Drama and Intelligence: A Cognitive Theory

Drama, as defined by Courtney, encompasses all kinds of dramatic action, from children's play to social roles and theatre. He shows not only that teachers have found educational drama and spontaneous improvisation to be an invaluable learning tool but that many skills required for work and leisure reflect the theatrical ability to "read" others and see things from their point of view. The main thrust of Drama and Intelligence is that drama can enhance and develop various aspects of intelligence. Courtney suggests that the "costumed player" must bring into play many levels of intelligence in the rehearsal and execution of dramatic acts and that such acts offer unsurpassed opportunities to practice and develop these cognitive skills. He uses the term intelligence to refer to the potential for specific types of mental activity and employs a theoretic-analytic method to view cognition and intelligence in a post-structuralist and semiotic mode. Courtney examines such issues as the relation of the actual to the fictional; the dramatic creation of meaning; signs, symbols, and practical hypotheses; and experi-mental logic, intuition, and tacit modes of operation. Drama and Intelligence will interest not only scholars and students of developmental drama, but also those in the fields of dramatic and performance theory, educational drama, and drama therapy.