Abstract

This paper gives a reading and an interpretation of a psychotherapeutic session between a child and her therapist, drawing on the theory of re-enactment and dramaturgy in performance and theatre studies. The main thesis is that in their interaction child and therapist re-enact the trauma of the abandoned baby in a “play within the play”. Thus significant moments of meeting – in crossing the borders between play and reality – reveal how aggressive emotions are re-enacted and dissolve the rhythms and impact of their negative power.