Publications
Psychodrama and Theater: If J. L. Moreno and Tennessee Williams Were to Meet
Published in the Journal of Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy, Vol. 72, No. 1 (2026)
ABSTRACT
This article seeks to examine the split between psychodrama and theater by looking at two prominent creators in these fields: Jacob Levy Moreno and Tennessee Williams. Surveying their chronology revealed interesting common milestones, and reading about their ideas and guiding principles in their work sug-gests a deep understanding of their counterpart, in spite of the marked differences between them. Moreno’s psychodramas are never pre-planned, while Williams’ plays are performed by actors who follow a pre-written text. As a psychiatrist, Moreno developed the theory that spontaneity is a precursor to cre-ativity. Thus, he created structured techniques to enhance spontaneity in groups, which were the settings for the enactments. In theater plays, Williams was a spontaneous force who was praised for his creativity as a poetic playwright. His actors followed his own creativity. Sources of creativity are also mentioned, even though these emerged from differing physical, emotional and cultural places. It seems important to trace Moreno’s and Williams’ development into becoming giant creators. That includes sources of inspira-tion and dealing with significant challenges throughout their lives. This article is written by a psychodrama-tist for the psychodrama community, with the hope that learning about Tennessee Williams and reading his poems, plays and books will enhance our own work. Their ideas about creativity and about its roles in life are surprisingly similar, as if they are meeting in these pages, posthumously.KEYWORDS: Jacob Levy Moreno; poetic playwrighting; Tennessee Williams; therapeutic theaterWith gratitude to Thomas Keith, for the inspiration.
Article link: https://www.psychodramajournal.com/index.php/asgppjournal/article/view/1746/147
Article link (PDF version): https://www.psychodramajournal.com/index.php/asgppjournal/article/view/1746
Other Publications
- Creativity, Migration and Multiculturalism: A Psychodrama PerspectiveJournal of Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy, Vol. 71 No. 1 (2025)
- Deeper roots of psychodramaForum for Group Psychotherapies and Processes
- Role Play and its ApplicationsPublished on July 2021 in Forum, the peer-reviewed journal of the International Association of Group Psychotherapy and Group Processes (IAGP)
- Psychodrama in the 21st CenturyPublished in November, 2003, by Springer Publishing Company in New York City
- Highlighting Sociometry in the Psychodramatic Process: A glance at psychodrama in New York CityPublished in the German Journal Zeitschrift fur Psychodrama und Soziometrie, Volume 15, on pages 353-357, dated October, 2016
- A Documentary: LoveTrueFilmmaker and director Alma Har’el has elicited the help of psychodramatists as consultants in her documentaries, and has recently completed another one in which I worked with her and the protagonists.
- Bringing Psychodrama to the Main Stage of Group PsychotherapyPublished in Group ( the Journal of the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society), Volume 33.4, December 2009
- Evolution and Transformation of Open Sessions in Psychodrama: A SurveyPublished in the British journal of psychodrama and sociodrama, volume 23 number 2, pp.15-31. in 2008.
- 20th edition of The Encyclopedia of Social WorkAn article about psychodrama written by Jacob Gershoni, L.C.S.W., C.G.P, T.E.P and published in the 20th edition of The Encyclopedia of Social Work, edited by Terry Mizrahi & Larry Davis. Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2008.