Powers of Imagination

Years ago, I wrote a short one-act play about the power of imagination in adults. I chose this subject because I was noticing a distinct drought of artistic creativity among friends who, I believed, lacked imagination. Or, more specifically, the power to communicate to others their imaginative ideas and thoughts. I took the title of the play from a line in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream - THE LUNATIC, THE LOVER, AND THE POET - because the speech is all about the power of imagination. Now we have an adaptation of JM Barrie's PETER PAN to consider. The story seems to suggest that the power of imagination is necessary for children to become fully developed human beings. That only through imagination's use can children guarantee themselves a thrilling and adventurous upbringing. But the story also suggests there comes a time when imagination's use must be set aside and replaced by the burdens of responsibility. Burdens that coincide with an adult who survives in the workaday world. Those of us who work in the American theatre know all too well the importance of maintaining that childhood power of communicative imagination - for it is the springboard of our creativity. I hope the audience members that join our play will embrace this as well.