Theater Lab for Personality Exploration

There's a "Lab" for everything. Fitness Lab, Burger Lab, Cookie Lab, Anything Lab. But where's the Lab for Life?

As a kid growing up in the 70s, I was always engrossed in TV. When I realized that the characters of the TV shows weren’t real, but played by people called “actors”, I became fascinated by that concept. Bewitched was my favorite show at the time, and what little kid didn’t long for magical powers? My new magical power was that I could pretend to be any character I wanted, and maybe - someday, be on TV or in the Movies! Years later, I became a high school Drama teacher and continued teaching an afterschool drama program to all ages.

The Process vs The Performance

When I taught Theater Camp, the goal was on delivering a professional and polished performance, while I focused (at first) solely on the process.

For me, “The Play” (the performance) was all about the play (the process); it was about how much fun it was to pretend and get lost in imaginary worlds. However, I soon realized that without a goal (a performance), the process can quickly get out of hand and go in too many directions. There’s a fine line between free exploration and chaos - I rode that line all the time because it’s so exciting to see where free exploration can lead. I usually knew when it had devolved into chaos because we’d all stop having fun and start to feel anxious. At that point, I’d have everyone sit, wherever they were, close their eyes, and try to think back to the point where they felt the shift. They didn’t always agree because some kids (as well as adults) have a higher tolerance for risk-taking and exploring outside of their comfort zones. The process of reflection on understanding where the line is for each individual is such a powerful tool on and off the stage.

The Magic of Inhabiting a Character

After retiring from teaching high school, I opened my own theater company and with it, purchased a costume hire business. The brightly colored costumes lined the blacked-out theater walls and, to kids and adults, they created a sense of endless magical possibilities. I was offered a position teaching in a Respite Camp for traumatized kids. This was one of the toughest experiences of my teaching career, but I just knew that they would love coming to my theater space once a week as one of their outings.

All of these students experienced severe trauma and, as a result, had one or more behavior issues. One of the students (I’ll call him Jim) was particularly closed-off, quick to anger and mostly non-verbal. When he walked into this magical theater space for the first time, the other teachers, social workers, and I witnessed a complete transformation - of all of the students, but most dramatically in Jim. We saw him smile, laugh, and engage with his peers for the first time. I led them through drama games and trust-building exercises that, while in costume as someone else, they could easily enjoy. When I tried the same games outside of that environment, however, no one was really interested. It was only when they were free to step out of the “real world” that they let their guard down.

Emotional growth is by far the biggest takeaway from theater class. By literally stepping into someone else’s shoes, saying their words, and showing their emotions, children learn empathy. They can shift perspectives in a way that doesn’t threaten their own teachings, beliefs and worldviews, but rather, adds to them by broadening the scope of what’s possible. If more children did theater, there would be far less bullying and prejudice in the world, I know this for certain!