On Play

Khan Shairani

Associate University Chaplain and Director of Muslim Life

As the brisk evenings of autumn have descended on the city, I have found the sunlight already stealing away on the horizon as I walk home after work. In contrast, the summer was a sun-dappled and play-filled time, an evening of volleyball here, a pick-up game of basketball there. Moments of play, and moments of joy and delight in the dance of sports. Oftentimes it was play that was, in turns, silly and serious, with moments of playacting of Lebron James or Kobe Bryant devolving into laughter as someone missed a basket in comical and egregious form, arms and legs akimbo. But even in childhood, as the weather has changed and people have started to hunker down to outlast the winter chill, I have yearned for moments of play as we all descend towards winter hibernation together.

On a university campus, it is commonplace to hear about the importance of knowledge, of striving for excellence, and building a welcoming community for all. Play is an essential ingredient in this mix, but one that often is laid by the wayside in the pursuit of knowledge and excellence. Then the chill months momentarily freeze any initiative that we all might have had in warmer times. But, this year, as usual, in this moment of crisis students came to me with a solution. They wished to read a play aloud and together: a Shakespearean reading of the tragedy Othello. The students gave life to the roles in the play as we sat on the ground on cushions in the Interfaith Center on a Friday evening, sharing food and laughter while embodying roles from the play. They alternated between the roles of fathers and daughters, superiors and subordinates with quick-witted dexterity, and mused on the Middle English of the play. They laughed as the main villain, Iago cleverly exclaimed his plans while Shakespeare put playful and witty turns of phrase in his mouth. Inhabiting these emotions through playacting aloud was both enjoyable as well as fodder for thoughtful conversations on race, belonging, and human conflict, as the group pondered how Othello’s race as a “Moor” played a role in the tragedy. And it was a space for students to break out of the cycle of serious reading and writing that sometimes came to feel stifling.

Play of all sorts have been linked to the development of essential social skills as well as to manage toxic stress (Yogman et al., 2018). The authors assert that in contrast to our expectations,  “play is not frivolous: it enhances brain structure and function and promotes executive function.” In a society that valorizes the ethic of hard work, it turns out that play is pretty essential to developing the kind of people that are thoughtful, knowledgeable, and well-rounded. Play is serious stuff, and making space for it in our lives fills some of that yawing emptiness that bare trees and frigid mornings inspire. The stress of the day can be dissolved through laughter, meditation, leaps of imagination, or a break in routine, otherwise the cycle of days and nights can too often feel like a hamster wheel rather than the rich, human life that it should be.

As the villainous Iago, infamous for his desire for wresting status and power from Othello says, “Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners” (Act 1: Scene 3). When we choose to play together, we strengthen our bodies and our wills, our social bonds, and our sense of community. It makes us all more prepared for the meaningful hard work of life as well.

Khan Shairani

Associate University Chaplain