Mecca Burns has just come out with a new three-minute video illustrating techniques that psychodramatists will find very familiar.
Role reversal is "Switching Roles."
Doubling is "Thought Bubble."
Mirroring is "Screen Image."
Surplus reality is "Three Wishes."
The video, titled Presence, is elegantly done and the new names, admittedly, bring a freshness to these techniques originated by Dr. J.L. Moreno, the developer of psychodrama, and Augusto Boal, the developer of Theatre of the Oppressed.
Mecca is a drama therapist and co-founder of Presence Center for Applied Theatre Arts which utilizes Theatre of the Oppressed, drama therapy and Playback Theatre to address matters of race, gender, culture and ability.
She is based in Charlottesville, Va., and trains drama therapists and organizes participatory theater in Uganda, Kenya and Spain as well as the United States. For many years she worked as a drama therapist with youth and adults in residential settings. For the past 10 years, she has specialized in working with children with special needs and communities with social justice issues.
