Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble

In post-show conversations, our audiences for Love Song have eagerly embraced the idea of love serving as a force interdependent with the power of the imagination.

Most of us likely think about love in some form almost everyday; whether about those we love or used to, those we want to love us, or even love in a more abstract way – be it spiritual, sexual, or relating to humankind.

But how often do we think about imagination?

At the theater, as a group of artists, we like to think of ourselves as particularly engaged with imagination. We read a play and imagine what it may be like on stage. Or we imagine how a particular sort of person might behave when faced in a particular situation and try to enact what we imagine in a truthful and compelling way. Or we imagine what the apartment of these people might look like and imagine a way to create that environment on a proscenium stage.

But often we are less aware of our daily acts of imagination. We imagine what the cheeseburger will taste like before we order it. We imagine what we will look like in the blue shirt before we put it on.

One way in which Love Song works on me is as a reminder of the importance of a more conscious exercise of imagination. If we can imagine a cigarette that gives us pleasure without ill-health effects, can’t we also imagine a world without hunger or violence, or with equality and justice and yes, love. And isn’t imagining it the first necessary step to making it possible?

This entry was posted by Edward Sobel on Monday, April 24th, 2006 at 11:17 am and is filed under Love Song. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.