Dear Editor,

There have been calls for social intervention programmes to tame the negative behaviour of our people.

Due to the limited impact and lack of appropriate data for evidence-based resource allocation, social intervention in Jamaica may be unpopular in dealing with crime and violence. I, therefore, recommend that applied drama be used as a strategic social intervention programme in our communities.

Applied drama is the unconventional operation of theatre that lowers the fourth wall and opens the blurred transference and opportunity for catharsis. Modern terminologies such as edutainment, theatre for development, psychodrama, infotainment, political theatre, and propaganda drama have been associated with applied drama; hence, the metamorphisation of drama as a transformational social tool.

To be fair, within the constructs of Jamaica’s diverse culture, drama has been used to examine solutions and developmental issues. However, we have failed to interrogate the concept in such a way that provides scientific data that may be transferable to the multi-sectoral approach to dealing with crime and violence.

When people are involved in applied drama, it is a purposeful attempt to unconsciously bring the audience into the scene and allow the scene to become life. In other words, it is like pharmaceutical scientists who research, test, and explore remedies and medicines for different ailments, so is applied drama used to examine a people’s complexities.

Let us look at the famous Greek playwright Sophocles who wrote the great tragedy Antigone for the Festival of Dionysus around 442 BC. In the play, King Creon warned all who may want to disobey his law or fight for the opposing side. Some audience at that time would have likely been soldiers from the Greek military preparing for the Samian war. Sophocles may have written this play to make a political statement and advance the welfare of the republic.

In 2021, Jamaica’s playwright Patrick Brown’s play Windscream Posse provided an insight into the lives of the misunderstood windscreen wipers. The audience is left with empathy for our youth on the streets and sympathy for the taxpayers, whose funding of social intervention programmes amounts to billions of dollars.

Overall, if we can capitalise on the outcome of applied drama, the audience would leave entertained, morally cleansed, and with a mirrored perspective of life. If playwrights like Patrick Brown in the 21st century and Sophocles in the BC era can encourage catharsis to unearth emotions to the extent that builds country and patriotism, I believe applied drama should be considered a social intervention programme to aid in Jamaica’s development.

Dr Oniel Tobias

onieltobias@gmail.com