Psychedelic psychodrama: Raising and expanding consciousness in Jane Arden’s The Other Side of the Underneath (1973)

Abstract

Jane Arden’s debut feature film The Other Side of the Underneath (1973) is an adaptation of the radical feminist play A New Communion for Freaks, Prophets and Witches (1971). In both the play and the later film, the all-female cast re-enact personal and archetypal situations using autobiographical material, which was collectively gathered from group therapy sessions led by the director. Psychedelic drugs were also consumed during the group therapy sessions. In this article, I will situate Arden’s distinct approach to performance in the film within the framework of psychodrama, focusing specifically on the role that psychedelic drugs play in unleashing performers’ repressed feelings of trauma, rage, and desire; these emotions are harnessed into a dynamic mode of performance that amplifies the cathartic possibilities of women’s speech. The film’s heady brew of radical feminist politics, group therapy, and countercultural self-actualisation is both challenging and contentious. I argue that Arden’s pursuit of consciousness liberation through psychodrama and psychedelics—in other words, through ‘raising’ and ‘expanding’ consciousness—is best understood as a concerted attempt to align countercultural and radical feminist tactics for unravelling repressive forms of social conditioning.

Considerations in the Application of Psychedelic-Augmented Psychotherapy: A Commentary on Clinical Mechanisms

“…These techniques, which may encompass a variety of postural, movement, and embodiment practices, are amenable to psychedelic therapies, as affectively charged (or potentially trauma-isolated) experiences may arise. Scholars have posited that experientially focused methods such as psychodrama and art therapy may also be particularly well-suited to psychedelic-supported approaches due to the embodied nature of these practices and techniques [62,63]; however, more controlled research is needed to examine this claim in clinical contexts.…”

Acid feminism: Gender, psychonautics and the politics of consciousness

“…As we have seen, examples of attempts to demonstrate the promise of intersecting countercultural and feminist tactics for ‘unravelling repressive forms of social conditioning’ (Satchell-Baeza, 2021, p. 85) do exist. Jane Arden’s explicitly feminist countercultural film, The Other Side of Underneath (1973), appears a rare example of a creative attempt to draw simultaneously on the anti-psychiatry of R. D. Laing, psychedelic advocacy and the feminist practice of consciousness-raising.…”

“…The film remains almost legendary in its reputation, especially for the use of LSD on set during the section of the film depicting a group therapy session. To film this scene, performers were urged to go ‘deeper’ into their unconscious to enact more authentic performances and incite ‘moments of intense psychological revelation and collective catharsis’ (Satchell-Baeza, 2021, p. 86), with many of its critics commenting on what was presumed to be the exploitation of the performers while under the influence. The presumption that performers must have been exploited on the basis that they were filmed using LSD demonstrates once again the importance of narcofeminist perspectives.…”

“…As useful as it might be for the individual subject to see the world anew, what then? Kathie Sarachild's (1968) original blueprint, frequently used as a starting point for consciousness-raising groups, does appear to have little interest in nudging reflection towards action:…”