The Body Politic: The relevance of an intersectional framework for therapeutic performance research in drama therapy

• Intersectionality permits an analysis of how multiple systems of oppression negatively impact health.
• Performance ethnography is a research methodology that reflects the principles of intersectionality.
• An intersectional framework broadens our understanding of the health benefits of therapeutic performance research.

Bringing feminism into conversation with drama therapy, this article explores the relevance of an intersectional framework for therapeutic performance research. The author analyzes the relationship between intersectionality, health, and performance ethnography and then discusses a past performance from an intersectional lens to highlight the potential psychological, social, and political health benefits of performance research. The author concludes with a discussion of the implications of this analysis for a socially engaged, therapeutic, performance research practice in drama therapy.