Theatre as science

Starting from the premises that theatre`s impact is not only on an artistic level but also it has a
strong impact on the emotional and physical development of the human, the team of MET1, has
run several experiments in order to discover the impact of theatrical exercise on the human
development. The main purpose of the project is to develop a drama therapy methodology with
effect on a neurochemical and neurocognitive level. In order to do that medical staff,
neuroscientist, psychologists, directors and actors have joined forces in order to formulate a
series of experiments that would lead to significant data in order to meet the project`s aims.
Even thought ``The concept of humanities research as discovering new perspectives , or new
information, is actually a very recent formulation (…) prior to the turn of the century the word
research predated the division of knowledge into arts and science`` (Frayling, 1993) the project
discussed aims to approach theatre from a scientifically window as ``There are many radically
different, yet` equally valid` ways of knowing the world, with science being just one of them``
(Boghossian, 2006). The combinations between science and art can offer a successful receipt for
the basis of new approaches in treating or better said helping people to know themselves and
evolve.
Theatre nowadays is not just a building where people are seated and they all watch actors
perform something; theater can be in many ways (Ambiental, political, autobiographical,
participative, social, educational etc. Applied theatre in education is already an old concept
(Andreson&Duun, 2015) and using the same path, applied theatre can be an important tool in the
scientifically research methods. As ``Performance may be a work of choreography, a play or a
score. It can also be an exercise, executed in the classroom or practice studio, such a bare work,
scales or sensory work. (…) Performance is an outcome of you, the artist, doing something in a
certain way. (Byron, 2014), the research team, amongst other experiments decided to explore the
idea that non actors can benefit from the actor`s training techniques in order to improve their
social skills and went into a process of measuring this fact from a psychological point of view.
Relying on the fact that theatre is mainly human interaction, the experiment had a series of
levels. In the first hypothesis a training methodology has to be formulated and then applied to a
group of fist year BA acting students. As the results of the test were encouraging the team
proceeded in working with a second group of people that were non actors. The series of exercises
that were chosen to be applied were discussed in order to follow a certain continuity. It was
formulated a schema, using as a model the educational curricula from the National University of
Theatre and Cinematography ``I.L.Caragiale``, Bucharest, Faculty of Theatre, BA Acting. The
purpose of the training process was to create the opportunity for the young student to understand
the main concept of acting in order to be able, at the end of the training sessions, to interpret a
given text without nervousness and as natural as possible. The training

1
The Development of a methodology for drama therapy with effect on a neurochemical and neurocognitive
https://cinetic.arts.ro/met/