- the unfolding of the role-play. Playing the role requires spontaneity and
creativity on the part of the participants. The duration of the play varies with
content of the situation and with the improvisation skills of the actors; - analysis of the role-play, of how roles were approached, theoretical analysis
(reflection stage), evaluating the roles played, interviewing the actors. There
is reflection, self-assessment, introspection, analysis of the decisions and
actions made during the play. At the end there are discussions with the actors
on how they felt, their intentions or justification of behaviours, and with
observers discussions on what elements were remarked during the activity.
The analysis will evince aspects such as: group dynamics (interactions,
relationships between group members, difficulties met and solutions found),
roles played (originality, improvisation, identifying elements peculiar to each
role, proposing other possible means of performance), efficiency of the
interactions between participants (identifying adequate solutions). Role-play
can be taken up in other contexts as well (distancing). To assess the
performance of the role, the following question categories can be used:
regarding the roles: how did the actors behave (facial expressions,
gestures, language)? How was played the role (with involvement,
detachment)? How did the actors feel as characters?
within the group: what did the play mean to the group? What were
the consequences for the cooperation and climate in the group?
within situations: which of the aims set have been fulfilled? What
alternatives / solutions could have been chosen?
Alternatively, it is possible to complete sentences of the type:
I have chosen the part since it allows me to ......
The role is important to me because ......
Which role do you consider useful to be developed in the future ......
Identify the competences, aptitudes necessary in performing a role ......The role of the counsellor / moderator
The moderator will have to prove ability, flexibility and tact in coordinating the role-play,
insisting on the following aspects: motivating the participants, giving support to avoid
situations that might be generated by the actors being hesitant or excessively emotional
involvement. The means of intervention refer to: role reversal, pauses for reflection on
one’s own behaviour, a group member assisting each actor by advice, encouragement,
improvising perturbing incidents during the play, moderating and animating the play,
discussions for achieving the goal, respecting the topic and stages of the method.