The lure of the foreign stage: Chronicles of Italian mobility to France in the long eighteenth century

This article investigates the migration of three Italian-born artists working in France in the field of ephemeral entertainment and argues that their stories were part of a broader process of cultural history and artistic mobility of the long eighteenth century. These artists are the firework makers Ruggieri brothers, the circus performer Antonio Franconi and his family and the stage designer Ignazio Degotti. They left their home country at different points (1730s, 1750s and 1790 respectively), settling in Paris under different socio-political circumstances. Due to the immaterial and contingent medium in which these artists chose to work, which is difficult to replicate and collect, the mobility of these artists has often remained a neglected story. To explore the reasons why these artists moved from their home country and the motivation that convinced them to stay in France, this research combines an attentive examination of archival material with a methodology influenced by methods of cultural history. The paper argues that their lives and their artistic expertise were not only aesthetically relevant, but also very much integrated within the defined social and cultural context they chose to live in.

How we can reduce the environmental impact of our operating theatres: a narrative review

Climate change is projected to become the leading cause of adverse health outcomes globally, and the healthcare system is a key contributor. Surgical theatres are three to six times more pollutant than other hospital areas, and produce anywhere from a fifth to a third of total hospital waste. Hospitals are increasingly expected to make operating theatres more sustainable, however guidelines to improve environmental sustainability are lacking, and previous research takes a narrow approach to operative sustainability. This paper presents a narrative review that, following a 'review of reviews' approach, aims to summarize the key recommendations to improve the environmental sustainability of surgical theatres. Key domains of discussion identified across the literature included minimisation of volatile anaesthetics, reduction of operating theatre power consumption, optimisation of surgical approach, re-use and re-processing of surgical instruments, waste management, and research, education and leadership. Implementation of individual items in these domains has seen significant reductions in the environmental impact of operative practice. This comprehensive summary of recommendations lays the framework from which providers can assess the sustainability of their practice and for the development of encompassing guidelines to build an environmentally sustainable surgical service.

Time for change: compliance with RCS green theatre checklist-facilitators and barriers on the journey to net zero

Background

Climate change is an era-defining health concern, with healthcare related emissions paradoxically compounding negative impacts. The NHS produces 5% of the UK's carbon footprint, with operating theatres a recognised carbon hotspot. NHS England aims to become Net Zero by 2045. Consequently, UK Royal Colleges of Surgery have published guidance to foster an evidence-based sustainable transformation in surgical practice.

Methods

A single-centre quality improvement project was undertaken, aiming to provide an overview of sustainable practice locally. The Intercollegiate "Green Theatre Checklist" was taken as an audit standard, focusing on "preparing for surgery" and "intraoperative equipment" subsections. Any general surgical procedure was eligible for inclusion. Usage of reusable textiles, non-sterile gloves, catheters, antibiotics, alcohol vs. water-based scrub techniques, skin sterilisation choices, and skin closure materials were recorded. Baseline data collection occurred over a 3 week period, followed by dissemination of results locally via clinical governance meetings and poster displays. A re-audit of practice was conducted using the same methodology and duration.

Results

Datasets 1 (n = 23) and 2 (n = 23) included open (n = 22), laparoscopic (n = 24), elective (n = 22) and non-elective (n = 24) cases. Good practice was demonstrated in reusable textiles (trolley covers 96%, 78%, drapes 100%, 92%) however procurement issues reduced otherwise good reusable gown use in Dataset 2 in (90%, 46%). No unnecessary catheter use was identified, and loose skin preparations were used unanimously. Uptake of alcohol-based scrubbing techniques was low (15%, 17%) and unnecessary non-sterile glove use was observed in >30% of procedures. All laparoscopic ports and scissors were single use. Carbon footprints were 128.27 kgCO2e and 117.71 kgCO2e in datasets 1 and 2 respectively.

Conclusion

This project evidences good practice alongside future local focus areas for improved sustainability. Adoption of hybrid laparoscopic instruments, avoiding unnecessary equipment opening, and standardising reusable materials could reduce carbon and environmental impact considerably. Successful implementation requires considered procurement practices, improved awareness and education, clear leadership, and a sustained cultural shift within the healthcare community. Collaboration among professional institutions and access to supporting evidence is crucial in driving engagement and empowering clinicians to make locally relevant changes a reality.

'Why They Laugh At Us?': the functions and ethics of humour in Singaporean theatrical depictions of stigmatised illness

While humour in the context of illness might be perceived to be insensitive or inappropriate, it is used frequently in the medical setting and discussions of illness. This paper strives to answer why humour is used despite these feelings it might elicit, and attempts to outline conditions that inform the ethics of humour in an illness context.This paper analyses two Singaporean theatrical depictions of chronic and stigmatised illnesses: Haresh Sharma's Off Centre (1993), which is about schizophrenia and depression, and Paddy Chew's monologue Completely With/Out Character (1999), on HIV and AIDS. In these plays, humour functions to: first, dispense information on stigmatised illnesses through mediation; second, implicate audiences in stigma-making through defamiliarisation; and third, to exert discursive control for feelings of empowerment. Furthermore, analysing these plays within their contexts demonstrate that humour is crucial for providing a more nuanced understanding of the stigmatised illness experience, since humour can illuminate culturally held notions of sickness and health.While humour is necessary for patients who are routinely misunderstood and alienated, it must be used with discretion to prevent abuse. As this paper demonstrates, the ethics of humour is more nuanced than simply possessing certain identity markers that provide the illusion of exoneration or inclusion. It is also affected by multiple axes of privilege and discrimination. In my conclusion, I argue that the ethics of humour in the illness context is contingent on whether imbalanced power relations and systems of oppression were employed and/or reproduced under the guise of non-seriousness.

Performing HeLa: theatrical bodies and living remains

As a biomedical entity that has been the subject of a plethora of artistic and cultural projects, HeLa, the first immortal human cell line, calls for investigations into the human. Extracted and cultured from the cervical tumour of African-American woman, Henrietta Lacks, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1950s' Baltimore, HeLa's robust capacity to grow has ensured its role in numerous medical advances. The first part of this essay synthesises scientific, sociocultural, familial and philosophical perspectives on HeLa, while the second half applies these perspectives to a reading of a theatrical production, HeLa (2013), written and performed internationally by black British artist Adura Onashile. The discussion considers ways in which prevailing cultural narratives that situate Lacks as a victim, dispossessed of bodily agency in life and after death, might delimit productive possibilities for thinking about Lacks as a contributor to biotechnological progress, and about HeLa as a living remain. Lacks' labour in the creation of HeLa may have been unwitting, but her role in biotechnological progress is profound in that it is constitutive. Onashile's solo performance-its deft choreography moving across the subjectivities of patient, physician and family-presents the political fact of black female corporeality as part of its exploration of scientific innovation. The theatrical registers of Onashile's HeLa open up and nuance imaginings of Lacks/HeLa, moving beyond monolithic conceptions of medical research by creatively investigating Lacks' scientific contribution in the midst (and in the wake) of medical exploitation.

How to play in slow time: Embodying creativity literacies in digital learning environments

This article considers how the emergent digital pedagogies used in a new creativity course run at the Univeristy of New South Wales contribute to the building of sensed, intuitive and embodied creativity literacies. In doing so, it addresses questions around the function of tertiary education within an accelerated, digitised and COVID-19-saturated globe. For while creativity is being touted as what every student needs - and what every employer wants - there is little understanding of how this most mystifying of skills can be taught to students in broad disciplines. There is even less understanding of how full-bodied modalities of creative cognition can be leveraged as moments of deep insight in the socially distanced realm of the digital. Drawing on hands-on methods from ground-breaking musicians, performers, dancers and writers, this article shows how the neuroscience and psychology of taking 'beautiful risks', committing to uncertainty and paying attention can be harnessed in digital learning. These dynamic digital pedagogies are principled in embodied liveness, playful interactivity and generative curiosity. They support students with practical strategies to take risks with imagination, discover through collaboration and work responsively in relation to diverse situations.

Interactive community-based theatre to address social barriers to accessing reproductive health services in patriarchal societies: the case of Jordan

Interactive community-based theatre is used to engage with audience members and allow for free exchange of ideas relevant to context. It aims to bring about a new understanding of an issue while challenging people's attitudes and perceptions. Its application within the field of sexual and reproductive health has been limited, particularly in low and middle-income contexts. This paper presents the rationale for a research-arts partnership in Jordan and describes the process and some lessons learned from the development and country-wide performances of a research-informed interactive play. The play, Mish 'Ayb (Not a Shame) was designed to address social barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive services in a patriarchal society. The sensitive portrayal by Jordanian actors of real-life scenarios pertaining to specific health issues encouraged identification of the audience with the actors, thereby building trust. This process helped to uncover cultural norms that facilitate and impede people's access to health services and information. Qualitative research designs that incorporate interactive theatre present a strong potential avenue to explore sensitive topics related to sexuality, particularly in patriarchal contexts.

The Personality Profiles for Contemporary Macedonian Actors

Theatre is one of the higher cultural activities that characterise us as imaginative, creative and truly human. In general, theatre is an arena in which participants can mentally play, acting out their own fears and fantasies in an experimental way. The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychological personal characteristics, using the MMPI questionnaire, applied in a sample of Macedonian professional actors. MMPI is used as an older form of the questionnaire, standardised in ex-Yugoslavia, and then translated into Macedonian. This is all done with a computer. This research confirms that our (Macedonian) contemporary actors are normal people who function normally in everyday life and generally do not deviate from what in the psychology of personality are denotes as normal/abnormal. Small exceptions are still a rarity! Some indexes of interest are included in this analysis of personal characteristics of actors.

A Neuroscientific and Cognitive Literary Approach to the Treatment of Time in Calderón's Autos sacramentales

Time processing is a fundamental subject in cognitive sciences and neuroscience. Current research is deepening how our brains process time, revealing its essential role in human functionality and survival. In his autos sacramentales, Early Modern Spanish playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca portrays the relationships between human inner workings and the Christian concept of time. These plays portray the experience of the present, the perception of the flow of time, the measure of time raging from seconds to eternity, and the mental travel necessary to inhabit the past and future with the help of memory and imagination. Calderón explores how the dramatic form can portray all these temporal phenomena and how that portrait of time can constrain the dramatic structure. The different parts of the brain in charge of executive decisions, projections, memories, computation, and calibration are the basis that leads these characters to make the choices that will take them to the future they have cast for themselves. This paper analyzes how the processes that Calderón ascribed to the soul of his characters in the 17th century relate to ongoing cognitive and neuroscientific findings.

Are culturally vibrant communities healthier? Relationships between performing arts activity and health outcomes in the 500 largest US cities

AIMS

Recent reviews have demonstrated broad links between performing arts participation (e.g. music-making; dancing; acting) and receptive engagement (e.g. listening to music; attending a dance/theatre performance) and improved health, including reduced disease and mortality risk. However, no investigations to date have interrogated the links between community-level performing arts activity (i.e. participation + receptive engagement) and health outcomes - that is, do the performing arts help create healthy communities? This study aims to address this question by examining links between performing arts activity and health outcomes across 500 cities in the US.

METHODS

Secondary analysis of demographic, health outcome, performing arts activity (estimated by annual performing arts revenue), and preventive/unhealthy behaviour data for 500 large cities in the US - data extracted from the US Centers for Disease Control 500 Cities Project, Dun & Bradstreet Hoovers Database, and US Census. Links between performing arts activity and 12 health/disease outcomes were evaluated using a series of hierarchical beta regression models which progressively controlled for demographic variables and preventive/unhealthy behaviour prevalence.

RESULTS

The 500 analysed US cities comprise 33.4% of the total US population and 84,010 performing arts businesses (total annual revenue $27.84 billion). No significant associations were found between performing arts activity and 9 of 12 health outcomes in fully adjusted models (p ⩾ .17). Statistically significant relationships (p < .01) between increased performing arts activity and increased prevalence of chronic kidney disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke were determined to be clinically equivocal.

CONCLUSIONS

This study contributes to a growing body of conflicting epidemiologic evidence regarding the impact of the performing arts on health/disease and mortality outcomes, evaluated using a range of disparate methodologies. A consensus, psychometrically rigorous approach is required to address this prevailing uncertainty in future epidemiologic studies examining the effects of performing arts activities both within and across countries and communities.

The Cage Case. Arts and Social Neuroscience

A great story told by a musician is the basis of the best stage experimentation of the second half of the 20th century. The musician is John Cage, whose work synthesizes the entire system of arts within the extraordinary world of the avant-garde. This great story begins with the experimental artistic activities which were developed in the 1920s, consolidated in the thirties and continued through the post-war period up to the dawn of the fifties. Apart from the socio-historical cross-section Cage's experimentation provides, it is also a pretext for reflecting on the artist's work as well as the relationship between neuroscience and art. Important contributions to this topic come from the neuro-scientific-social research on new expressions "of creativity, imagination, genius" (Pecchinenda, 2018). This study is based on the assumption that Cage was the forerunner of neuronal experimentation that would be central to the experiments and research of many other artists. The theoretical reference model can be found in the research of the neuroscientist Kandel et al, whose work was the starting point for this investigation. Kandel grasps the definitive break between scientific logic and humanistic sensitivity in the methodological reductionism practiced by neuroscience and in the experiments of contemporary creativity. According to Kandel, both neuroscience and artistic experimentation have similar objectives and problems, and in some respects seem to develop similar methodological practices. Kandel identifies the use of memory, synthesis and knowledge of the world in authors such as Mondrian, de Kooning, Pollock, Rothko, Louis, Warhol as well as the New York school of which Cage was an important member. The relationship between art and neuroscience is synthetized in the avant-garde action of Cage and in all the artists who launched continuous attacks against traditional forms. The transition from figurative art to abstraction is "comparable" to the reductionist process that is used in the scientific field to explain complexity and phenomenology. The prolegomena of this discourse are anticipated by a previous work written by Kandel in 2012 and can also be found in other studies on the relationship between neuroscience and art, in particular in the reflections of the neurobiologist and father of neuroaesthetics, Semir Zeki. Zeki analyzed artists work as a practice perfectly comparable to the research carried out by neuroscientists. Cage, the focus of this investigation, carried out a sound-stage-vision experimentation affecting theatre, media and art which can be examined from at least two different perspectives. The first concerns the definitive subversion of "innate rules of perception" (Kandel) and the second deals with the relationship between art and neuroscience.

Using the performance arts to address a "methods gap" in dementia research

Introduction: Traditional methods of research have frequently failed to accommodate the communication difficulties experienced by a significant proportion of residents living in long-term care. In dementia research, specifically, there is cause for more collaborative, creative ways of working.Methods: The Linking Lives Through Care study is a performance-based narrative inquiry that will take place in a long-term care setting and will bring together all three members of the care triad - residents who are living with dementia, family members and personal support workers - to explore relational care from multiple positions and perspectives.Discussion: In this article, we discuss the design choices and creative measures taken to ensure a more inclusive research environment, specifically for those participants who are cognitively frail and/or may find it difficult to express their views using just words.

Feeling for the Other With Ease: Prospective Actors Show High Levels of Emotion Recognition and Report Above Average Empathic Concern, but Do Not Experience Strong Distress

Differences in empathic abilities between acting, dance, and psychology students were explored, in addition to the appropriateness of existing empathy measures in the context of these cohorts. Students (N = 176) across Higher Education Institutions in the United Kingdom and Europe were included in the online survey analysis, consisting of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME) test, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), the Empathy Quotient (EQ), and the E-drawing test (EDT), each measuring particular facets of empathy. Based on existing evidence and our understanding of the discipline practices, we predicted that acting students would perform the best at identifying people’s emotional expressions but might lack other cognitive or affective empathy skills, particularly those related to emotional reactions. This cohort thus provides an opportunity to evaluate different empathy measures. While actors showed significantly higher RME scores than dancers, the difference between actors and psychologists was marginal. Moreover, actors’ scores did not differ significantly on other empathy measures, such as their concern for others’ emotional wellbeing or fantasy, both measured by IRI subscales. Psychology students scored highest in the IRI perspective taking subscale and the data supported anecdotal evidence that psychologists were more concerned for others’ emotional wellbeing than dancers or actors. Dancers seemed the least concerned with others’ perspectives and emotional states, which we explained through a somatosensory ‘inward’ focus required by their art form. Nevertheless, compared to the general population, our groups reported higher empathic abilities on all IRI subscales except for personal distress. Altogether, our study shows that the RME, the IRI, and the EDT vary in their susceptibility to different facets of empathic abilities in acting, dance, and psychology students whereas the EQ does not. Emotions can be expressed and perceived through language, facial expressions, or behavior. As many empathy tests focus on one type of signal they might miss other strategies. Where empathy tests are applied to individuals that have a predominance to read or respond to others in a particular way, as we showed through these three disciplines, they might not capture these empathic strategies. We thus propose that empathy tests must evolve by means of integrating varied forms of communication.

Noise Evaluation of Arthroplasty Theaters: Results From the NEAT Study

AIMS

The aim of this study was to define the levels of noise exposure for the surgeon, assistant, scrub nurse, and anesthetist during total hip and knee arthroplasty surgery. In addition, we sought to determine whether the noise exposure during these procedures reaches or exceeds the action values set out by the U.K. Noise at Work Regulations (2005).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Individual noise exposure during arthroplasty hip and knee surgery was recorded using a personal noise Dosemeter System model 22 (DM22) (Pulsar instruments, Filey, U.K.). Recordings were taken in real-time during five separate theater sessions. Each theater session included two arthroplasty procedures and lasted approximately 4 hrs. Personal noise exposure was expressed in terms of peak sound pressure and an average noise exposure over an 8-hour time-period to reflect the noise experienced by the ear over a working day.

RESULTS

In all three sessions involving total hip replacement surgery, the peak sound pressure, for the operating surgeon exceeded the exposure action values set out by the U.K. Noise at Work Regulations. Theater sessions involving total knee replacement surgery did not exceed any exposure action values for LCPeak or LEPd.

CONCLUSION

Arthroplasty surgery is a working environment with significant noise exposure. We recommend any surgeon or theater member who is concerned about the noise generated in their theater to have noise levels formally assessed using appropriately positioned recording devices.

Patient outcomes in Tropical North Queensland after implementation of a dedicated orthopaedic trauma list

BACKGROUND

To assess patient outcomes after the introduction of a regular orthopaedic-specific trauma list (OTL).

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of 422 trauma cases was performed comparing patient outcomes after the introduction of the OTL. Four common traumatic injuries requiring operative intervention were considered; closed tibial fractures, intra-capsular neck of femur fractures, displaced paediatric supracondylar humeral fractures and hand tendon injuries. The outcomes assessed included time from patient referral to theatre, time from admission to theatre, operative times, time of day operation commenced, consultant involvement, hospital length of stay (LOS), returns to theatre and mortality.

RESULTS

Tibial fractures had an increased time from admission to theatre (0.46 days pre-OTL versus 1.21 days post-OTL, P = 0.01), hand tendons injuries had an increase in time from referral to theatre (1.06 days pre-OTL versus 2.82 days post-OTL, P = 0.001). Consultant involvement increased for supracondylar procedures (27% pre-OTL versus 61% post-OTL, P < 0.001) and tendinous hand injury repairs (5% pre-OTL versus 37% post-OTL, P < 0.001). There was a decrease in cases starting after 17:00 hours; however, no group reached statistical significance. There was a reduction in complications and shorter inpatient LOS, however; these were not statistically significant. There was no difference in overall operative times after OTL implementation; however, individual group differences existed between registrars and consultants.

CONCLUSION

Implementing regular orthopaedic trauma lists resulted in greater consultant involvement and was associated with decreased after-hours operating. Delays to theatre increased from both time of referral and admission; however, this was not correlated with increases in significant harm.

„Sieben Plagen auf einmal schlagen“ – Theatrale Hygienepropaganda und Infektionskrankheiten in der Sowjetunion der 1920 er–40 er Jahre**

This paper explores the role and impact of the official Soviet hygiene propaganda during the first three decades after the October Revolution, taking as an example theatrical performances about infectious diseases. In the Bolshevik Great Experiment of the 1920s–30s, the creation of a “Soviet body” optimized according to aesthetic and medical‐hygienic norms was one of the core parts of the socialist project. For that purpose, hygiene campaigns were organized to promote hygiene and cleanliness with posters, leaflets, mobile exhibitions and lectures. Moreover, starting in the 1920s the theatrical performances were demonstrated in open‐air theatres and clubhouses for workers and farmers. Even in the kolkhoz fields agitprop‐revues, agit‐trials, living newspapers and didactic plays were performed. Many of them addressed the issues of epidemics. To popularize medical knowledge, special theatres of sanitary education were opened in Moscow and other cities of the country in the mid‐1920s–30s. Using archival materials of the Moscow Theatre for Sanitary Culture (1925–1947), the article shows theatrical techniques for producing evidence used in performances, bacteriological coding of political antagonisms on sanitary stages and transformations of everyday cultural practices in theatrical hygiene propaganda.

Shall I compare thee…to a robot? An exploratory pilot study using participatory arts and social robotics to improve psychological well-being in later life

Research suggests that the use of creative, artistic activities in later life may positively impact the psychological well-being of older adults. Social robots have been utilized in research with older adults, however, few studies have integrated participatory arts (e.g. theatre) into social robotic platforms for the purpose of implementing a psychosocial intervention with this population. An interdisciplinary team designed and delivered an intervention integrating theatre and social robotics with the aim of improving the psychological well-being of study participants both with and without cognitive impairment who live in a residential care setting. A purposive sample of older adults age 65 and older (N = 15) participated in this 3-session pilot study that involved a Shakespeare participatory art activity using the robot, NAO. Pre and post tests were conducted before and after each session with measures of depression, loneliness, and a simplified face scale for mood were asked. Results from Repeated Measurement Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that depression, loneliness and face scores had significantly decrease across six time periods and these declines differed between people with dementia and those without dementia. In addition, only significant changes of depression before and after the intervention were found between persons with and without dementia. We discuss the promising aspects of using social robotics as a platform for participatory arts interventions with older adults and offer lessons learned from the use of innovative technology in residential care settings.

Orthopaedic Trauma Theatre Efficiency in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Are We Returning to Normality?

Background

Recent studies have shown a decline in theatre efficiency and productivity coinciding with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this study, we evaluate trauma theatre task efficiency in three different time periods (April 2019, April 2020, and November 2020), and analyse if productivity has altered since the start of the pandemic.

Methods

The records of a total of 320 patients who underwent orthopaedic trauma surgery at a large district general hospital in April 2019, April 2020 (during the first wave of the pandemic) and November 2020 (during the second wave of the pandemic) were analysed. Primary outcomes measured include time to get to the theatre, anaesthetic preparation time, the sum of time of anaesthesia and surgical preparation time, duration of surgery and time to transfer to recovery. Patient demographics as well as the type of surgery were also analysed.

Results

The time to get to the theatre and anaesthetic preparation time significantly increased in April 2020 (p<0.05) but fell in November 2020 with no significant difference in comparison to before the pandemic in April 2019 (p>0.05). The duration of surgery and time to transfer to recovery significantly increased in April 2020 (p<0.05) and though reduced in November 2020, was still significantly greater in comparison to April 2019 (p<0.05). In April 2020, the proportion of patients aged 18-65 was just 26% as compared to 35% in April 2019. This figure rose again to 45% in November 2020. The number of hip fracture procedures remained similar during the three time periods, with 32, 32 and 36 hip fracture operations in April 2019, April 2020 and November 2020, respectively.

Conclusion

While operating theatres' efficiency decreased during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it increased again in the second wave, coming close to the ‘normal’ levels before the pandemic struck.

Rating the Acting Moment: Exploring Characteristics for Realistic Portrayals of Characters

Good actors appear to become their characters, making them come alive, as if they were real. Is this because they have succeeded in merging themselves with their character? Are there any positive or negative psychological effects of this experience? We examined the role of three characteristics that may make this kind of merging possible: dissociation, flow, and empathy. We also examined the relation of these characteristics to acting quality. Acting students (n = 44) and non-acting students (n = 43) completed a dissociation measure, and then performed a monologue that was recorded and rated on the dimensions of acting. Participants were then reassessed on dissociation to determine whether it increased as a function of performance. They were also then assessed on flow and empathy. Actors did not differ from non-actors on dissociation, but did score significantly higher than non-actors on some flow and empathy subscales, indicating a positive psychological experience and outcome. While non-actors’ dissociation marginally increased post-performance, actors’ dissociation rose significantly, which could indicate a negative psychological experience. Surprisingly, acting ratings were unrelated to the levels of dissociation, flow, or empathy. We concluded that, while these are tools used by actors to immerse themselves fully in their characters, they may not be necessary to create the illusion of an imaginary character come to life on stage.

Scent in the Context of Live Performance

Ambient smell has long been a feature of live performance, no matter whether its presence was intentional or not. While, once upon a time, the incidental presence of malodour was an inevitable feature of proceedings, the deliberate use of scent can actually be traced all the way back to the earliest rituals. This review attempts to trace the long history of scent's use in processions, pageants, and, most important, performance. From Shakespeare's time onward, scent has been used as an atmospheric/ambient cue. It has been used to create a certain mood, to trigger memories/nostalgia, and, on occasion, it has also served a narrative role. While the use of scent has often been merely illustrative (or pleonastic), there have been numerous occasions where olfactory stimulation has taken on a far more important evaluative role, critical or otherwise. Most often, this has been in the theatre, but also on occasion in the context of the opera, musical, ballet, and comedy too. In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in scenting live performance/entertainment, especially in the context of highly immersive and experiential multisensory events. While high-tech solutions to scent delivery have been a prominent feature of its use in the cinema, low-tech solutions have more often been incorporated in the live-performance setting. This and a number of other important differences between scent's use in the theatrical versus cinematic setting are highlighted.

[Not Available]

The present contribution analyses the nervousness and neurasthenia discourse in the early Soviet Union. Its focus is on psycho‐hygienic plays staged by the Moscow Theatre for Sanitary Culture. It asks in which images, figures and actions a knowledge about the nervous disorder was presented on stage, which genre traditions and communicative instruments were used and on which changing political implications those performances were based. To obtain this the archive sources, selected texts of neurasthenic dramas, reports and reviews in daily press have been evaluated.

The Demands of Performance Generating Systems on Executive Functions: Effects and Mediating Processes

Performance generating systems (PGS) are rule- and task-based approaches to improvisation on stage in theater, dance, and music. These systems require performers to draw on predefined source materials (texts, scores, memories) while working on complex tasks within limiting rules. An interdisciplinary research team at a large Western Canadian University hypothesized that learning to sustain this praxis over the duration of a performance places high demands on executive functions; demands that may improve the performers' executive abilities. These performers need to continuously shift attention while remaining responsive to embodied and environmental stimuli in the present, they are required to inhibit automated responses and impulses using the rules of the system, and they strive toward addressing multitasking challenges with fluidity and flexibility. This study set out to test the mentioned hypothesis deductively and identify mediating processes inductively, using mixed empirical methods. In a small sample experiment with a control group (28 participants; 15 in intervention group, 13 in control group), standardized quantitative tests of executive functions (D-KEFS) were administered before and after an 8-week intervention. Participant-reported qualitative observations from the praxis were also collected throughout the intervention for grounded analysis. Within the limitations of small sample data, we found both statistically significant and trending effects on inhibition, problem-solving initiation, fluidity, and cognitive flexibility. Examining the mediating process, we found that participants experienced significant challenges sustaining the practice halfway through the intervention. The participant-reported solutions to these challenges, which emerged as the strongest behavioral patterns when coding the qualitative data to saturation, were strategies of problem-solving and of re-directing attention. These strategies support and advance our understanding of the effects measured in the standardized tests. In terms of application, our results identify characteristics of PGS that could potentially maintain and strengthen executive functions over and above less demanding performing arts interventions. The results also deliver new insight into how PGS works, which may contribute to the development and teaching of this artistic practice.

Surgical Locker room Environment: Understanding the Hazards (SLEUTH) study

BACKGROUND

Anecdotal evidence reveals that medical equipment are easily found in hospital changing rooms. Access to potentially lethal drugs and intravenous access equipment may put vulnerable medical staff at risk. The aims are to quantify the burden of medical equipment found in this environment, calculate the associated cost burden and to raise clinician awareness about a potential health hazard.

METHODS

We prospectively collected data on the medical paraphernalia found in surgical changing rooms from one private and two public hospitals in South Australia over 2 months. We systematically searched open surgical lockers, benches and floors in male and female lockers rooms. Item costs were calculated from Imprest and the Pharmacy Department.

RESULTS

During the study period, we found a total of 537 items. There were 280 sharps, including 185 scalpels found in one open locker. There were 78 items of intravenous paraphernalia, 38 surgical tapes, 70 bandages and 73 miscellaneous items. In addition, there were six medications found including 3 × 5 mL vials of 1% lignocaine, one vial of lignocaine with adrenaline, one ketorolac suppository and 5 mL fentanyl. There were 529 (98.5%) items within their date of expiry. The total cost of the items was 2358 Australian dollars (AUD), with an estimated annual cost of 14 148 AUD over the three sites and 424 400 AUD over South Australia.

CONCLUSION

The burden of available medical supplies found in the theatre changing room is high and worrisome. Strategies for appropriate disposal and safe storage of medical equipment are required.

Art Meets Sport: What Can Actor Training Bring to Physical Literacy Programs?

The aim of this communication is to highlight synergies and opportunities between the fields of education, sport and health and the performing arts for the promotion of physical literacy. First, physical literacy is introduced and then defined according to the definition used in this communication. Secondly, we highlight the gap in physical literacy interventions, in that they do not address learning based on a holistic comprehensive definition of physical literacy. Then we provide examples of interventions that do borrow from the arts, such as circus arts, and show how these approaches explicitly link to the discipline of arts. This is followed by program examples, which approach motor and language development from discipline-specific perspectives. Then we introduce actor training (within the discipline of arts) in terms of how this approach may be useful to our understanding of physical literacy and how to expand the conception of physical literacy to include affective meaning making, and tolerance for ambiguity and discomfort in not-knowing. Finally, we conclude with the next step for the bridging of disciplines in order to further our journey to understand and improve physical literacy.

Infection prevention measures for orthopaedic departments during the COVID-2019 pandemic: a review of current evidence

AIM

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents significant challenges to healthcare systems globally. Orthopaedic surgeons are at risk of contracting COVID-19 due to their close contact with patients in both outpatient and theatre environments. The aim of this review was to perform a literature review, including articles of other coronaviruses, to formulate guidelines for orthopaedic healthcare staff.

METHODS

A search of Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, World Health Organization (WHO), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) databases was performed encompassing a variety of terms including 'coronavirus', 'covid-19', 'orthopaedic', 'personal protective environment' and 'PPE'. Online database searches identified 354 articles. Articles were included if they studied any of the other coronaviruses or if the basic science could potentially applied to COVID-19 (i.e. use of an inactivated virus with a similar diameter to COVID-19). Two reviewers independently identified and screened articles based on the titles and abstracts. 274 were subsequently excluded, with 80 full-text articles retrieved and assessed for eligibility. Of these, 66 were excluded as they compared personal protection equipment to no personal protection equipment or referred to prevention measures in the context of bacterial infections.

RESULTS

There is a paucity of high quality evidence surrounding COVID-19. This review collates evidence from previous coronavirus outbreaks to put forward recommendations for orthopaedic surgeons during the COVID-19 pandemic. The key findings have been summarized and interpreted for application to the orthopaedic operative setting.

CONCLUSION

For COVID-19 positive patients, minimum suggested PPE includes N95 respirator, goggles, face shield, gown, double gloves, and surgical balaclava.Space suits not advised.Be trained in the correct technique of donning and doffing PPE.Use negative pressure theatres if available.Minimize aerosolization and its effects (smoke evacuation and no pulse lavage).Minimize further unnecessary patient-staff contact (dissolvable sutures, clear dressings, split casts).

Using theatre as an arts-based knowledge translation strategy for health-related information: a scoping review protocol

INTRODUCTION

Substantial delays in translating evidence to practice mean that many beneficial and vital advances in medical care are not being used in a timely manner. Traditional knowledge translation (KT) strategies have tended to target academics by disseminating findings in academic journals and at scientific conferences. Alternative strategies, such as theatre-based KT, appear to be effective at targeting broader audiences. The purpose of this scoping review is to collate and understand the current state of science on the use of theatre as a KT strategy. This will allow us to identify gaps in literature, determine the need for a systematic review and develop additional research questions to advance the field.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This review will follow established scoping review methods outlined by Arksey and O'Malley in conjunction with enhanced recommendations made by Levac et al. The search strategy, guided by an experienced librarian, will be conducted in PubMed, CINHAL and OVID. Study selection will consist of three stages: (1) initial title and abstract scan by one author to remove irrelevant articles and create a shortlist for double screening, (2) title and abstract scan by two authors, and (3) full-text review by two authors. Included studies will report specifically on the use of theatre as means of KT of health-related information to any target population. Two reviewers will independently extract and chart the data using a standardised data extraction form. Descriptive statistics will be used to produce numerical summaries related to study characteristics, KT strategy characteristics and evaluation characteristics. For those studies that included an evaluation of the theatre production as a KT strategy, we will synthesise the data according to outcome.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical approval was not required for this study. Results will be published in relevant journals, presented at conferences and distributed via social media.

Stronger together: learning from an interdisciplinary dementia, arts and well-being network (DA&WN)

Background This paper reports on the learning from a 12-month interdisciplinary project (Dementia, Arts and Wellbeing Network- DA&WN) and its activities. These featured a series of four workshops on dance, visual art, theatre and music. The network was comprised of clinicians, academics, creative practitioners and people with lived experience of dementia and their carers. Methods The workshops were designed to draw out tacit knowledge about well-being in dementia through an action-based learning and research approach. This included, guided activities combined with reflective group discussions, visual documentation and baseline and follow-up questionnaires. Results Outcomes included new collaborations between group members, changes in creative practice for artists, and active and sustained involvement of people living with dementia and their carers in similar opportunities and participatory research. Conclusion This participatory and inclusive workshop model should be considered to develop and enhance interdisciplinary activities in dementia care.

The effect of speed and precaution technique on postpartum bleeding among midwifery students in the clinical field

BACKGROUND

Cooperative teaching methods have been used widely in medical education. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of theater in the clinical stage on postpartum hemorrhage management among midwifery student.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This was an experimental study, performed in 2016 among midwifery students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and selected through the random sampling method. Satisfaction questionnaire and clinical practice checklist were completed by both groups before and after the education. The collected data were analyzed using independent t-test and paired test. The significant level was considered statistically <0.05.

RESULTS

The findings of independent t-test did not show any significant difference between satisfaction and clinical practice scores of theater and control group before intervention while a statistically significant difference was observed in after intervention between the scores of two groups (P = 0.001). Paired t-test showed a statistically significant difference in satisfaction and clinical practice score in two groups after intervention theater and control group, respectively (P = 0.002, P = 0.002).

CONCLUSION

Theater method in postpartum hemorrhage can be increased satisfaction and clinical practice levels in midwifery students. Hence, the conduction of this educational model is recommended as an effective learning.

Do theatre staff use face masks in accordance with the manufacturers' guidelines of use?

Aim

Surgical face masks are worn by theatre staff to protect the surgical site from airborne contamination and the wearer from bodily fluid splash. This observational/audit aimed to assess whether theatre staff wear masks in accordance with manufacturers'/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines of use.

Methods

A total of 1034 surgically scrubbed staff were assessed on their technique of applying surgical face masks, compared to the CDC guidelines as manufacturers' guidelines were not available as per Health and Safety Executive guidelines.

Results

Only 18% of surgically scrubbed staff fully complied with the CDC guidelines on the application of a face mask. Compliance was worst in urology, ophthalmology and vascular surgeons, whereas orthopaedic and plastic surgeons were the most compliant.

Discussion

Compliance with CDC face mask guidelines may have an impact on surgical site infections (SSI) and protection of staff from body fluid splash, but most staff do not comply with these guidelines.

Conclusions

Most operating theatre staff do not apply a face mask using correct technique, outlined in CDC guidance, which may increase SSI rates. Staff are not aware of existing guidelines for donning a mask.

The neuroscience of Romeo and Juliet: an fMRI study of acting

The current study represents a first attempt at examining the neural basis of dramatic acting. While all people play multiple roles in daily life-for example, 'spouse' or 'employee'-these roles are all facets of the 'self' and thus of the first-person (1P) perspective. Compared to such everyday role playing, actors are required to portray other people and to adopt their gestures, emotions and behaviours. Consequently, actors must think and behave not as themselves but as the characters they are pretending to be. In other words, they have to assume a 'fictional first-person' (Fic1P) perspective. In this functional MRI study, we sought to identify brain regions preferentially activated when actors adopt a Fic1P perspective during dramatic role playing. In the scanner, university-trained actors responded to a series of hypothetical questions from either their own 1P perspective or from that of Romeo (male participants) or Juliet (female participants) from Shakespeare's drama. Compared to responding as oneself, responding in character produced global reductions in brain activity and, particularly, deactivations in the cortical midline network of the frontal lobe, including the dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortices. Thus, portraying a character through acting seems to be a deactivation-driven process, perhaps representing a 'loss of self'.

Changes in understandings and perceptions of individuals, significant others and community supporters involved in a theatre company for adults with intellectual disabilities

BACKGROUND

Theatre companies to show positive capabilities and identities of people with intellectual disabilities have been established. Existing research focuses upon sole theatre performances and rarely includes the impacts on those in the immediate and wider contexts of people with intellectual disabilities.

METHODS

The impacts of a theatre company on understandings and perceptions of intellectual disabilities from multiple perspectives were explored. Interviews with members with intellectual disabilities (n = 14), and focus groups with significant people in their lives (n = 11) and community supporters (n = 10) were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Four superordinate and nine subordinate themes were identified. The theatre company increased members' connectivity, allowed them to experience parts of life they are often excluded from, and enabled growth for all participants, leading to a desire to extend the theatre company's ethos elsewhere.

CONCLUSIONS

The importance of such organisations to improve perceptions of people with intellectual disabilities is emphasized.

Reading Photography in French Nineteenth Century Journals

This article explores how photographs published in the French medical and, to some extent, the popular press helped readers to interpret expressions and gestures as signs of emotional states, morbid conditions and physiological and psychological processes. The first two sections examine the use of photography to visualise normal and pathological bodies through measurements and experiments in the medical press, particularly Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpêtrière, Archives de Neurologie and L'Année Psychologique. The next two sections study how the development of new photographic processes such as the magnesium flash and chronophotography created new conditions in which the body could be visually scrutinised in the medical press as well as popular journals such as Le Théâtre and the general scientific journal La Nature. This analys results in two main findings: 1) medical journals used photography to assert their own disciplinary identities, and 2) photography acted as a potential bridge between audiences, as some medical and popular journals shared the same beliefs regarding photography's ability to represent the human body, but approached photographic innovations from different, albeit complementary, ways.

Transforming identity through participation in music and theatre: exploring narratives of people with mental health problems

Background: There is a growing understanding that mental health problems and prolonged contact with mental healthcare systems can affect people’s identities. Working with identity is an important element in mental health recovery.

Purpose: In this article, we explore the significance of participation in a music and theatre workshop in terms of people`s experiences of identity.

Design and methods: This is a qualitative study based on a hermeneutical phenomenological epistemology. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with 11 participants at a music and theater workshop, analysed through a narrative analysis and presented in an ideographical “long” narrative form. The music and theater workshop is not overtly therapeutic although the activity takes place in a Norwegian mental health hospital for adults living with long-term mental health problems.

Results: We identified three crosscutting themes: (1) becoming a whole person, (2) being allowed to hold multiple identities and (3) exploring diverse perspectives.

Conclusion: Findings show that participation in the music and theatre workshop transformed the participants’ experiences of identity on two levels: individually and collectively. The participants developed a broader picture of themselves through their creative work with others. When they developed new identities, the narratives of themselves expanded.

Art and theatre for health in rural Cambodia

This article describes our experience using art and theatre to engage rural communities in western Cambodia to understand malaria and support malaria control and elimination. The project was a pilot science–arts initiative to supplement existing engagement activities conducted by local authorities. In 2016, the project was conducted in 20 villages, involved 300 community members and was attended by more than 8000 people. Key health messages were to use insecticide-treated bed-nets and repellents, febrile people should attend village malaria workers, and to raise awareness about the risk of forest-acquired malaria. Building on the experience and lessons learnt in the year prior, the 2017 project which was conducted in 15 villages involved 600 community members and attracted more than 12,000 people. In addition to the malaria theme, upon discussion with local health authorities, secondary theme (infant vaccination) was added to the 2017 project. We learnt the following lessons from our experience in Cambodia: involving local people including children from the beginning of the project and throughout the process is important; messages should be kept simple; it is necessary to take into consideration practical issues such as location and timing of the activities; and that the project should offer something unique to communities.

Vulnerability, survival and shame in Nina Raine's Tiger Country

Shame in healthcare remains relatively underexplored, yet it is commonplace and its impact is significant. This paper explores shame in healthcare using Nina Raine's 2011 play Tiger Country Three manifestations of shame are explored, namely (1) shame in relation to professional identity and survival in the clinical workplace; (2) shame and illness as experienced by both patients and doctors; and (3) the systemic and organisational influences on shame within healthcare systems. I suggest that the theatre is particularly well-placed to elucidate shame, and that Tiger Country demonstrates the prevalence and impact of shame on clinical work. Shame has a fundamental and overlooked relationship with damaging and well-documented phenomena in healthcare, including moral distress, ethical erosion, compassion fatigue, burnout, stress and ill health. Attention to shame is essential for those interested in medicine and healthcare and must, I propose, include the experiences and perceptions of those who provide care, as well as attending to those who receive care.

Changes in anxiety following a randomized control trial of a theatre-based intervention for youth with autism spectrum disorder

Increased anxiety and stress are frequently found in children with autism spectrum disorder and are associated with social challenges. Recently, we reported changes in social competence following peer-mediated, theatre-based intervention. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the intervention on reducing anxiety and stress. Participants included 30 youth with autism spectrum disorder (8-14 years old) randomly assigned to the experimental (17) or waitlist control (13) group. Pretest adjusted, between-group differences were analyzed for state-anxiety, trait-anxiety, play-based cortisol, and diurnal cortisol. Pearson correlations were conducted between anxiety, cortisol, and group play. Significant pretest-adjusted between-group differences at posttest were observed on trait-anxiety (F(1, 27) = 9.16, p = 0.005) but not state-anxiety (F(1, 27) = 0.03, p = 0.86), showing lower trait-anxiety in the experimental group. There were no between-group differences on cortisol. There was a significant negative correlation between group play and trait-anxiety (r = -0.362, p = 0.05). Playground cortisol correlated with group play, for the experimental group (r = 0.55, p = 0.03). The theatre-based, peer-mediated intervention not only contributes to improvement in social competence in youth with autism spectrum disorder but also contributes to reductions in trait-anxiety associated with more social interaction with peers. Results suggest that some degree of physiological arousal is essential for social interaction.

"Making it personal": ideology, the arts, and shifting registers in health promotion

In South Africa, health promotion related to HIV/AIDS has been characterised as a component of public health prevention. It has heavily utilised global health ideology to construct promotional messages that rely on neoliberal models of individual, responsible health citizenship. However, after nearly 30 years of public health messaging, there have been only minor shifts in the country's HIV prevalence rates; it has become apparent that there is disconnect between policy, programmes, and target audiences. Debates about where this disconnect occurs tend to focus on the role of problems in biomedical knowledge translation or with structural inequalities that lead to health inequity. As debates increase, artists involved in health have emerged to address an additional reason: audience interpellation. In this article, I interrogate relationships between health promotion ideology and processes of interpellation. I suggest that disconnect between the two has roots in the tone of programming, the ways sociality is constructed within health promotion, and the kind of subject which global prevention programmes seek to constitute. Using a case study, I illustrate how public health ideology is made actionable through arts practice. While conventional health promotion programmes address populations in a way that allows individuals to distance themselves, members of South Africa's arts sector have worked to integrate prevention and care in a way that bolsters interpellation through making messages personal. The case study presents one performance but is informed by my broader research with over 20 theatrical groups conducted during 18 months of fieldwork. Analysis of the production reveals that artists act as mediators between population-level public health messages and individuals through the embodied technologies of applied theatre. However, I argue that artists also create space for participants to reimagine configurations of care, responsibility, and intimacy within health practices.

'Theatre as an eye-opener': How theatre may contribute to knowledge about living close to persons with dementia

The aim of the study was to show how theatre may yield insight into living close to persons with dementia. Six focus group interviews with health providers and close relatives were conducted. The informants, recruited by the local dementia associations and nursing homes in three Norwegian towns, were invited to see the theatre play Our Wonderful World. Further, they were asked to send written reflections from during and after the play to the project group within one week. Transcripts from the interviews and reflection notes were analysed inspired by a phenomenological approach. After discussion and reflection on each member's preliminary themes, a common meaning of the informants' experiences were gained. Informants gave written informed consent and The Norwegian Social Sciences Data Services assessed the project. Data showed that the two groups of informants had different knowledge of the patients' earlier life and thoughts of the future. They became aware of how different they experienced their responsibility, and they expressed different attitudes as to how open one should be about the illness. Findings are summarised in four themes: Bright memories and sombre views of the future, Life responsibility versus professional responsibility and Shielding versus openness. The drama creates emotional engagement that enabled the informants to transcend their personal experiences and gain new knowledge.

'I learned to accept every part of myself': the transformative impact of a theatre-based sexual health and HIV prevention programme

Theatre-based interventions have been used in health promotion activities among young people to address HIV and sexual health. In this study, we explored the experience of undergraduate student performers participating in a theatre-based HIV prevention and sexual health education intervention for high school students in the USA. Undergraduate students enrolled in a credit-bearing course to learn about HIV and sexual health, participatory theatre and health education techniques. We analysed students' reflective essays written throughout the semester to identify any changes and the intervention processes that promoted these changes. Students experienced five interrelated forms of transformation: (1) increased knowledge about HIV and sexual health; (2) changes in attitude and communication about sex; (3) artistic growth; (4) emotional growth; and (5) clarification of career goals and future plans. Intervention processes that contributed to these transformations included improvisation, guided writing exercises, the creation of a close-knit cohesive group, and interactions with a group of HIV-positive speakers. Theatre-based, peer-led sexual health programmes can provide a transformative experience for undergraduate student performers. The transformative effects are linked to specific activities and processes of the intervention and require examination in future research.

Bühnen des Kapitalismus: Der Getreidehandel als Wissensobjekt zwischen den Weltkriegen

Capitalism on Stage: Grain Trade as Objects of Knowledge During the Interwar Period. Between 1900 and 1930 the worldwide grain markets attained considerable attention in literature (Frank Norris' novel The Pit of 1903), cinema (D. W. Griffith's A Corner in Wheat of 1909), theatre (Bertolt Brecht's unfinished play fragment Jae Fleischhacker in Chikago, 1924-1926), politics (e. g. Report of the Federal Trade Commission on the Grain Trade, 1920-1926) and economics (e. g. Wheat Studies by the Food Research Institute at Stanford University, 1924-1944). The paper discusses grain trade as objects of knowledge in paradoxical situations and entails a parallel reading of these texts by analyzing their epistemic practices and narrative techniques. Bertolt Brecht's comprehensive plan to depict the laws of the allocation and distribution of grain markets on stage failed in 1926 and he turned to Marxism. In the meantime economic research focused on the aggregation of statistics relating to world grain supplies and prices. Studies about the relation between changes in the volumes of stocks and phases of trade cycles served furthermore as material for John Maynard Keynes' abolition of the classical theory around 1930.

The role of culture in effective HIV/AIDS communication by theatre in South Africa

The need to effectively communicate HIV/AIDS messages in South Africa, given the high prevalence of the pandemic, cannot be overemphasised. Communication scholars have long emphasised the need to recognise adherence to cultural norms of target communities as catalyst for effective HIV/AIDS communication. Unfortunately this call has not been totally heeded by the designers of HIV/AIDS communication instruments. In the case of theatre, research has shown that in South Africa, theatre groups have gone into communities with pre-packaged plays without due cognisance of the cultural norms and beliefs of the target population. This research was conducted in KwaZulu-Natal (the province with the highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS infection in South Africa). Using a qualitative research methodology this paper investigated the inclusion/non-inclusion of the cultural norms of the target population in the design of the dramatic performance by the theatre group in its HIV/AIDS campaigns. The findings indicate that while the group did try to incorporate aspects of the cultural norms of the target population, it did so at a level that failed to effectively communicate the HIV/AIDS message to its audiences. This paper therefore seeks to show through empirical evidence that the non-inclusion of cultural norms and values of the target population has acted as a stumbling block in the effective communication of HIV/AIDS messages by theatre groups in the country.

Peer-mediated theatrical engagement for improving reciprocal social interaction in autism spectrum disorder

The hallmark characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is poor reciprocal social communication. Interventions designed to improve this core deficit are critically needed. Social skills interventions such as direct training, peer mediation, and video modeling have contributed to improvements in various social skills in children with ASD. This paper reviews existing social competence interventions available for children with ASD while highlighting hypothesized critical components for advancing, maintaining, and generalizing skills, which include (1) peer mediation, (2) active learning, and (3) implementation in supportive, natural contexts. As a framework for these approaches, this conceptual paper describes SENSE Theatre, a novel intervention that combines trained peers that facilitate the performance-based theatrical treatment delivered in a supportive, community-based environment. A review of previous research shows early feasibility, setting the stage for more rigorous studies to aid in developing a standardized intervention package.

Improvement in social deficits in autism spectrum disorders using a theatre-based, peer-mediated intervention

Social Emotional NeuroScience Endocrinology Theatre is a novel intervention program aimed at improving reciprocal social interaction in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using behavioral strategies and theatrical techniques in a peer-mediated model. Previous research using a 3-month model showed improvement in face perception, social interaction, and reductions in stress. The current study assessed a 2-week summer camp model. Typically developing peers were trained and paired with ASD youth (8-17 years). Social perception and interaction skills were measured before and after treatment using neuropsychological and parental measures. Behavioral coding by reliable, independent raters was conducted within the treatment context (theatre) and outside the setting (playground). Salivary cortisol levels to assess physiological arousal were measured across contexts (home, theatre, and playground). A pretest-posttest design for within-group comparisons was used, and prespecified pairwise comparisons were achieved using a nonparametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Significant differences were observed in face processing, social awareness, and social cognition (P < 0.05). Duration of interaction with familiar peers increased significantly over the course of treatment (P < 0.05), while engagement with novel peers outside the treatment setting remained stable. Cortisol levels rose on the first day of camp compared with home values yet declined by the end of treatment and further reduced during posttreatment play with peers. Results corroborate previous findings that the peer-mediated theatre program contributes to improvement in core social deficits in ASD using a short-term, summer camp treatment model. Future studies will explore treatment length and peer familiarity to optimize and generalize gains.

Lesbian plays and their players

SUMMARY This discussion focuses on various texts for the theatre by women dramatists in Aotearoa/New Zealand. It raises a number of questions initially about lesbian plays and playwrights, and then about the per-formability of gender. Finally, I consider briefly some theoretical issues to do with textual reading,Including post-structural readings of "the lesbian." Much usage of the term "lesbian identity" presupposes that there is such a thing, and that it is fixed, univocal and stable. As my readings of these texts show, however, "the lesbian" constitutes a set of fluid identifications, expressed in heterogeneity and change. In these critical readings I examine dramatic texts generating lesbian identities, in the specific social context of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

The use of research-based theatre in a project related to metastatic breast cancer

Research-based theatre represents an innovative approach to disseminating the results of qualitative studies. In this paper, we provide a rationale for the importance of research-based theatre and also review previous work that has been done in the area. We then describe our experience in transforming research data into a dramatic production, Handle with Care? This production was based on two studies - one with women with metastatic breast cancer, and the other with medical oncologists treating breast cancer patients. Results from ongoing assessment of the project are reported. We discuss some of the factors related to the success of Handle with Care? and reflect on what has been learned about the process of developing dramatic pieces related to serious illness.