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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