Saiyyidah Zaidi interviews Mandy Carr.
Mandy Carr is a dramatherapist, former senior lecturer and a scholar of Practical Theology on the Cambridge Theological Federation/Anglia Ruskin University Professional Doctorate programme. As a drama and language teacher in inner London secondary schools, Mandy became inspired by the profoundly enabling and democratic theatre techniques of Augusto Boal. She was fortunate enough to train with Boal himself in 1995, before training as a dramatherapist at Roehampton University from 1997-2000.
In her work towards a professional doctorate in Practical Theology, Mandy explores the relationship between religion, belief, spirituality and dramatherapy. In her research project, dramatherapists from different religious/spiritual backgrounds and none, explored the following questions:
To what extent do dramatherapists feel able to express their religious iden22es within the dramatherapy profession?
To what extent do therapists feel competent working with clients from a variety of faiths and none?
What are the implications for future practice?
Along with tradiitonal methods, Mandy invited the therapists to respond to the questions through drama, specifically adapting techniques from Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal, who utilised the arts to help people feel empowered when faced with dictatorship.
Mandy Carr's recent publication:
Dokter, D., & Carr, M. (2018). Dramatherapy and Religion: (Un) Comfortable Bedfellows? in Honour of Dr Roger Grainger. Dramatherapy, 39(1), 16–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/02630672.2018.1436718