Tribute to the Mother of Drama in Education
October 19, 2011
Dorothy Heathcote was born in Steeton, West Yorkshire in 1926 where she worked together with her mother as a weaver in a woollen mill. The mill boss noticed her intelligence and sponsored her to study drama at the Northern Theatre School in Bradford under the guidance of Esme Church. At theatre school, Dorothy worked hard to become an actress, but at the end of her second year she was told she had no future on the stage, so Esme Church made her a teacher at the school.
In 1951, Dorothy was appointed as a staff tutor at the Durham Institute by Brian Stanley who believed in the talent of the young drama teacher. In 1964 she started teaching a full-time Advanced Diploma course at Newcastle University where she also invented her drama approach that she called “Mantle of the Expert” and that was specifically designed for teachers who had little experience in the field of drama.
For her achievement in the field of Drama in Education, Dorothy Heathcote received numerous awards and honors, including The Campton Bell Lifetime Achievement Award by AATE and an Honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) awarded by the University of Newcastle.
Comments from Drama for Life:
Dorothy Heathcote is and shall remain a true inspiration. Her work has shaped my practice and teaching. I am so grateful for the way in which my mentors passed on to me the teachings of Heathcote which I now pass on to my students with immense pride and admiration. It is a great loss to the Applied Drama and Theatre community. (Tamara Gordon)
Dorothy Heathcote will remain the mother of Drama in Education. Through her work she has helped us articulate what we are doing as theatre makers and theatre in education students. I’m grateful that I have an opportunity to learn about her teaching and methodologies. Long may your legacy live Dorothy Heathcote. (Joe Teffo)
The mother of drama education may have gone but her legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of those who have been touched by the plethora of process drama techniques that she pioneered. I was indeed blessed to watch her in action sometime at the University of York (UK) and will forever cherish that memory. May your soul rest in eternal peace for you will never die in the minds of those you mentored directly or otherwise. (Kennedy Chinyowa)