Pedagogical Discoveries through Participation in a Devised Ethnodrama about Depression

Abstract

Author(s): Omasta, Matt; Landroche, Alyssa; Project Team, The Facing Depression | Abstract: This study employs interpretative phenomenological analysis to investigate theatre artists' perceptions and experiences of the phenomenon of devising and performing an ethnodramatic play about depression. Specifically, it explores reflective journal entries the artists wrote after each rehearsal and performance. The analytic process included identifying, coding, and categorizing significant statements in order to develop warranted assertions about the phenomenon. The data suggest that the phenomenon was pedagogical in nature. As such, this article explores seven emergent themes / beliefs participants apperceived throughout the process and discusses the variable veracity of those beliefs.