NON-NARRATIVE

"We are not entitled to a logical sequence of living;
we are entitled to a divine and majestic unfolding of our lives."

"We are not entitled to a logical
sequence of living; we are entitled to a divine and majestic unfolding of our lives."

- Iyanla Vanzant

A Non-Narrative play is pivotal in dismantling the oppressive and self-limiting idea that life is narrative, sequential, and should always be that way. In reality, life is messy. Life is non-narrative in terms of both theme and experience. More importantly is the fact that non-narrative plays leave room for an open-ended dialogue because they allow audiences to arrive at their own conclusions or not. A non-narrative play is about the experience of having the experience. 

Whenever I am confronted with the argument that non-narrative works are confusing, illogical, and make no sense, I am reminded of this quote by Stephen Nachmanovitch:

“All artists are improvisers, and an improviser does not operate from a formless vacuum but from 3 billion years of organic evolution. All that we were is encoded somewhere in us. Beyond that vast history, we have even more to draw upon: the dialogue with the self. A dialogue not only with the past but with the future, the environment, and with the divine within us.”

Examples of Non-Narrative Plays:

Ain’t Misbehavin: The Fat’s Waller Musical

The Colored Museum

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