DRAMA: How performance may be used to heal
by Phoebe Newman
With reference to at least two case studies, discuss how performance may be used as a means of personal/social healing.
Performance has been used as a means of healing for centuries, with examples such as the ‘tarantella’ dance dating back to the 14th Century (Gloyne 31). Music and the tarantella were believed to cure the physical symptoms of Tarantism, or spider bites (Gloyne 30). Whether Tarantism was a real illness or mass hysteria has been debated amongst historians, but what is clear is that performing the dance was believed to be healing (Gloyne 29). This sparks an interest in how modern performances have attempted to heal in response to outbreaks of viruses. Have they too been used as a means of healing the physical symptoms of a virus? Alternatively, have they been used to heal the social symptoms caused by a virus’s existence?
The case studies in question are Gareth Malone’s Great British Home Chorus and Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, which responded to Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) respectively. The Great British Home Chorus brought together more than 11,000 voices of the British public (TotalNtertainment). Between March and July of 2020, the group rehearsed and performed online to counter the effects of social isolation. They released a record containing performances of a range of songs, including some written by participants. The Normal Heart, first performed in 1985, is an autobiographical account of Kramer’s experiences relating to AIDS (Davies 109). Through the character of Ned Weeks, the play attempts to raise awareness of AIDS as it depicts the lack of attention given to the outbreak between 1981 and 1984. The performances share methods of healing that are preventative but executed in their own unique ways.
Malone undertook an approach comparable to dramatherapy when forming the Great British Home Chorus. Sue Jennings defines dramatherapy as ‘the application of theatre art in special situations, with the intention that it will be therapeutic, healing or beneficial to the participants’ (33). Malone offered singing as a means of theatre art for thousands of people facing social isolation. His understanding of the need to heal from social isolation is justified; studies have shown links between isolation and poor mental and physical health, including an increased risk of dementia by 40% (Tulane University). The negative impacts of isolation are confirmed in dramatherapy as the practice encourages clients to perform as part of a group; ‘[Theatre art] is the only art form that actually needs other people or at least one witness to the drama being enacted on stage’ (Jennings 22). By building a community through singing, participants were able to access both the healing qualities of theatre art as a therapy and of social interaction. Furthermore, by having the Great British Home Chorus meet virtually, members avoided the dangers of COVID-19 involved with physical interaction. The approach sought to prevent the social suffering that COVID-19 was causing.
Kramer’s approach was similar in the respect that the play worked preventatively, attempting to counter the spread of AIDS (Kramer Normal V). However, there was a key difference between Malone and Kramer’s circumstances. COVID-19 was widely publicised in Great Britain in 2020, with research for a cure already underway and regulations from the government in place. The same could not be said for the response to AIDS in New York in 1985. As Kramer discusses in the play, major newspapers, in particular The New York Times, did little to circulate information about AIDS (Normal 41). Kramer’s method of healing was in educating a mainstream audience to raise awareness of AIDS and thus prevent its spread (Davies 109). By having a mainstream audience, one which is classified as hetero-normative and high profile, informed and sympathetic about the crisis, Kramer believed social change would follow (Juntunen 32).
The Normal Heart appealed to a mainstream audience in several ways: through its traditional structure, strong characters, and heterosexual constructions (Davies 111). The traditional structure resembled the ‘well made play,’ with a contained beginning, middle, and end (Davies 111). It also emphasised themes of love and death rather than sex (Román 63). By highlighting familiar and universal ideas, the mainstream audience were encouraged to relate to and sympathise with the homosexual characters, regardless of sexuality (Davies 111). The strong characters further encouraged an emotional response from the audience as although they may not be able to empathise with AIDS, they would be able to grieve for the characters they had grown close to, such as Felix (Davies 111). Finally, using heterosexual constructions such as marriage to depict the homosexual relationship between Ned and Felix increased the relatability of the play for a mainstream audience (Davies 111). It is argued that by producing mainstream theatre about AIDS, the play is a ‘call for help from the heterosexual community’ (Davies 114). But was Kramer’s approach to healing a success?
Jacob Juntunen argues that it was The Normal Heart that first brought public attention to AIDS, not just in mainstream theatre but in New York generally (32). The play was successful in New York and around the world, running for more than a year before transferring to other cities, including London (Davies 109). Its success was further demonstrated with the publicity it stirred in The New York Times, the newspaper Kramer had condemned for its lack of information surrounding AIDS. The attention from The New York Times contrasted with its article in 1981, in which AIDS was dismissed due to there being ‘no apparent danger to non-homosexuals from contagion’ (Altman 20). In 1985, The New York Times instead highlighted Kramer’s message that ‘neither the hetero-- nor homosexual community has fully met the ever-expanding crisis posed by acquired immune deficiency syndrome’ (Rich 17). The clear difference is proof of Kramer’s impression on the mainstream audience and his success in raising awareness of AIDS. Kramer helped heal potential AIDS victims by making information accessible to a mainstream audience, helping to prevent the spread of AIDS.
Whilst both the Great British Home Chorus and The Normal Heart therefore worked to heal a society on a preventative level, they also offered means of personal healing for individuals involved. Participants of the Great British Home Chorus included National Health Service (NHS) staff, key workers and people shielding (Quayle). Some of their experiences were made public in the documentary series The Choir: Singing for Britain, which demonstrated the healing abilities of performance (Quayle). Sara, a Junior Doctor, had felt encouraged to perform to her colleagues and concluded ‘music is really healing […] I got to give that healing through my work and the song’ (Quayle). Those watching the performances compared the experience to escapism, a mode of healing used to distance oneself from trauma (Quayle). Finally, one shielding participant was encouraged to write and perform a song in memory of his father, who died from COVID-19 (Quayle). He concluded that after the performance he felt a ‘weight lifted off [his] shoulders’ and a closure in coming to terms with his grief (Quayle). The performance had therefore been healing on a personal level for many of its participants as it encouraged their daily use of singing outside of the initial project. Malone provided them with the tools to help heal themselves from trauma relating to COVID-19.
For Kramer and many of the original cast of The Normal Heart, the performance was healing on a personal level. The play provided work for actors with AIDS and an environment to share their experiences as ‘the television and film industries shied away’ from discussions of AIDS (Kearns). For Kramer, the play was also in memory of his partner, who was known to the audience as Felix (Kramer “Together” 94). The play concludes with Felix’s dying wish to Ned: ‘Finish writing something. Okay?’ (Kramer Normal 70). The Normal Heart heals Kramer’s own grief by fulfilling that wish. Kramer confirmed this by stating ‘I wrote it to make people cry: AIDS is the saddest thing I’ll ever have to know. I also wrote it to be a love story, in honor of a man I loved who died’ (“Together” 94). Through the performance, Kramer allowed the gay community in New York to channel their grief and suffering caused by AIDS into theatre, both through acting and viewing (Kistenberg 81). This was a means of personal healing for many individuals involved. They were able to grieve for the loved ones they lost to AIDS in a similar way to how the participants of The Great British Home Chorus grieved for those they lost due to COVID-19.
Although the Great British Home Chorus and The Normal Heart mostly took an indirect approach towards healing, some of their measures contributed to the healing of COVID-19 and AIDS more directly. For example, all profits made from the release of the Great British Home Chorus’s record were donated to NHS Charities Together, who then distributed the money across the NHS during the start of the pandemic (TotalNtertainment). This would have fed money into charities caring for COVID-19 patients and researching a cure for the virus (NHS Charities Together). By funding these donations, the Great British Home Chorus assisted financially in healing current and future patients. The Normal Heart had a similar impact during the original performances. Within the programme, merchandise was advertised with the assurance that proceeds would go to AIDS research, including the AIDS Medical Foundation and Gay Men’s Health Crisis Inc., which features heavily in the play. (Juntunen 36). Pamphlets about AIDS were also made available to all audience members with advice on how to spread the word and support in the crisis (Juntunen 36). Through these methods, Kramer made information about AIDS and how to contribute to research readily available.
In conclusion, there are a multitude of ways in which performance is used as healing. Although under different circumstances, Malone and Kramer both attempted to heal societies by preventing suffering from taking place. Malone used music as a means of dramatherapy to prevent the negative consequences of self-isolation on physical and mental health. Kramer wrote The Normal Heart for a mainstream audience to circulate information and prevent the spread of AIDS. Furthermore, the performances allowed for personal healing. The Great British Home Chorus provided an outlet for participants and viewers to heal and escape from the traumas caused by COVID-19. Both performances offered a means of grieving for those lost due to the viruses.
However, it is notable that neither performance proved to directly heal physical symptoms of either virus. Although they raised money to help fund charities undertaking research and caring for patients, this cannot be considered direct healing. Pre-modern performances remain the only ones believed to have healing powers. It is implied that modern performances have lost this power, as explained by more reliable cures than the tarantella, such as modern medicine, becoming available. However, what is evident about the two modern performances discussed in this essay is their ability to benefit mental and physical health, improving quality of life for those experiencing an outbreak, along with raising awareness for underrepresented groups suffering amidst an outbreak.
Works Cited
Altman, Lawrence K. “Rare Cancer seen in 41 Homosexuals”. The New York Times, New York, 3 July 1981, pp. 20.
Davies, Paul T. “Days Gone By: Tracking AIDS Theatre and Queer Performance”. Alternatives within the Mainstream II: Queer Theatres in post-war Britain, By Dimple Godiwala, Cambridge Scholars Publisher, 2007, pp. 98-123.
Gloyne, Howard F. “TARANTISM: Mass Hysterical Reaction to Spider Bite in the Middle Ages”. American Imago, vol. 7, no. 1. 1950, pp. 29–42.
Jennings, Sue. Introduction to Dramatherapy: Theatre and Healing: Ariadne’s Ball of Thread.Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 1998
Juntunen, Jacob. “Mainstream Theatre, Mass Media, and the 1985 Premiere of The Normal Heart: Negotiating Forces between Emergent and Dominant Ideologies”. “We Will Be Citizens”: New Essays on Gay and Lesbian Theatre, edited by James Fisher, McFarland, 2014, pp. 32-55.
Kearns, Michael. “Can Theatre Heal?”. Backstage, 1 August 2006 <https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/can-theatre-heal-13986/> Accessed 4 December 2021
Kirstenberg, Cindy J. “Convention Theater: As Is and The Normal Heart”. AIDS, Social Change and Theater: Performance as Protest, Garland Publishing, 1995, pp. 49-89.
Kramer, Larry. The Normal Heart. Nick Hern Books, 1985.
“We Can Be Together: How to Organize the Gay Community”. Reports From The Holocaust: The Making of an AIDS Activist, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1990, pp. 78-94.
Malone, Gareth. Great British Home Chorus. Decca Records, 2020.
“About Us”. NHS Charities Together <https://nhscharitiestogether.co.uk/what-we-do-1/> Accessed 28 December 2021.
Louise Quayle, Producer Director. The Choir: Singing for Britain, BBC 2 England, 2020. Box of Broadcasts <https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand/index.php/prog/164B5D51?bcast=132242741> Accessed 5 December 2021.
Rich, Frank. Review of The Normal Heart, directed by Larry Kramer, The New York Times, 22 April 1985.
Román, David. “One and Counting: Early AIDS Plays”. Acts of Intervention: Performance, Gay Culture, and AIDS, Indiana University Press, 1998, pp. 44-87.
“Gareth Malone New EP Of ‘Great British Home Chorus’”. TotalNtertainment, 8 July 2020 <https://www.totalntertainment.com/music/gareth-malone-new-ep-of-great-british-home-chorus/> Accessed 5 December 2021.
“Understanding the Effects of Social Isolation on Mental Health”. Tulane University, 8 December 2020 <https://publichealth.tulane.edu/blog/effects-of-social-isolation- on-mental-health/> Accessed 5 December 2021.
