On Deepening Identity Issues by Staging Neil Simon's The Gingerbread Lady with Young People

Abstract

In theater practice, the concept of human identity can be explored both as a phenomenon and a communicative act. The theoretical framework that merges the phenomenological and semiotic approach provides tools for young people to increase awareness of the overlapping narratives that underlie complex and multilayered human experiences, addressing identity and social justice issues while focusing on the concept of diversity. These self-reflective concerns are of critical importance to the contemporary postcolonial, multicultural and interconnected world. This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of staging Neil Simon’s US play The Gingerbread Lady with young people, focusing on a European perspective. I will be providing that the play has enabled a collaborative and creative process, challenging participants’ both individual and collective identity concerns. High school students have increased self-consciousness towards their personal narratives derived from the multifaceted social systems in which they live, allowing discussions and comparisons to emerge between the US social system represented on stage, and the European one. In this elective theater course, they have embodied physical, intellectual and emotional experiences by staging characters who address sexist, LGBTQ and racial issues.