Theater of the Mind
Theater of the Mind
A phrase that refers to the images we create when we imagine a scene, rather than see it with our eyes. We use the Theater of the Mind when we read, casting the characters even subconsciously. We hear their voices in our heads. And when we are truly, deeply in a work of fiction, we lose ourselves and sense of place and walk with them. The written word, the stage, and songs are where this phenomenon is most often experienced.
For ’tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings, Carry them here and there, jumping o’er times, Turning th’ accomplishment of many years Into an hourglass - Henry V, Prologue
I want to advocate for another form of art that powerfully stirs the Theater of the Mind, but has been relegated to the margins.
Pen and Paper Role-playing Games
"Nerd fodder and juvenilia!", you may scoff, as you sip a cup of Darjeeling. But I protest, this is a form of true theater. This is storytelling as collaboration. This is freedom to adapt any story, any story of film, or literature, or game, and make it your own. (With no copyright police looking over you shoulder.) This is a practice that strengthens your writing, your improvisation, your acting, your language skills, even your very powers of imagination. Because it is an ephemeral art, often the whole experience takes place live with a handful of friends, there are no records, just the vivid memories created in your personal Theater of the Mind.
At its core, it is collaborative storytelling. Yes, dice are involved, but only to create limitations in the story. You say you can climb that tower. But I say tower looks high, and the ivy likely to give way at any moment. Let's cast the dice and let fate decide.
You gather your friends, online if you like, (but oh, the power of in-person improvisation!) and you decide on what genre or even what fictional universe they would like to explore. Then one of the group becomes the storyteller, or more accurately the gamemaster, setting the scene, telling them how the world reacts to their actions. The gamemaster peoples the fictional world with characters, all with foibles and motives of their own. The players inhabit other lives as fictional versions of themselves, or perhaps as people very much unlike themselves.
If you have ever played out a murder mystery at a party, or haggled with fictional wealth over a board game, you have already dipped your toe into this style. There is no need to spend money on this hobby if you do not wish to. Thankfully the ethos of the RPG community often leads them to release rules and settings for free, or with an online System Reference Document that lets you see the rules hyperlinked.
Start small. Start free. Unleash your narrative nerd and turn on the lights in your Theater of the Mind.
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