Post-Traumatic Stress and Its Impact on the Dramatic Character in the School Theatre Text

This study aims to explore post-traumatic emotions and examine their impact on the dramatic character in the school theatre text through analyzing the manifestations of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as reflected in character behavior. These manifestations appear through the character’s responses to traumatic events in terms of action and reaction. PTSD is viewed as a psychological condition resulting from painful and distressing experiences that are reactivated through memory, generating psychological pressure and accelerating dramatic events. The study approaches PTSD through biological, psychological, and cognitive interpretations, focusing on the psychological, social, and physical dimensions of the dramatic character. Based on this framework, several analytical indicators were derived, emphasizing that the dramatic character becomes the focal point of trauma beginning from the moment of reaction. A purposively selected sample was analyzed using a specially designed analytical instrument, represented by the school play So That We Do Not Awaken the Dead by the Iraqi playwright Abdullah Jadʿan. The results indicate that the psychological dimension recorded the highest impact (44%), followed by the social dimension (36%), while the physical dimension showed the lowest impact (20%). The study concludes that existential anxiety and fear of loss reveal deeper inner human suffering than external events alone.