The Peculiar Parade of Playful Interactions, 2024
Invited by Berm Magazine to write an article, I decided to write my first play. This play explores the spirit of interaction in art, featuring whimsical characters who engage with each other and the audience. Written in playful, childlike rhyme, it celebrates connection through character interplay, props, and audience participation.
Set in Whimsyville, the play features 11 characters, a composer, and a filmmaker. Transformative encounters, such as Giggles the Narrator’s announcements, the Shoes of Spontaneity, and the Heart of Harmony, emphasize connection. Props like the Mirror of Mirth and Carousel of Conversations foster joy and dialogue for all.
Each interaction highlights connection and shared experience, culminating in Lark’s message of unity. Wordplay, palindromes in writing and music, and mirrored dialogue reinforce themes of harmony and interconnectedness. The play was later brought to life through a live performance.
26-second video from the premiere of The Peculiar Parade of Playful Interactions at Chess Club, Portland, Oregon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9CGWaxAgK4
Ps. The piece takes an interdisciplinary approach with a stage setting description bit that’s in homage to Douglas Hofstadter’s palindromic Crab Canon in the book Gödel, Escher, Bach. Written in the form of childlike rhyme and also in part written grammatically incorrectly, it’s meant to highlight the playful nuances of complexities.
Berm Issue 006 / Published 2024
CHESS CLUB / 435 NW 6th Avenue, Portland, OR
DAN KIM / Footage
ADAM TORRES / Live Composition
Cast o’ Characters
MIA FERM/Narrator Shell
ALLIE HANKINS/The Golden Braid
KYE ALIVE/Giggles the Narrator
STEPHANIE SIMEK/Lark
AARON CHAPMAN/Mus Mus
MARTHA DAGHLIAN/Heart of Harmony
MEL SHEA/Lupus Wolfie
MIDORI HIROSE/Bellis Felis
NÍM DAGHLIAN/Seedling Artist
PATRICIA WOLF/Bloomin’ Baker
LEIF ANDERSON/Traveling Musician
ALISON COLE/Local Vocal Teacher
EVERYONE/Chorus of Denizens
ADAM TORRES/Composer
SHELBY MENZEL/Filmmaker