The Seven Ages of Man

Oxford Psychotherapy Society AGM

At this year’s AGM we were treated to a magical performance from Oxford Impro. Two actors, Amy Standish and Sydney Hicks, performed a series of improvised sketches on the theme of ‘The Seven Ages of Man’.

In an introductory talk before the performance, they drew some interesting parallels between improvisation and the work of psychotherapy. Both require a willingness to work creatively with what comes up, and the ability to bring a sense of playfulness to what takes place rather than relying on tried and tested formulas or scripted lines.

I found the sheer creativity and inventiveness of the two actors quite exhilarating. Using words and suggestions from the audience they were able to conjure up a series of sketches almost as if by magic.

We began with a scene that imagined life before birth, with a dialogue between an angel and a person about to be born, amusingly portrayed as someone being ‘placed’ in an agency, like an actor negotiating their next role. This was followed with a scene from adolescence, where an anxious teenage boy who starts by inspecting his spots in the mirror ends up changing places with his reflection.

Mid-life came next, using an idea from a member of the audience about lack of communication. A large teddy bear was placed in a chair to play the part of one spouse, who sat silently glued to the TV. Amy, as the other spouse, talked as if to a blank wall about their misunderstanding, but eventually gave up. I was fascinated by the way the teddy bear seemed to assume the character of this unresponsive, sullen spouse. It was horribly funny because it was so realistic. The same can be said of the next sketch. Old age required the participation of two audience members. They were given the job of moving each of the actors into position each time they wanted to move. This conveyed the physical slowing down of old age in a poignant, painfully funny way.

The final sketch, using questions and answers written down by the audience on pieces of paper and picked up at random by the actors, portrayed the end of life. The actors wove into their dialogue the comments on the pieces of paper which gave the sketch an edge of anxiety, of not knowing what would happen next, which I felt conveyed very well the feeling of going into the unknown that surrounds death.

Behind the apparently effortless spontaneity of the actors lies, I suspect, meticulous practice and preparation. That is the other side of the equation that also links with our work as therapists, that in order to be spontaneously present in the moment, a lot of preparation has to have gone on behind the scenes beforehand. I think that the two actors demonstrated this paradox beautifully in the performance they presented to us and I very much hope that we will have the chance to see them again at the OPS.

Jessica Burnett-Stuart, OPS