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theater of the unconscious mind

sophiegengler8

Welcome to theater of the mind, take a seat, I’ll grab you a cup of tea 

Would you like a blanket? We might be here a while

Re-run your lines for a moment, I’ll pop the kettle on

It’s dark yet, there is no audience but me

The curtain is still drawn, your shadows can dance freely

I ask about your mum and see the curtains start to rise

The lights are on, it's showtime

I see you, a method actor wanting to walk out

Retreated into your character,

Unsure of what to shout

Will it be a soliloquy? 

The audience is watching, waiting

You become self-conscious of your costume, does this garb insinuate that I have issues with my mother? 


As you bellow forth your script, your narrative, I catch a glimpse of the person behind the actor

A mask starts to unravel

Your monologue, metaphors, and mimicry reveal the space between yourself and your lived experience

I take note of that space being created and introduce a new form of method acting

This form requires that we break the fourth wall

Shall we practice? 

Take your mask off, I promise it is safe. You can leave it at the coat check to take with you as you leave the theater. 

This form of theater requires two actors. I am no longer the audience or the critic, I am your scene partner

Take a deep breath, try to improvise a line

A line rehearsed, then a line unrehearsed 

We both step onto the stage and start to dance 


Interweaving our unique understanding of Self, of the Other. The you, the me, the They 

I ask you to free associate

Start dancing, express, sing, scream, what is on your mind

You, the actor, you, the audience, start to unravel words unspoken 

Words that have never reached your lips start to flood our stage 

My eyes widen, only slightly, as I take in your character 

And suddenly, I see the performer start to return 

I, the scene partner, the audience, the critic suddenly become not your mother, but an ex-girlfriend 

Our roles are re-assumed, the lines are once again rehearsed 

I take a pause, noting our transition to Act 2 


As professional actors on a global stage, I take on a different approach 

Let me explain to you what we are doing in this theater

The honesty might be refreshing, something you’ve never experienced before

I explain that if your therapist thinks that they are a therapist, then you have a problem 

Don’t you know that I harbor my own scripts, shadows, characters, masks?

I remind you that these personal narratives may take the stage sometimes and I, as a fellow actor, will try to examine my own rehearsed lines 

When we improvise, when we partake in a scene together, the lines may be blurred between who is directing, who is performing

Some days we might enter into your dreams, we can practice improv, metaphors can help carry us to the object relations of your mind, or simply how you internalize the characters of your external world 


The act starts to end, but does it ever end? 

I remind you to grab your mask on the way out, it may fit a little differently

This performance was real

This performance was an initial reveal

I watch you leave our stage to re-enter the world stage, your mask as your armor.

Your mask as your defense

You catch the stage lights as you exit

I see you squint when you question whether or not it is a prop.

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Sarasota, FL 34236

sophiegengler2026@u.northwestern.edu

 

Tel: 760-861-1429

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