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DIY Interview: Story’s Role in your Practice | StoryLab for film research
2013-04-23

DIY Interview: Story’s Role in your Practice

While I prepare to publish a very interesting conversation I recently had with Helen Blackhurst on the role of Story in her practice as a Drama therapist with children, I thought it might be interesting to throw these questions out to contributors or other interested parties and invite some reflection on and perhaps response to them. The questions are below, but please, feel free to take liberties with them, and adapt to suit your context and interest, and feel free to reply ’bite-sized’ or at length. You can comment here or to pucapuppets@eircom.net where I may edit and reassemble group responses if I should be so lucky.

I am interested in the following things:

What importance, if any, does story play in your work with your clients?

Are there stories that you have come across that have been useful / important to your clients?

Do you have an understanding / ideas around why ?

What elements of stories do you think are most important to children in your experience? (At the end of this mail I have put some elements to help you answer this question but it might be interesting if you think about it / jot down a few first before seeing mine so you can have your own fresh perspective.)

Does a child’s need / interest in stories change as they age? If so, why do you think?

I am interested in talking about the relationships / differences between stories and play and the needs they satisfy in a child (/Adult)

In your work with children do you create new stories together, and if so can you share some of the devices / structures etc that you use to facilitate this?

Are these stories of more use to the child / your work in your opinion?

As a writer of fiction yourself I am interested in discussing with you (as far as you might be open to this) the importance of story to you personally and creatively

Elements of stories that may be of importance to children?

Role models
Fear enactments
Ritual
Repetition
Structure
Resolution
Magic
Relationships
Entertainment
Moral
Narrative
Narrative ’voice’
Setting
Drama
what else?