Jane Arden’s debut feature film The Other Side of the Underneath (1973) is an adaptation of the radical feminist play A New Communion for Freaks, Prophets and Witches (1971). In both the play and the later film, the all-female cast re-enact personal and archetypal situations using autobiographical material, which was collectively gathered from group therapy sessions led by the director. Psychedelic drugs were also consumed during the group therapy sessions. In this article, I will situate Arden’s distinct approach to performance in the film within the framework of psychodrama, focusing specifically on the role that psychedelic drugs play in unleashing performers’ repressed feelings of trauma, rage, and desire; these emotions are harnessed into a dynamic mode of performance that amplifies the cathartic possibilities of women’s speech. The film’s heady brew of radical feminist politics, group therapy, and countercultural self-actualisation is both challenging and contentious. I argue that Arden’s pursuit of consciousness liberation through psychodrama and psychedelics—in other words, through ‘raising’ and ‘expanding’ consciousness—is best understood as a concerted attempt to align countercultural and radical feminist tactics for unravelling repressive forms of social conditioning.

简·雅顿 (Jane Arden) 的处女作《地下的另一面》 ( The Other Side of the Underneath，1973 年) 改编自激进的女权主义戏剧《怪胎、先知和女巫的新交流》(A New Communion for Freaks, Prophets and Witches)(1971)。在这部剧和后来的电影中，全女性演员使用自传材料重新演绎个人和原型情况，这些材料是从导演领导的小组治疗会议中集体收集的。在团体治疗期间也消耗了迷幻药物。在这篇文章中，我将把 Arden 在电影中独特的表演方法置于心理剧的框架内，特别关注迷幻药物在释放表演者压抑的创伤、愤怒和欲望方面所起的作用；这些情绪被运用到一种动态的表演模式中，放大了女性演讲的宣泄可能性。这部电影令人兴奋的激进女权主义政治、团体治疗和反文化的自我实现既具有挑战性又充满争议。