The Play is the thing....

I love the first chapter of Alice in Wonderland, specifically the moment that Alice ponders if the pleasure of making a daisy chain would be worth the effort of getting up and picking the daisies. This is a sentiment I understand. Boredom? No not quite. Laziness? No...it's really something else, something more complex. Philosophers, scholars, and existentialists have been trying to explain it for decades. I won't attempt to try to name it now. In the moments shortly following her query she eyes the rabbit and after a brief curious chase, descends down the rabbit hole. This is where the fun begins!

In our day-to-day life we generally know what is next.We are the architects of our destiny, making choices and following through. On good days we collect our daisies, make a chain, and dance. On not so good days we have no time to stray from our paths and collect daisies. Perhaps the best days, though, are the ones where we don't even consider what's next; the days we get to follow our curiosity down the rabbit hole.

Recently, my husband and I had the opportunity to be part of such an experience. Nestled in the unusual setting of what was a former outpatient building of the Greenpoint hospital in north Brooklyn is the immersive theatre production of Then She Fell. I will tell you little about this production because knowing less leaves you in a very good place to start. I will, however, disclose one of the constructs of this production, which is artfully perpetuated by the simple rule of not being allowed to speak unless spoken to. You are also  prompted to follow the actors, immersed in the actions rather than just simply watching them unfold. This is not a typical theater production. As an adult there is some adjustment necessary before you can blindly follow like a child. Giving up control at first feels a bit foreign,  particularly in a room of strangers. However, being unable to speak, question, or know exactly what will come next is not limiting. It opens you up for something else. For me there was a feeling of calm as if everything that was happening was passing through me, becoming part of me rather than being processed by me. Anyone who dances can understand this feeling, the weightlessness you get when the music and movement and you become one. The weight of my mind suddenly lightened and the childlike spirit of play took over. Its hard to grow up, it's never fun to relinquish that beautiful freedom of play to the burden of gravity and sometimes it happens without us even knowing. It wasn't until the moment that I set chase after the rabbit (in this case the actors) that I realized I was falling , and yes that's where the fun began.

I will leave you with just that, and the words of the Red Queen "Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast" Ramble on.

~ST