The field of interest of the author is theater and hospital. At first encounter, the disciplines of theatre and medicine may seem worlds apart. However, both are considered »art« and both include the concept of «practice». Theatre is performed, as is a medical procedure. Indeed, it was this basic aspect of «performance», shared by theatre and medicine, which initially inspired the research. Theatre asks questions of life and death as a form of cultural expression, whereas in a hospital the question is related to the very biological, anatomic and psychology of human beings.

The aim of the project is to investigate the promotion of theatrical space within a hospital environment. In this thesis design is used as a bridge between theoretical research in the fields of performing arts and hospitals. Analysis of field notes that came directly from the active observation as participant, and interviews in hospitals and theaters are a key part of this project. The outcome of this research successfully demonstrates that releasing a patient from his/her role as a passive receiver of treatment into the role of actively processing an identity, whether as actors on stage or as an audience, promotes the patients’ wellbeing, and is therefore beneficial for their physical and emotional recovery.

Dragana Blaser
dragana.blaser@hotmail.com
 

Institut Integrative Gestaltung – Masterstudio, HGK FHNW, Freilager-Platz 1, Postfach, CH-4023 Basel
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