Educational drama and the dilemma of ‘false catharsis’: lessons for theory and practice from a study of anti-drug plays in Israel

This study, initiated and funded by The Israel Anti-Drug Authority, investigated adolescents’ reactions to professionally produced anti-drug plays, performed in 27 schools across Israel. The study included observations and the analyses of 20 professionally produced anti-drug plays performed during the school year and interviews with theatre personnel. The analysis of the plays’ narratives revealed that most plays had a melodramatic narrative based on a ‘true story’ and most depicted the downfall of a protagonist who became addicted to drugs. By the very choice of a closed, melodramatic structure, that precludes alternatives and a deep discussion of issues, these plays created an undivided hero, devoid of conflicts and ambivalence, who has no personal responsibility for his actions and the people around him and moves in a narrow private world that does not relate to the values and norms surrounding the issue of drugs.