Drama is an important means of stimulating creativity in problem solving. It can challenge participants’ perceptions about their world and about themselves. Dramatic exploration can provide participants with an outlet for emotions, thoughts, and dreams that they might not otherwise have means to express. A participant can, if only for a few moments, become another, explore a new role, and try out and experiment with various personal choices and solutions to very real problems—problems from their own life or problems faced by characters in literature or historical figures. This can happen in a safe environment, where actions and consequences can be examined, discussed, and in a very real sense experienced without the dangers and pitfalls that such experimentation would obviously lead to in the “real” world.

Still, there is far more that drama can do. At the center of all drama is communication. Like all the arts, drama allows participants to communicate with and understand others in new ways. Drama also provides training in the very practical aspects of communication so necessary in today’s increasingly information-centered world. Participants who have participated in dramatic activities are less likely to have difficulty speaking in public, will be more persuasive in their communications, both written and oral, will be better able to put themselves into others’ shoes and relate to them, and will have a more positive, confident self-image. Participation in dramatic activity requires self-control and discipline that will serve the participants well in all aspects of life. Participants in drama will learn to work together, to cooperate, to find the best way for each member of a group to contribute, and to listen to and accept the viewpoints and contributions of others. Drama is an important tool for preparing participants to live and work in a world that is increasingly team-oriented rather than hierarchical.