From the Shakespearean plays of the Globe theater to the contemporaries of southern India, drama has evolved greatly in recent time. The language, themes, costumes makeup may change but the experience remains the same. It rejuvenates the soul and develops self-esteem & artistic qualities. Drama can bridge the gap between the two worlds we live in. One that the director creates on the stage and the other that the almighty has created for us. We leave the troubles, insecurities, doubts of the real world on the stage and take confidence, pride, self-esteem, positivity from it. It is a wonderful give & take process and a person can learn endless things from it.
Drama is also a great teacher as the learning methods are practical and experiential. An individual experiences the freedom and beauty of the art and in the process, develops creativity, confidence, speaking skills & imagination. These are the four essential pillars to create a profound personality.
Drama should be taught in every school as it touches the often untouched emotions of kids and help them grow in a much better way. Children develop traits, fears, habits in the initial phase of their learning process thus, training them at the right time will give maximum results in the future. Schools should not only be the testing ground in which students who are bright and confident get to perform and outshine others. Rather, it should be a training ground where students are first trained on skills like confidence and then sent on stage. With the help of Drama, even the insecure and under confident backbencher gets the freedom to learn and develop in a fun and informal way.
Drama enhances creativity
Every child is creative as he possesses a natural curiosity to learn new things and experiment with them. Sadly, this inquisitive nature is often unwelcomed in classrooms. As a result, the child loses his natural ability and gets moulded the way the system has planned. With the help of creative drama activities and drills, an individual can boost his creative thinking skills. These skills not only help in the initial years but also in colleges and during job interviews. A creative candidate always has a greater chance of outshining the competition. The journey must start from school.
Drama builds people’s skills
Children are becoming loners these days. They either spend their time with a gadget or sit alone in the room. This leads to poor social and people’s skills. This is an alarming issue in the country as almost every other individual is reserved in nature and wants to be alone. Personalities are not born and the traits we have are developed with time and experience. Our personality is the result of the atmosphere we grow up in. Theatre has a unique way of giving a comfortable atmosphere to the actors in which they learn to interact with people while staying in the imaginary world. With the help of monologues & soliloquys, they develop remarkable people’s skills as they have the remote control of people’s emotions in their hands. There can be no better way than drama to teach people how to control and convince people. This skill helps in all the walks of life.
Drama is the key to happiness
Drama is like a magical box with endless possibilities inside. One of the most beautiful things that the box contains is happiness. It changes the outlook towards life and makes it more beautiful. A melancholy soul can find solace by playing a joyful character. An insecure and under confident boy can become bold and courageous by playing the character of a king. Drama gives reasons and joy to people and vanishes the negativity and doubts.
Drama can definitely transform the personality of an individual. If it is implemented in schools at an early age, it can surely create wonderful results.
— The article is authored by Vaibhav Pande, Founder, Twin Win — an organisation which trains around 20,000 individuals every year on areas like Communication Skills, Dramatics, Career Counselling, Creativity, Vedic Maths, Body Language etc.
