The term Dark Play was first coined in 1988 by the American academic and theatre director Richard Schechner (1934-to date) (see photo). It is sometimes confused with the term ‘Deep Play’ as both have the same roots.
It describes forms of playing that might be perceived by adults as 'not fun' or not frivolous and therefore challenging because of its themes. It is often seen as being about children subverting social norms and hierarchies while working out their place in those structures, but it may also be about teasing and frightening other players.
One defining feature of Dark Play is that other players may not realise that what is happening is still play. And in some respects, it might not be. Schechner describes this as, “an intentional blurring of [the] playing-not playing boundary” (p.12) when the performer (player) knows they are performing (playing) but the audience (other players) do not.
He expands on this in a later 2015 book, ‘Multiple Realities and Dark Play’, writing,
“Subversive by nature, dark play is designed to be chaotic, deconstructive, expositional, but ultimately self-gratifying. Whilst more easily understood as a concept when dark play is violent and overtly disruptive, it can exist in more subtle forms.” (p.392)
In a Playwork context this might be seen as an apparent suspension or disruption of the Play Frame by one or more players, although it is not intended to be. Take for example one player overturning a board game mid-play sending pieces flying which might be perceived as disruptive by adults watching and even other players, and yet in reality the person doing so is introducing a pretence of being disruptive. In other words, exploring the role of a distruptive person by playing that role.
That this idea should come from within the field of theatre should not be a surprise, as ‘play’ (in the sense of children’s play) and ‘play’ (in a theatre sense) have close theoretical connections.
The theatre director and trainer Cliver Barker (1931-2005) for example writes in his 1977 book, ‘Theatre Games’, “I have never found a technical exercise [in the theatre] for which I couldn’t find a direct parallel in the world of children’s games.” (p.62)
Dark Play themes are very evident throughout the entertainment world. The craze for the TV game show ‘Traitors’ is a current example, as was the hugely popular 2004-2010 TV series ‘Lost’.
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[photo - Richard Schechner (1934-to date)]
To learn more about the TV series 'Traitor' see [here] and for the TV series 'Lost' go [here]
See also Deep Play, Liminality, Flow and Teasing (to come)
