CHAPTER ONE Introduction: Perezhivanie, and a New Form of Play that Can Make Perezhivanie Visible
A group of children sits on one side of the room insisting that the play be designed one way, while another group of children sits on the other side of the room and insists that the play be designed another way. Every child refuses to be persuaded by the opposing camp to change his or her view, or even to compromise. Finally the children’s teacher, Michael, says that the dilemma is unsolvable and that the only way to proceed is to split the class in two, so that each person can create the type of play they desire. The discussion has been difficult and long. The floor is littered with the bodies of the younger children, heads in arms, picking at noses and shoelaces. But one child, Pearl, sits on a table and speaks with great eloquence. She tells us: “Everyone (in this class) is my best friend.” As if they have been physically lifted by Pearl’s words, several of the children on the other side of the room, children who have not budged all afternoon, simply stand up and walk over to Pearl’s side of the room. The most outspoken advocate for the opposing camp, Nancy, crosses the room and sits down right next to Pearl, and then rests her head on Pearl’s knee. Another child from the opposite side of the room, Alice, suggests that the whole class perform the play two times, one time according to each of the two designs, and her unexpected solution is greeted by children on both sides of the room with huge smiles and exclamations of “Oh!”
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