A drama therapist prepares for work in a time of climate breakdown

In the 1970s, Alida Gersie, already an informed environmentalist, noticed significant tension when she prepared for talks or workshops around ‘eco-minded planned change programs with particular emphasis on work in areas of multiple deprivation’ for staff in health, social work, education or the arts. During her training in drama therapy, in the late 1960s, the study of ethics had addressed issues such as informed consent , not poverty, racism or the ethics of the polycrisis that would differentially await people if timely measures to limit global warming were not taken. This commentary addresses how she surmounted the potentially numbing effects of this tension and highlights the importance she attaches to the drama therapist’s generation of a strong Inner Creative Mood, discussed by Stanislavski prior to their design of creative work with audiences or clients. Illustrations draw on specific studio practice that preceded her preparation for a conference talk entitled ‘Dramatherapy in the age of plasticosis’. The conclusion highlights the importance of companions on the green road and the reality that our commitment is best demonstrated in acts, not words.