I am cast in Hamlet, one of the Senior Theater Festival\u2019s productions this year. When I got to rehearsal last night, my cast members \u00a0gathered, laughing and talking. We stretched, put our bags away, sipped our last sips of water, glanced over highlighted scripts. And then we naturally fell into a circle, expanding for each new member as they arrived.<\/p>\n
Then? My favorite part of rehearsal began, a part I think is important.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s play a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
And we did\u2014we pointed \u00a0finger guns at each other and squealed when someone was \u201cShot\u201d. We let go of our inhibitions, and for a moment we forgot to be adults. We were just children\u2014children in a room, pretending.<\/p>\n
We forgot our papers and tests and the lines we hadn\u2019t memorized yet and our friends in the outside world and the missed phone calls from our mothers, and we became fully immersed.<\/p>\n
I believe in games. I think they are not only fun but very, very valuable.<\/p>\n
People often don\u2019t want to play once they reach adulthood, and that is a travesty. \u00a0Children play games because children understand the magic of them, the way that people are transformed by the chance to leap into engaging with one another.<\/p>\n
We so rarely allow ourselves to just be with others, to do something silly. But silly is not frivolous\u2014silly is necessary. Silly completes us.<\/p>\n
So, on this sunny Thursday afternoon, I challenge you, Loggers, to play. Throw a Frisbee, or race, or play hide and seek.<\/p>\n
You are adults, but that doesn\u2019t mean that you can\u2019t, today and every day,let yourself be totally free, just for a few moments.<\/p>\n
Playing might surprise you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am cast in Hamlet, one of the Senior Theater Festival\u2019s productions this year. When I got to rehearsal last night, my cast members \u00a0gathered, laughing and talking. We stretched, put our bags away, sipped our last sips of water, … Continue reading