Imitation of Life: Preparing for the Real World Via Creative Theatrics

With Imitation of Life, ＂we are talking about a ’representation or imitation of the real world in art and literature.’ It’s one or more stories you create to reflect some slice of life from the real world that you (or someone else) can observe; but you do it in a way that is ’the deliberate imitation of the behavior of one [real] group of people by another [comprised of REAL actor/performers] as a factor in social change [for your entire audience - including the performers, and those who will hear stories about what you produce].’＂

＂Theater has a magic all its own - particularly when the audience is immersed in the experience rather than being a passive consumer.＂

＂There are so many instructive and inspiring moments in the storytelling of film, novels, songs, and more. It’s the kind of thing that happens when Richard Dreyfuss’s lead character tells the red-haired female clarinet student he is teaching to ＂play the sunset＂ in ＂Mr. Holland’s Opus;＂ or when Will Smith’s caddy character tells Matt Damon’s golf prodigy character to ＂see the field＂ in ＂The Legend of Bagger Vance;＂ or when the teacher played by Robin Williams takes his students from the classroom on their very first meeting for a spontaneous field trip to the hallway to help them ＂seize the day＂ in ＂Dead Poet’s Society;＂ or when John Lennon sums up the capriciousness of life in the song ＂Beautiful Boy＂ that is an ode to his son, Julian, in a single powerful line: ’Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.’

＂What is really awesome, though, is how scenes like these are ripe for reflection in creative theater endeavors, or they become seeds for brand new pieces that can make the same or similar points.＂

＂Give most of us some time to think about it, and then five minutes, and we can tell a story about someone who is caught in the trap of an imitation of life rather than living their life authentically. We could write it, tell it from the stage, make a video, pen a poem or a song, or create live theater. And as surely as we do, someone will have an opportunity to measure their own efforts at day to day living with the tape measure provided by some other person or persons we can observe in the stories told. When we do, perhaps we can save ourselves from the same kinds of mistakes ...＂

＂...You should fully understand that it is not necessary to create these kinds of experiences using polished actors under the guidance of a seasoned director. Such circumstances could be advantageous in some ways, but it is far from necessary. [We have] experienced compelling theater from young people who often had little or no experience performing on stage.

It’s also not necessary to be great at generating stories to tell. We live stories every day, and we also know other people who do, or know about people who do.＂