Hope and Helplessness in the Post-Covid Drama, Theatre and Performance Classroom

In this paper I’m interested in considering how we configure the notion of a group or a social body after a pandemic where groups have been a source of fear (due to the risk of illness) or illegality (due to limitations on social interaction). I will suggest that the difficulties for many led to a sense of helplessness. However I will attempt to articulate hope in these times. I will do this by engaging with a theory that originates from group psychoanalysis, Earl Hopper’s notion of the ‘fourth basic assumption’ of a group. Through gaining an understanding of how a group engages with the unexpressed pain and difficulty of a social moment, I argue, lies the possibility of hope, change and transformation. I will conclude by considering briefly how these ideas might be applied to the group of the drama, theatre and performance classroom.