Facing Depression: Pedagogical Discoveries of Students Creating a Devised Theater Project

• In Event: 47.057 - Multimodal Art Practices for Well-Being and Storytelling

Abstract

This study analyzes the reflective writings of a team of student theatrical devisor/actors who created and performed a theatre piece about depression. The performance took place in Logan, UT in the spring of 2017, and we analyzed the data using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The study’s process was deliberately open-ended, as prescribed by IPA methodology, and the research question evolved throughout the process. Given the content of the reflective journals the participants composed, the study considers how participants experienced the devising and performance processes as pedagogical and sometimes therapeutic, helping them gain better understandings of both depression and devised theatre.

Authors

• Matt Omasta, Utah State University

• Alyssa Landroche, Utah State University

• Facing Depression Project Team