Play!

“Play!”

Purposeless play is crucial to human development. The anthropologist Stuart Brown studied mass murderers to see if they had anything in common, and he found they were all play deprived. Purposeless play is crucial for animals too: scientists deprived rats of play, and when they exposed the rats to a cat, the rats all hid; the ones who didn’t get enough play never reappeared, whereas the ones who did play were able to reemerge and resume their lives. Take away play, and in the face of danger, rats hide, stay hidden, starve, and die. Purposeless play is crucial to our survival. Have you ever had a bad day? Go jump up and down and you’ll feel better. Have FUN just for the sake of having fun! The answer to inefficiency is not more work, it’s play. And the opposite of play is not work, it’s depression.

Play! is a participatory homage to the importance of radical play for a healthy society.

Movement is a metaphor. The laws of physics and biomechanics, as they apply to movement, embody concepts that are analogous to such calls for social justice as income inequality, cultural coexistence, peaceful protest, and climate change action. Play! explores the politics of our everyday movements, seeking to redefine the way we engage with each other through everyday quotidian gestures. 

Directed by Erin B. Mee.
Written by Charles Mee, Erin B Mee, Jonathan Matthews, and Ezra Brain.
Set and Lighting Design by Cati Kalinowski.
Performed by Jonathan Matthews.
Photos by Maria Baranova-Suzuki.