IntroSeeing the issue of Black Metal, our nation is again attacked by this shocking issue that involved our teenagers. Using this genre of music, our teenagers are carried away to darkness prey and involved in activities that worries many, especially parents and education institutions. Thus again, our team had come up with this theme, a challenge to bring out the message to many teenagers, letting them see the danger they are going to put themselves into. The Somnambulist, the sleepwalker brings another interesting message behind this play.
‘Dare to be yourself. Imitation is suicide.’ ©
Synopsis
Dillon, a problematic teen, grew up with a lack of care and attention. Because of his love for music and his fascination on a Black Metal Rock Star, he becomes addicted to Black Metal. He idolizes this Rock Star because he is everything he wants to be, but he does not realize he’s falling prey to a very dangerous trap, a trap that lies within his deepest sorrows, a dark abyss. Once, when the Rock Star was in town, he held a concert in his honour and to satisfy his greatest need, to be someone everyone looks up to and seeks attention. He was arrested because of his act. His parents argued to the point where his dad flied for divorce. Dillon blames himself for it. When the Rock Star has taken his own life, Dillon’s world comes apart till the point where he is flirting with suicide – he’s even written the note and it’s in his pocket. Now, the Rock Star appears in Dillon’s ‘sleepwalk’ to guide him from impulse to reason. Dillon confronts characters who are personifications of the mental and emotional turmoil which teenagers frequently go through. Conscience, dressed like a Puritan in running shoes (“…because you can’t out-run your conscience; she always catches up”) explains how the maturing teen is hard wired for impulse until the prefrontal cortex fully develops at about age 21. Inner Child, who grows to a teen before Dillon’s eyes, shows him that he can’t escape his past. Impulse is personified as Amygdala, a hulking, galumphing, character who bends Dillon to his will, simply by shouting emotional states that collapses Dillon into a frenzy of emotional exhaustion. But to wake up from this ‘sleepwalk’, Dillon has to battle Amygdala. The question is, will Dillon fall prey or rise from it all?
Theme
(1) Black Metal is becoming very popular among the teenagers in today’s world. Many youths are turning to Black Metal as solutions to their problems and ways to seek attention. They use the music to express themselves. They idolize the wrong person and wanting to follow their footsteps. What they did not know is that the satanic lyrics are pulling them deeper into their own sorrows, a darker abyss.
(2) Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24 year olds and the numbers are growing. Most of the common stimulus for suicide is unendurable psychological pain and frustrated psychological needs. The protagonist, Dillon is captive of his own dark fantasies. And like Dillon, others can be pulled back from their tunnel vision and see the big picture of life. They can see their problems in a larger context. They can realize freedom from the prisons of their own making. “The Somnambulist” can debunk, de-mystify and de-romanticize suicide. And when all that is removed from ideation, what remains is a person like the rest of us – with a tally sheet of dreams and disappointments, trying to measure up in the world.
Dillon, a problematic teen, grew up with a lack of care and attention. Because of his love for music and his fascination on a Black Metal Rock Star, he becomes addicted to Black Metal. He idolizes this Rock Star because he is everything he wants to be, but he does not realize he’s falling prey to a very dangerous trap, a trap that lies within his deepest sorrows, a dark abyss. Once, when the Rock Star was in town, he held a concert in his honour and to satisfy his greatest need, to be someone everyone looks up to and seeks attention. He was arrested because of his act. His parents argued to the point where his dad flied for divorce. Dillon blames himself for it. When the Rock Star has taken his own life, Dillon’s world comes apart till the point where he is flirting with suicide – he’s even written the note and it’s in his pocket. Now, the Rock Star appears in Dillon’s ‘sleepwalk’ to guide him from impulse to reason. Dillon confronts characters who are personifications of the mental and emotional turmoil which teenagers frequently go through. Conscience, dressed like a Puritan in running shoes (“…because you can’t out-run your conscience; she always catches up”) explains how the maturing teen is hard wired for impulse until the prefrontal cortex fully develops at about age 21. Inner Child, who grows to a teen before Dillon’s eyes, shows him that he can’t escape his past. Impulse is personified as Amygdala, a hulking, galumphing, character who bends Dillon to his will, simply by shouting emotional states that collapses Dillon into a frenzy of emotional exhaustion. But to wake up from this ‘sleepwalk’, Dillon has to battle Amygdala. The question is, will Dillon fall prey or rise from it all?
Theme
(1) Black Metal is becoming very popular among the teenagers in today’s world. Many youths are turning to Black Metal as solutions to their problems and ways to seek attention. They use the music to express themselves. They idolize the wrong person and wanting to follow their footsteps. What they did not know is that the satanic lyrics are pulling them deeper into their own sorrows, a darker abyss.
(2) Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24 year olds and the numbers are growing. Most of the common stimulus for suicide is unendurable psychological pain and frustrated psychological needs. The protagonist, Dillon is captive of his own dark fantasies. And like Dillon, others can be pulled back from their tunnel vision and see the big picture of life. They can see their problems in a larger context. They can realize freedom from the prisons of their own making. “The Somnambulist” can debunk, de-mystify and de-romanticize suicide. And when all that is removed from ideation, what remains is a person like the rest of us – with a tally sheet of dreams and disappointments, trying to measure up in the world.
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