Born in the US, a process to get adults to play for fun, comes to Pune

InterPlay introduces participants to a missing element of adult life through movement, stories, silence and song.

The cultural centre was founded by Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter, who are philosophers and performers, and introduces participants to an essential missing element of adult life—fun.

It was while battling a personal crisis which created pain in his body that Sameer Joshi, a professor of English composition at the University of Maryland Global Campus, came across InterPlay, a concept and movement that has been around in the US since 1989.

On Sunday, he conducted an event, “InterPlay: A Playgroup”, at RAAH: A Literacy and Cultural Centre in Pune to share what he has learnt. InterPlay is an amalgamation of movement, stories, silence and song, among others, aiming to connect people with the “wisdom in ourselves and our communities”. It was founded by Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter, who are philosophers and performers, and introduces participants to an essential missing element of adult life—fun.

The process helped Joshi, who went on to train as a teacher. “Stress, cynicism, isolation, pain and despair. Life throws many challenges at us. The body carries a lot of the burden. The body also knows how to heal. InterPlay is an active, creative way to unlock the wisdom of the body,” he says.

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A usual session begins with a structured process, where music plays and there are commands of walk, stop, run—but people interpret these individually. Some might walk backward while others might choose to stop and watch.

Joshi emphasises that there is nothing to learn and he himself has no training in theatre or the arts.

“The purpose is to get out of the rational mindset for a little bit and have the freedom to see what happens when the mind and heart come together,” he says. “There will be a lot of gibberish and talking that doesn’t have to make sense. You could just be running around and playing with your voice. There is movement and stillness in this playtime for adults.”

Dipanita Nath

Dipanita Nath is interested in the climate crisis and sustainability. She has written extensively on social trends, heritage, theatre and startups. She has worked with major news organizations such as Hindustan Times, The Times of India and Mint. ... Read More

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