From: The Art of Play: Helping Adults Reclaim Imagination and Spontaneity, by Adam Blatner, M.D. & Allee Blatner.
(Published by Routledge, 1997, now out of print and being revised into 3rd edition. ) Comments welcome: Email to adam@blatner.com
Chapter 16: THE FUTURE OF PLAY
Posted August 25, 2008 (Click Here To return to Table of Contents)
The increasing awareness of the value of play is part of a number of shifts in basic world-view that have been occurring since the 1960s, paradigm shifts that reflect a continuing evolution of human consciousness (Blatner, 2008a). If humans are fortunate and creative enough to resolve the many political and ecological challenges in this era, the natural tendencies toward achieving wholeness may bring about a new level of functioning as a species.
Another growing trend has been a recognition of the values of interdependence. It is a side-effect of the growth of communications technology (such as the internet) and a greater access to travel, among other cultural changes. Another side-effect in this postmodern era is a tendency towards alienation, and to meet that problem, we need more accessible forms of social connectedness. Playful activities are an especially important “lubrication” of this need to promote “belonging-ness” (Blatner, 2008b).
Play adds a dimension through which people can feel more connected. Role play also helps in developing the kinds of skills that allow for the practice of the art of encounter in a pleasant and safe context. It is a way to practice opening the mind and heart in preparation for the real meetings with others, whether they be family, international acquaintances, or perhaps even, someday, encounters with extraterrestrials. Meeting different kinds of people from a playful stance can become an authentic interchange, rather than one in which the different sides take a superior, patronizing, or paranoid attitude.
Not only do individuals and cultures interact and generate new syntheses; technologies do also. For example, as cinema and radio developed, the idea of bringing them together was inevitable, and television was the result. A similar synthesis is being proposed in this book, the integrating of methods derived from the fields of psychotherapy (i.e., psychodrama), with approaches that are usually reserved for the fields of recreation and the arts.
The pioneer in the realm of communications, Marshall McLuhan (1965, p.55), wrote:
The hybrid or meeting of two media is a moment of truth and revelation from which new form is born . . . a moment of freedom and release from the ordinary trance and numbness imposed by (the separate media) on our senses. . . The crossings of media release great force.
As our culture is transforming into a new age of technology, life style, and consciousness, the roles of both creativity and recreation require reevaluation. The Art of Play represents a hybrid of these two areas, and as much, it becomes a dynamic new resource on its own. Advances in education, psychotherapy, and group dynamics should also be considered as valuable tools in helping to forge paths into the future. Bringing together group dynamics and imaginative enactment results in a new method for developing a wide variety of skills, increasing social involvement (thereby combating alienation), and enhancing motivation (because it's fun).
The Social Dimension
Make-believe, improvised play offers an experience that balances the tendencies towards over-involvement with the self by integrating both individuality and group process. It actively uses a major aspect of human social behavior which has received relatively little attention: the phenomenon of rapport.
The positive aspect of this dynamic involves the feelings generated in the course of liking others and being liked in return. Dr. Moreno not only developed psychodrama, but also explored this dimension through a method he invented called “sociometry,” a methods that investigates the ways we react to our feelings of positive or negative rapport (he called this feeling of preference, attraction or repulsion “tele”) (Moreno, 1953; Blatner, 2007a). (For further discussion of sociometry see Chapter 13.) Liking is a relatively non-self-conscious and nonrational phenomenon; it is the freedom to utilize these intuitive preferences, a freedom that is exercised in the process of play, which allows for even more freedom in the larger social structure.
Whatever the official social structures, lines of authority, formal organizational charts, in fact, people relate more powerfully in informal, unofficial ways. These preferences often reflect not expertise so much as the qualities that are more playful or common recreational interests. In othe words, interactions in the social dimension of liking and being liked have a different quality from— and yet interpenetrate—contractual and "official" roles (as in family, work, church, schools, or politics), and also informal roles of daily, almost anonymous, superficial encounters. Liking is a major part of the binding force in a dynamic society. The associated network of unofficial roles based on personal preferences is one of the most vigorous and interesting aspects of American culture (Slavin, 1956).
The goal, in other words, is to foster more friendships that operate at a deeper level in order to counteract the alienation in society. Dinah M. Craik (1969) wrote a poem about this:
Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort
Of feeling safe with a person.
Having neither to weigh thoughts
Nor measure words, but pouring them all right out—
Just as they are—chaff and grain together,
Certain that a faithful hand will
Take and sift them
Keep what is worth keeping
And with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away.
The conscious practice and nurturance of the unofficial roles in our culture, such as the recreational applications of imaginative play, will, over time, affect other more official roles and social institutions. People who have learned how to have and value fun will like-wise begin to redefine and modify their roles at work and home in order to have more fun. At a deeper level, this means our social structures will be helped to become more humane, flexible, and responsive to individual needs. Pleasurable activities existing within the free market will exert a gentle competitive pressure on the "serious" organizational systems in order to attract participation by the population. A future result could be that instead of the individual being pressured to adjust to society, both individual and societal needs might be balanced by co-creating the necessary systems.
The Nostalgia for Play
Noxon (2006) noted a wealth of socio-cultural phenomena that suggest an upsurge in the desire to re-own the best qualities of child-like-ness (also known as joie de vivre). In the last few decades, for example, there has been a growing appreciation of themes that were once more widely discounted—fantasy, wizards, elves, science fiction, magic, angels, dragons, and so forth (Moore, 1996). The romantic vision has been elaborated into science fiction, and from there into a resurgence of interest in fantasy. In the last few decades, the realms of magic, dragons, wizards, elves, goblins, monsters, rainbow enchantments, and the like have become very popular. Stimulated by the popular media, these forms have attempted to fulfill a need for personal expression through imagination.
The big business of children's toys and literature is supported by parents' choices and reveals their desires to recreate vicariously certain aspects of their own childhoods, Songs with themes about innocence and magical feelings probably rank second to romantic preoccupations, and even this popular fixation on sexual/romantic attachment is not so much an expression of genital sexual drive as a need for being liked and belonging. Adults as well as children are responsive to the newspaper comics section, Walt Disney's movies, and the Muppet Shows. People want to be "Young at Heart" and make "The Rainbow Connection." Moreover, they are hungry to become not simply spectators, but active co-creators in the realm of imagination.
A major aspect of this nostalgia is the theme of a certain kind of freedom-the easy, relaxed, purposeless freedom that was an important part of childhood play. Christopher Robin, the little boy in A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh series, called this kind of free play "doing nothing." At the end of the two-book series, in the last chapter of The House at Pooh Corner (Milne, 1928, pp. 172-179), Christopher Robin takes leave of his toy bear friend, Pooh. In a poignant scene, he says he has to go off to school, and can't do "nothing" any more. Instead, he will be learning about:
... people called Kings and Queens, and something called Factors, and a place called Europe, and an island in the middle of the sea where no ships came, and how you make a Suction nip (if you wanted to), and when Knights were knighted, and what comes from Brazil.
Pooh asks Christopher Robin if he will ever do "nothing" again, and the boy replies, "Well, not so much. They don't let you." It's time to remedy this state of affairs, to redeem the spirit of play! The Art of Play offers one approach that is very much like doing "nothing." You can go at your own pace, feeling free to play in whatever way you like, with whom you like, and when you like.
Role Expansion and Conscious Role Playing
In this 3rd edition of the Art of Play, notice is taken of the growing trend towards the creation of fictional alter egos, such as those who become figures in online social media such as Second Life, or in other online multi-player games on the internet. The computer-tech word for such figures is “avatar” (although originally the term derives from the ancient Sanskrit (Hindu) language, and referred to the spiritual incarnation of a god who would serve as hero or savior). Nowadays, a person may have created several avatars that are then guided through a variety of virtual worlds, there to have adventures and face challenges.
In addition to, and in part catalyzed by this technology, increasing numbers of younger (and older) people are beginning to open to the idea of entertaining a bit more seriously the creation and elaboration of sub-personalities, alter egos, characters who express parts of themselves that may not find adequate expression in the course of everyday life. This is in effect a kind of role expansion (Blatner, 2007b—an online article describing this dynamic in greater depth).
It is possible to discern other ways people are exploring a broader role repertoire:
• A parent or grandparent might really get into the role of playing Santa Claus (or Mrs. Claus), making it a bit of a tradition that grows over many years. During the non-Holiday season, this person might elaborate elements of the costume, bits of business (as they say in drama), some back-story. For example, J.RR Tolkien (2004), the author of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, also composed a charming series of illustrated letters from “Father Christmas” to his children.
• Increasing numbers of people are really “getting into” celebrating Halloween, not only enjoying finding costumes, but sometimes keeping the same character and elaborating it over several seasons. One woman enjoys shopping during the year (and after Halloween for bargains) so as to fix up her home as deliciously spooky, anticipating the next year’s crop of trick-or-treaters. She also thinks of ways to elaborate her own witchy-vampire costume character, and to family has begun to create a back-story for this character.
• A man celebrates Easter by putting on bunny ears and taking eggs filled with pet trinkets down to the local animal shelter.
• A Star Trek fan anticipates attending a Trekker conference by spending months developing a character, a name, a species, a costume, and again a back-story for this character. Others attend conferences of people who like to play fictional animals, and develop costume elements and again some depth of character as their alter ego.
• Julia Cameron (1997, pp. 87-90) describes the identification and elaboration of “secret selves” as part of personal development.
These and other examples hint at the widespread nature of the process. Many comedians and comic book artists, authors and actors further develop a repertoire of different characters—so why shouldn’t you? This activity need not be the preserve of the performing artist. It can also be a way to bring make-believe into the course of everyday life. My wife and I have several imaginary friends, so to speak, whom we play for some moments in the course of our everyday lives; it adds fun and richness.
Options for Play
As has been noted, recent advances in technology and automation have been occurring at an accelerating rate, and this trend shows no evidence of decreasing. The personal and social effects have been channeled into more leisure-time pursuits. The need for recreational forms that are socially constructive and personally satisfying is thereby increasing. The development of creative drama activities, modified by sociodramatic methods and adapted for adults, promises to be a useful addition to the available choices. I recently had published an anthology of over 30 different types of interactive and improvisational drama (Blatner, 2007c). Here are some other specific ideas about how sociodramatic play might be used in the future:
• On a grass roots level, people could engage in informal, ongoing, clublike dramatic activities for the enjoyment of having the experience itself, rather than for performance.
• There could be more imaginative playing with children, more singing, drawing, dancing, and other activities. Parents who have been played with more when they were children will grow up finding it easier to play with their own and others' children in turn.
• Creative drama and role-playing have a much greater potential in the educational process. Social and psychological skills could be integrated with mastery of subject matter and vocational interests.
• Classes could use more activities based on group dynamics as individualized forms of information are presented by computer-aided programmed instruction.
• Celebrations in churches, synagogues, or other spiritual communities could be created with more imaginativeness to express the preferences of the specific groups.
• More variations of sociodrama as theatrical forms in themselves could revitalize and personalize community experience. Jonathan Fox and Joe Salas (1994) has created an outstanding example of this with his method of Playback Theatre.
• Radio and television shows could utilize sociodramatic ideas as the basis for modified talk shows or interviews. Instead of rehashing old themes, creative imagination could be the stimulus for new, fresh images. Guest stars or troupes of players could adapt these ideas as part of their programs.
• Sociodramatic play for grownups could be one of the events at centers for the development of human potentialities. It could also be used at religious retreats or as part of programs where building group cohesion and stimulating the imagination are desired goals.
• The Art of Play could become an activity at resorts or summer camps for adults with modified forms used for teenagers and children. Creative drama, New Games, and other advances in the emerging field of play all crossfertilize.
• Camps, schools, and clubs could make more use of noncompetitive games, including sociodramatic play, as a balancing alternative to their programs of competitive games or performing arts.
• Artists in one field could dabble more freely in other aesthetic pursuits. Thus, a dancer could experience singing for fun with a lo-cal group of artists from various fields, and a musician could explore movement. These groups would emphasize awareness rather than performance.
• Spontaneity could be emphasized more in the teaching of art, music, drama, poetry, etc.
Students of the theater could engage in sociodramatic play just for fun. Of course, this will increase their flexibility and range of actions but, more important, it helps to balance the pressures toward excessive individualism, narcissism, and competitiveness which can be generated in that field.
• Sociodramatic play could be actively integrated as an adjunct to programs of psychotherapy and rehabilitation. Drama therapy is al-ready integrating psychodramatic techniques and ideas, and it, as well as psychodrama, could be used beneficially in many more settings.
• Simulations and spontaneous role-playing could be used to teach interpersonal sensitivity and communications skills in schools of medicine, nursing, social work, psychology, business administration, and many others.
• Sociodrama could be developed as an instrument for the clarification and resolution of political and social conflicts. Organizations, communities, and even national and international problems could be addressed with this approach.
• Senior citizens could benefit from creative dramatics as a rich opportunity to share their experiences and enhance their lives. Settings for its use would be community centers, clubs and hospitals (Wilder, 2007).
• Families could play, sing, and celebrate more vividly with each other. Rites of passage could be created even more meaningfully with more thought and spontaneity woven into their design.
In closing, we believe that the redemption of the best qualities of childhood so that they may be cultivated and enjoyed throughout the life-span is both a product of the technological, social, and cultural changes beginning in the 1960s and a way to further promote the best parts of those changes—especially humanity’s creative potential. By validating much needed qualities of initiative, enthusiasm, improvisation, and inclusion, the Art of Play offers an attitude of mind and methods for cultivating those resources. It is our hope that the ideas presented in this book will facilitate the coming transformation.
References
Blatner, A. (2007a). Exploring interpersonal preference. Retrieved from webpage: http://www.blatner.com/adam/psyntbk/interperspreference.html
Blatner, A. (2007b). The more we can be: drama for role expansion. Retrieved from webpage: http://www.interactiveimprov.com/morewecanbe.html
Blatner, A. (Ed.) (2007c). Interactive and improvisational drama: Varieties of applied theatre and performance. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. See website: http://www.interactiveimprov.com/
Blatner, A. (2008a). Current paradigm shifts. Webpage article retrieved from: http://www.blatner.com/adam/consctransf/paradigmshiftscurrent.html
Blatner, A. (2008b). Belonging-ness. Retrieved from website: http://www.blatner.com/adam/psyntbk/belongingness.html
Cameron, Julia. (1997). Vein of Gold: A journey to your creative heart. New York: J.P. Tarcher.
Craik, Dinah M. (1969). Friendship. In R. L. Woods (Ed.), Friendship. Norwalk, CT: C. R. Gibson.
McLuhan, Marshall. (1965). Understanding media. New York: McGraw-Hill Paperback,.
Milne, A. A. (1928). The house at Pooh corner New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.
Moore, Thomas. (1996). The re-enchantment of everyday life. New York: HarperCollins.
Moreno, J. L. (1953). Who shall survive? Foundations of sociometry (2nd ed.). Beacon, NY: Beacon House.
Slavin, N. (1976). When two or more are gathered together. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.
Tolkien, J. R. R. (2004). Letters from Father Christmas. New York: HarperCollins
6. Fox, Jonathan (1994). Acts of service: Spontaneity, commitment, tradition in the nonscripted theatre. (Available from New Paltz, NY: Tusitala, 1994.)
Michaels, C. (1981). Geriadrama (pp. 175-192) . In G. Schattner & R. Courtney (Eds.), Drama in therapy, Vol. II: Adults. New York: Drama Book Specialists.
Wilder, Rosilyn. (2007.) Lifedrama with elders. In A. Blatner (Ed.), Interactive & improvisational drama. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. (Also website: http://www.interactiveimprov.com/elderwb.html