Enchantment

Over the Festive Season, I found myself outside of the Headgate Theatre in Colchester, Essex. Looking down on the theatre from St John's car park brought back so many fond memories and prompted a moment of deep reflection. I did my first stage show in the theatre in 2009 and then returned a year later to perform An Evening of Enchantment.

The German sociologist Max Weber posited that economic modernization and enlightenment rationalization led to the 'disenchantment' of individuals and society. For Weber, any non-rational beliefs are stripped away, leaving us only to rely on science, evidence, facts, figures, and objectivity.

I wanted to stage a show that challenged Weber's view by allowing the audience to be 're-enchanted' through the medium of performance magic.

Any such attempt at re-enchantment naturally leads us back to our own childhood, where our minds as children, at best, have a blurred distinction between magic and reality.

As children we imagine that anything is possible. We see dragons, believe in witches and wizards, and eagerly await the arrival of Santa Claus every year. We create imaginary and fantastical worlds. We yearn for secret powers.

A portion of my show thus included the use of my boyhood puppets and a popular toy known as Hugo: Man of a Thousand Faces.

My puppets names are Mr Zhang, The Preacher, Patrick, Noah, and Jake. My participants gave life to one of my puppets by secretly hanging a heart under one of them while I turned my back. I divined the identity of the puppet who had been given life by listening to Hugo whisper in my ear.

Years later, I wrote an essay about this in a chapter of my edited book, The Magiculum, called 'The Re-Enchantment of Self.' The chapter explores my own upbringing on our family farm deep in rural Pennsylvania called Hemlock Hollow: the woods, ponds, creeks, and our old red barn. These were sites of great adventure, where magic thrived.

I reflected on the show and the essay this season, especially when playing with my nephews, nieces, and granddaughter. They are all enchanted, living in their own magical worlds. My hope for them is that they somehow manage to retain just a little bit of magic as they grow and develop. Never losing site of the (im)possible.

Hugo and my puppets remain with me today and serve as constant reminders of my youth. As I contemplate what is in store for 2025, I know that I will need my own form of re-enchantment and wait each day for Hugo's whisper.