Seal Wife saga: Rewriting O’Neill’s Melbourne workshop in role

Abstract

ABSTRACT The main content of this article is a piece of rewriting-in-role. This factionalised dramatic text allied with narrative inquiry and performance ethnography grounded is accounts of Cecily O’Neill’s 1992, Seal Wife workshop in Melbourne, Australia. A brief introduction explains the rationale for this approach and its connection to the wider methodology of critical arts based research. This example of rewriting-in-role details the workshop through a fictional character, raises new questions about a familiar drama work, and echoes beliefs about the potential of drama to critically unsettle and enlighten our world.