Persona and Performance: The Meaning of Role in Drama and Therapy

This book demonstrates that drama is not only a metaphor for everyday life, but also provides a means of self-examination and life enhancement. Asserting that emotional well-being depends upon an individual’s capacity to manage a complex and often contradictory set of roles, the author shows how role offers a uniquely effective method for working through significant personal problems when used as an element of drama therapy. The volume combines theoretical discussions with extensive clinical illustrations, and covers issues including learning to live with role ambivalence, complexity, and contradiction.

Robert J. Landy, Ph.D., R.D.T., is Associate Professor and Director of the Drama Therapy Program at New York University. He practices as a drama therapist and lectures worldwide on the creative arts therapies. He is a prolific writer who also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the international journal, The Arts in Psychotherapy.