Archive for the ‘Drama’ Category

I’ve heard that eyes are the “window of the soul”. Even when someone cannot communicate verbally, I see hunger for eye contact. Dorothy has Alzheimer’s. I show her many things using my hands, art, music, movement…and yet, she will not look at my hands. She looks straight into my eyes. It is then that I put aside my “doing and showing” and allow her to look into my soul and I into hers. I believe that eye contact is a missing ingredient for communication, no matter what the age.

I was searching for something with texture. I found a woodblock I had carved years ago. It was the image of a fish. As we passed the block around, we felt the textures and talked about fishing expeditions. “What was the biggest fish you ever caught?” We laughed as we animatedly shared stories and waved our hands around. Very soon afterwards, those who wanted to, made rubbings with the side of a crayon. Paint was added later.

Pat did not come out of her room often, until she discovered art and drama. She seemed to enjoy the social part and also the laughter and expression.
During a drama session, we were gathered in a circle with various roles for a song we were singing. Each person acted out his or her part of the song. Pat enjoyed dramatizing the part of the bird.

Bring out the old clothes and Halloween costumes from the boxes in storage and become someone different. Each person uses props and dreams up a new name with new interests, dreams, and idiosyncracies. As each person internalizes his or her new role, we dialog back and forth, as we come up with different settings and circumstances. The best part is the laughter. It is a time to forget troubles.