Harvey Young - Theater and Human Flourishing

Series editor: James O. Pawelski, University of Pennsylvania

Other volumes in the series

Philosophy and Human Flourishing

Edited by John J. Stuhr

History and Human Flourishing

Edited by Darrin M. McMahon

Literary Studies and Human Flourishing

Edited by James F. English and Heather Love

Religious Studies, Theology, and Human Flourishing

Edited by Justin Thomas McDaniel and Hector Kilgoe

Theater and Human Flourishing

Edited by Harvey Young

Cinema, Media, and Human Flourishing

Edited by Timothy Corrigan

Music and Human Flourishing

Edited by Anna Harwell Celenza

Visual Arts and Human Flourishing

Edited by Selma Holo

The Humanities and Human Flourishing

Edited by James O. Pawelski

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Oxford University Press 2023

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Young, Harvey, 1975 editor.

Title: Theater and human flourishing / edited by Harvey Young.

Description: New York : Oxford University Press, [2023] |

Series: The humanities and human flourishing |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022018866 (print) | LCCN 2022018867 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780197622278 (paperback) | ISBN 9780197622261 (hardback) |

ISBN 9780197622292 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: TheaterPhilosophy. | Well-being. | Positive psychology.

Classification: LCC PN2039 .T446 2023 (print) | LCC PN2039 (ebook) |

DDC 792.01dc23/eng/20220711

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022018866

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022018867

DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197622261.001.0001

This project began in 2017, when James O. Pawelski emailed me to inquire whether I would be interested in joining him and his incredible team of researchers in thinking about the interconnections across theater and performance studies and psychology. It has been a wonderful, fulfilling, and rewarding adventure to explore these disciplinary overlaps with an eye toward human flourishing. Thanks to the efforts of James, who also serves as the book series editor, Theater and Human Flourishing exists.

For every email that I sent to or received from James, there were probably three or four more to/from Sarah Sidoti, assistant director of the Human Flourishing Project at the University of Pennsylvania. Sarahs fingerprints are all over this book (and also the larger series). Over the years, she wore many hats: logistics coordinator, early copyeditor, and more. In the world of theater, the person most central to the production process is the stage manager. Directors get the recognition, but stage managers actually make the show happen. Sarah was our stage manager.

I spent comparably less time with the researchers affiliated with UPenns Human Flourishing Project, but that does not mean that they were not essential to the success of this book. They shared their recent writings and helped illuminatefor this books contributorsthe evolving thinking and scholarship in positive psychology. Although this books contributors do not endorse a single approach to thinking about human flourishing, the writings of Louis Tay, Yerin Shim, Michael Ward, and, of course, James O. Pawelski provided a helpful through line and enabled conversations across distinct subject areas. I appreciated having the opportunity to consult with Talia Goldstein, whose twin expertise in theater and psychology provided helpful grounding during our authors retreat. It was terrific to reconnect with Talia, whose undergraduate years as a theater major overlapped with my graduate studies in the same department over the same years at Cornell. Our quick stop at ShawneeCraft against a backdrop of live music with folks, in an adjacent room, throwing axes was a highlight.

I am grateful to the brilliant scholars who are contributors to this collection (in order of appearance in this book): Scott Magelssen, Laura Lodewyck, John Fletcher, Kelly Howe, Stacy Wolf, Lisa Biggs, Erin Hurley, Gwyneth Shanks, Marcia Ferguson, and Stephanie Etheridge Woodson. I urge you to seek out their independent scholarly projects. They are not only must-reads but also must-haves on your bookshelf. This dynamic group agreed from the outset to participate in a rather lengthy process of consultations and meetings on human flourishing before writing their chapters. You can sense the impact of these conversations as well as the tremendous respect that we have for each other in the transcribed roundtable conversation that appears at the end of this book. I also appreciate the time and insights that Laura Taylor, assistant coordinator of the MA in Applied Positive Psychology, shared as part of our roundtable discussion. Our in-person retreat occurred at the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort in the Poconos, which sits alongside the scenic Delaware River in Pennsylvania, where our work was aided by and benefited from the labor of the Shawnee staffcustodians, caterers, and housekeepers.

I greatly appreciate the financial support of Templeton Religion Trust, whose support of the Human Flourishing Project at UPenn provided the core funding for this project. I completed the bulk of the work on this book as a member of the Boston University faculty and utilized the resources (mostly online) of BUs Mugar Memorial Library.

The world literally changed between our October 2018 authors retreat and the publication of this book. As a result of a deadly coronavirus, live entertainment venues were shuttered for eighteen months between March 2020 and September 2021. The absence of theater and performance (as well as live music) from our everyday lives helped people to appreciate anew the importance of sociality and live art to individual and collective well-being. As life slowed down (as travel was suspended and events were canceled), I gained a new appreciation for the simple joys of life: family dinners; walks with my wife, Heather; and conversations with Carla Della Gatta, Ken Lutchen, and Anthony Abeln, among others.

Over the past four years, it has been a joy to watch my children grow from kids to slightly older kids. Zeke, now thirteen, has moved from reading Harry Potter to pursuing a wide array of adventures both real (overnight summer camps, river canoeing) and fictional (Fortnite). Cora, now eight, has moved from picture books to