Your Life Is a Play

And you are the star of the show!

Here I am at Evergreen, trying to join in the play of native hibiscus flowers. Photo by Rob.

Years ago I attended a play put on by Spectrum Theatre in which, within a few minutes of the first act, one of the main characters sat on the edge of the stage and said something along the lines of, I can’t do this anymore! 

After this, the initial plot of the play collapsed, and all the players started arguing with each other.

It took several minutes for most of the audience, including me, to catch onto the fact that we weren’t witnessing an actor actually having his own personal mental breakdown on the stage. This was the real plot.  It was scripted into the play.

This incident in the play has come back to me over the years, especially at moments when I’ve felt like sitting on the edge of the stage of my life and saying, just like that actor, I can’t do this anymore!

But in real life we can’t do that. We can’t step out of character. We have to keep going, no matter what.

This reminds me of that oft-quoted line from Act II, Scene VII of Shakespeare’s play As You Like It:

All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players.

Our life is like a one-act play. The curtain opens when we’re born, and our life plays out through the years. Then we die in the last scene and the curtain falls.

Throughout our life on stage, we do many things with countless others in innumerable places. People wander onto our stage without invitation, and leave – even if we don’t want them to.

Our stage props may not be to our liking, or may be damaged by flood or fire, or removed without our permission, perhaps by a bailiff with a large truck.

Things occurring off-stage like wars, inventions, natural disasters and societal shifts impact what happens on our particular stage. We must be alert, on the lookout for what may happen next.

We never get to leave the stage for a breather. There’s no chance to rehearse lines. No prompter hidden in the wings to whisper helpful words. No stage manager to advise us.

No wonder our individual play is often infused with confusion, introspection and farce, and only occasional moments of stardom!

As Shakespeare has Macbeth say in Act 5, Scene 5:

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Your Life Is a Play

So, what is the best way to get through this life situation?

As we strut on our stage, the main thing to keep in mind is that what we are, what we say, what we think and what we do are important because these things impact not only our own play, but other people’s plays as well.

Let’s not sit down and give up.

Let’s do the best we’re capable of each moment.

Let’s enjoy being the star of our show!

Ad-libbing . . . creating . . . improvising . . . surprising . . . delighting . . . dodging rotten tomatoes . . .

With love, Marlane