Performance Proponent) Visit shall be
Text utilized

Letters of
Oral Invitation
Presentation Actors, must be sent
May Stage Reading of the Critics, and to the
2024 Performance Commentators participating
Text Theatre
Practitioners
prior to this

Reviews,
Dramaturg criticisms, and
June Post- Script Finalized (Research comments
2024 Production Revision Performance Project from the
Text Proponent) Stage Reading
shall be
applied
Table 3.4.1. Opening a Magic Shop Work Plan

34
 Garcia | 1

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