Therapeutic clowning and drama therapy: A family resemblance

This paper compares therapeutic clowning and drama therapy, starting with a brief survey of the development of medical clowning as a profession, a definition of the field, and a claim to its ancient link with drama therapy. It then proceeds to analyze four vignettes describing the work of a medical clown in a hospital, and examining them through the lens of drama therapy concepts and theory. The paper shows that the clown's working techniques can be conceptualized using drama therapeutic models and theory, and that using this approach as a method of analysis can serve to enhance the body of knowledge of the rapidly growing profession of therapeutic clowning.

► We surveyed the development of medical clowning and its link with drama therapy.
► Four vignettes of a medical clown's work were analyzed using drama therapy concepts.
► We showed that the clown's techniques can be conceptualized in drama therapy terms.
► This method may provide a more solid theoretical foundation to therapeutic clowning.