Graduate Certificate Course in Health Action Training – Applied Theatre in Action Review

When we talk about applied theatre the question is, “applied to what?”. What or where is the area of society and lives where theatre could improve our lives. One answer is everywhen, everywhere, life skills we can draw from theatre could be helpful in almost every area of our personal and professional lives. A dear friend reminded me today that being specific and focused is extremely important. Otherwise, the general “everything” becomes a mush of specific nothingness.

It is precisely why I appreciate and can recommend HAT (Health Action Traning) graduate certificate course. I attended the first module, which addresses and gives specific and actionable tools (from a variety of traditions and methods of action) to both health professionals and drama practitioners to manage and directly intervene internally (awareness) and externally (communication) in situations of crisis and health emergency.

The team co-led by Matt Jennings and fellow health action trainers gives framing and context to direct experiential tools (like breathing and movement exercises) that can make a big difference in dealing with stress and conflict in various ways and situations.

The HAT online training was created with, by, and for nurses and medical teams to benefit from Theatre and Drama tools is both timely and extremely important, considering we are living (still) one of the gravest health emergencies in know history. And I am not only talking about the COVID-19 outbreak; the impact of climate change, accelerated polarization, and digitalization of our societies creates a highly delicate and volatile mental health atmosphere. As we deal with the effect of our actions (Climate change and post-liberal capitalism), we need to access every tools and instrument we can find to keep sane and healthy.

I thank the HAT team for moving forward with making available (freely) this vital work to the world. 

The (NEXT) HAT Graduate Certificate starts on Monday, June 27th. It is a 6-week course taking place each Monday 1-4 pm (BST) and Thursday 6-9 pm (BST)

If you are an applied theatre practitioner (or Nurse), please contact Susan Foster to learn more about it via e-mail to learn more and register