Drama and Intelligence: A Cognitive Theory

R. Kerry White is the director of theatre arts at Laurentian University.

This book addresses the theoretical concerns of developmental drama, a
field in which the author is an acknowledged expert. It will be
interesting to those who have done graduate work in cognitive and
communication theories or perhaps to graduate students in educational
theatre.

The book’s strength lies in its careful explication of the human
penchant for using mimetic activity (behaving “as if”) as a
cognitive tool for understanding and interacting with the actual world.
Drama, play, and impersonation—whether improvised or scripted—are
expressions of essential humanity: we are subjective beings required to
deal with an objective world filled with others. Our greatest continuing
problems are relationships between the inner and the outer. We cope by
dramatizing these relationships.

While there is nothing particularly new about this, Courtney has
attempted to synthesize the works of others in the various branches of
cognitive and communication theories, by arguing that mimesis and
dramatization lie at the root of them all. Thus, his book presents a
very complex subject with a new and important twist—in effect, a
“dramatic field theory” of intelligence. However, it is both too
much and too little: because of trying to cover everything, Courtney’s
discussions of such subjects as semiotics are at times superficial. And
while it is understandable that in such a rarefied world the author
seems to be talking to himself (25 citations are to his own writing), it
can be an annoying shorthand.

From the more practical perspective of drama in education, Courtney
seems to suffer from the same myopia as many in his field, by
overestimating the value of improvisation. The improvised line, while
spontaneous, is rarely the equal of the scripted line: pressure to
respond usually results in simple choices. Again a narrow focus has
resulted in his neglecting a number of related works that might have
proven useful. Rudolph Arnheim’s Visual Thinking, for example, could
have been considered as a parallel study; consideration of a practical
theatre text, such as Robert Cohen’s Acting Power, which has covered
much of the same ground, might have provided concrete focus.