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In this article, we examine the possibility of changing communication patterns in teaching mathematics through the use of process drama, based on a research project themed on the refugee catastrophe in Syria. In the process drama, we applied change of perspective: the students had different roles, such as refugees, traffickers and the Italian coastguard, and they investigated some selected role types or categories in these situations (the authority, the curious one, the sceptic and the mediator). We found that change of roles and perspective may have different effects on the students, but that it can contribute to more student activity and in-depth learning. For teaching mathematics, we revealed the potential for more student activity through bigger attention to questions, explanations and argumentation, and found that the learning process was stimulated by change of perspective and the use of role categories.

This article discusses the relationship between theatre and democracy in the Athenian city-state. The multivocal form of theatre and its dialogical character were essential to a functioning democracy. In tragedy, the dialogical and participatory aspect also involved the staging of ambivalence, linguistic ambiguities, the characters’ misunderstandings, their selfish hubris and fatal choices. Tragedy shows the democratic potential of theatre to open up the acknowledgement that no single voice or way of living is absolutely or completely true. Tragedy was also an option when it came to giving marginalized groups (women, youth, slaves and foreigners) a voice, and challenging hegemonic perspectives and traditional conceptions; however, I will also show how both these institutions fortified men’s dominance in society.

In this interview, the Chinese playwright and drama education pioneer Li Yingning (b. 1942) talks about her life and way into educational drama. Li and her family’s life is to a remarkably large extent connected to modern Chinese history. Li’s plays focus on women’s issues, social problems and historical productions. Her life seems to include much of China’s modern history – and drama – in many levels of meaning of this word.

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