Journal: Cup of Kavi
Date: 11-30-2012
She realized, then, that every adult ever was always just a
child playing their own idea of what the role of an adult must be. Coupling and playing ‘house’, fighting
when your authority is tested, making money, making love, making babies, making
conversation…setting the scene for a three act play called ‘Adulthood’.
In the first act, we walk in blindly…our character making
assumptions based on what they’ve seen in their formative years. Conflict arises. Character is tested. Choices are made according to the plot
of our story intermingling with other people’s plots and motives…and the story
shifts into new territory. Reality
sets in. Priorities take the place
of exploration. Our
super-objectives become clearer to the audience…and, if we’re self-aware enough,
to ourselves.
In the second act, the stage transforms from proscenium to
thrust and our stories become more intimate and recognizable. True love may enter the picture, or
working class hardship, or a health crisis…something we’ve all seen before from
the balcony seat but never truly experienced until then. We become aware that there is something
greater than us running the fly rail, manning the curtains, and giving the
cues. We wonder why this is our story, and if it was truly
our own choices that made it a comedy or a drama. All the while, the action rises. First act dilemmas come up again and again to deal with and,
perhaps, finally address responsibly.
We shift again, still the child but now with some experience on what it
means to be an adult.
The final act of this play is stripped down to
minimalism…the world is now your stage and your story plays out like
theatre-in-the-round. The audience
knows you well by now as you walk amongst them, interacting like old
friends…familiar like family. Your
character is set. You either
satisfy your super-objective or not…it doesn’t really matter either way because
the end is approaching. And
whether or not your story has a happy ending isn’t for you to decide once the
curtain closes. The audience will
form their opinions on your performance, but that doesn’t really matter
either. If you’ve given it your
best effort, learned something in the falling action, and shared some moral by
example…you’ve played your part as an adult.
At the curtain call, when all the audience swells with
tears, or laughter, or applause…you take your final bow, and only then do they
see you as you really are. You
were an actor all along.
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