Hopeful Reality
This past July, I spent a couple crazy weeks working at Crystal Sea Drama Company (which I casually refer to as “my theater” because I've spent so much time there over the past decade). It was the year for our New Play Festival, which I’ve said many times is the best thing we do. CSDC students wrote the plays, CSDC alumni directed the plays, and CSDC campers performed the plays.
Last fall, I taught the playwriting class preparing for this
big event. There were six girls in the class – more than I’ve ever had for a
playwriting class. They were all writers already. Most of them had novels in
progress, and some of them had two or three they were working on. But writing a
play . . . that’s a different kettle of fish, they learned. And it was a
fun few months working with them in that endeavor.
I was proud of the work they ended the semester with. Only
three of them chose to have their plays performed in the festival, which was
fine. But not until we were rehearsing this summer did I notice the common
themes therein.
Another showed two girls playing a video game . . . and we
get to hear the video game characters’ comments as the game progresses. About
how inept their players are, how tired they are of doing the same things over
and over, how they long for the chance to do something they choose to do
themselves.
The last was about a Reflection in a mirror who is actually
a real person trapped there by an ancient wizard. She wants out – and makes a
deal with a Shadow, who wants also freedom, to make these things happen.
Are you seeing the commonalities? Confusion about what is reality .
. . and the feeling of being trapped.
I couldn’t help but think these are pretty common themes in
the lives of our Gen Z kids.
This is the social media generation. Reality for them is as
much about what’s on the screen in front of them as about what’s in the room beside
them – and sometimes, the screen life is much more real. That’s a scary proposition on a lot of levels.
And while I’ve read some things indicating that Gen Z-ers express more hopefulness than other generations about being able to change the world for the better, that doesn’t seem to come through in a lot of what I see in their culture. I see a lot of stuckness. Resignation. Acceptance of what is – not necessarily because what is is just fine, but because what is is all there is to depend on. Or, more often, escape from the disappointing what-is into that alternate reality on the screen.
A fourth play in the festival was written by my own daughter,
a CSDC alum. Called “The Silent Noise”, it was about a young woman feeling
pressure from all sides of her life – from her parents (“school is the most
important thing”), from her friends (“friendships are most important”), from
her therapist (“your mental health is the most important”) . . . and not being
able to succeed at anything she was being told was so important.
That play tore me up. Partly because I saw my daughter’s
heart displayed there, but partly because I knew it represented her people. Her
generation. She’s a Millennial; they’re older than Gen Z . . . but they’re trapped
and confused, too.
What do we do about this? I don’t know. I wish I did.
I just suddenly have the urge to hug some of the young ladies in my life . . . take them out to lunch . . . or even better, invite them over to my house to cook some actual food. To play some board games maybe. To talk about life -- real life. To share the hope I've found. To walk in the real world with them a bit.
Mamas and daddies, talk to your kids -- whether they act like they like it or not. They don't need more activities. They don't need more connectivity. They certainly don't need more stuff.
They need a hopeful reality. And you may be the best of that they have right now.
Excuse me while I call my girl . . .
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