Theories of Transition in Sharifah Aleysha's "Chair".

Note: This essay is written for ROB7004: Theatre Criticism, part of Masters in Performing Arts, University of Malaya.

Theories of Transition

William Bridges "Theory of Transition" aims to document the journey of adapting to change. His model also charts a person’s level of productivity and psychological state when navigating the in-between.

He stated that a transition usually begins with an “ending”. By ending, it refers to how a phase of a human’s life (example: schooling days, single hood, parent hood, etc) had been discontinued. This usually causes a person’s morale to plummet and they experience a slew of negative emotions such as feeling shocked, anger and being in denial. They too will be overwhelmed with grief as they mourn their losses.

This immediately thrusts them into the next phase called the “neutral zone”. William Bridges likens this phase to a loop and gave the example of the Israelites from the bible which led by Moses, escaped from the Pharaoh's cruel ruling. They headed towards the Promised Land but because of their disobedience, they were not allowed to enter. As a result, they wandered the desert for 40 years without a destination.

In the neutral zone, a person’s productivity hits an all-time low. They will be overwhelmed with feelings of frustration, confusion, disorientation and etc. This is because they are in an uncharted territory and would have to figure things out as they go. They will encounter road bumps and make plenty of mistakes through trial and error in an attempt to move forward. Another prominent trait of being in the “neutral zone” is a strong sense of nostalgia. The longing for the past and the illusion of how the better days are behind them would cause a person to reminisce frequently.

The final phase of the model is the “new beginning” where the person, through the process of constant repetitions plus trial and errors had figured out constructs and methods that work in the new environment. Psychologically, it causes the person to feel energised, committed and exited. This too ends the person’s transitional period as they had learned how to adapt with the change.

Besides William Bridges, researcher Nancy Schlossberg is renowned for her work in the area of transition. The context of her research was education with data collected from 600 adult learners, aged 35 and above who were adjusting after enrolling in a university.

Schlossberg noted that transitions could happen in three instances – anticipated, unanticipated and non-events. Anticipated transition are ones that are expected, for instance a fresh graduate upon ending their college life is expected to find a job, buy a house and start a family. These events happen in the person’s life as to how it is imagined. In contrary, an unanticipated transition is when the person has no foresight to what is to come. An example would be the death of a life partner, losing one’s home, and etc. Lastly, non-events are situations in which the anticipation of the person does not reflect the unfolding reality of their lives. Instances would be the failure to be accepted into a university of choice and not winning a dance competition after months of practicing. Schlossberg too noted that the significance of each event differs with each individual and therefore, it affects every individual differently. To adapt through these said transitions, she suggested that a person should make changes through “The Four S” in their lives: situation, self, support and strategies. An individual is to identify these aspects in their own lives as it creates a cause an effect situation.

The Play “Chair”

“Chair” is a one woman short play presented under “Tiga”, the emerging director’s platform at Five Arts Centre. It tells the story of a young woman who had just died and is now stuck in a loop. Basing its parameters on a Malay cultural belief, the story is built on the notion that if a child passes away before their mother, they will be stuck in a purgatory - a loop between heaven and hell. Judgement will only be pronounced upon the person’s soul after the demise of their mother. Staged at Sinkeh Penang as a bilingual Malay and English piece in 2017, it was written by Sharifah Aleysha, starring her younger sister Sharifah Aryana and directed by yours truly.

Description

In the play, the staging area is bare and claustrophobic on a hard cement floor. At the centre are four chairs forming a semi- circle. They are of different designs and sizes – small and yellow, medium and faded white, big and brown and lastly, extra-large in black. These chairs clearly show a progression in both sizes and maturing colours. Above every chair is a light bulb.

Sharifah Aryana’s attire which is in all grey – a long sleeve shirt and pants with expanded legs. In the loop, she reminisces constantly about her mother and plays both characters through the change of position, body language and voice. She circles around the chairs and interacts with the first three – the light bulbs above them lit at her touch and give her access to her memories. She however could not access the fourth chair as there is a violent supernatural figure guarding it.

Besides the light bulbs, the fill lights is in sharp red but eventually diffuses. A blue fill gradually emerges at the midpoint and eventually illuminates in its full cold intensity. The ending of the play witnesses the chairs arranged to form a full circle and the sudden illumination of the light bulb on the fourth chair. She approaches it and the play ends. This is an indication that her mother had died and she could move on to face judgement from The Almighty.

Analysis and Interpretation

The structure of the play follows the transition model provided by William Bridges. The play begins with an “ending” which is the death of the character. The end of her time on earth thrusts her into the transitional period. The “neutral zone” is represented by the purgatory – literally a loop the character is stuck in. The final phase “new beginnings” happens after the play ends as it is hinted she is finally granted access to the fourth chair. Based on Schlossberg’s theory, the transition experienced by the character started by an “unanticipated” event which is her demise. However, what kept the character in the transitional loop is a “non-event”. This is referring to the fact that the absence of a key event - her mother’s death is the cause of her inability to move on.

The space was designed to symbolise a transitional space through the use of props. To begin with, chairs were arranged as a semi-circle, indicating that the character is in a loop but yet to fully complete the full transition. In the end, when the chairs form a full circle, it is to symbolise that the transition is complete.

The progressing design of the chairs in terms of colour and size is a symbolic to the different phases of the characters life. The character is young and childish when playing with the smallest chair to represent her childhood. Upon interacting with the second and third chair, the character displays maturing traits. The second chair confronts her with her teenage years as she dances to contemporary music but hesitates in shame to do so in front of the mother. The third chair shows the character embracing adulthood and trusted with responsibilities like cooking “nasi ulam”, in which she handles a dangerous items like the kitchen knife.

Besides serving the purpose of providing timestamps to her memories, these chairs represent a prominent trait in transitional character psyche - it’s a visual representation of her nostalgia. The character reminisces of her past and longs for the good old days with her mother because life in the loop is unbearable. Nostalgia her coping mechanism.

Character’s psyche in the “neutral zone” is explored further with her appearing confused, disoriented and frustrated. Her confusion is apparent with the many questions she asks. “Who’s there? Hello? Is it my turn yet? Is she ready?” she questions regarding the design and constructs of the purgatory. There too are confusions regarding her womanhood and the life she had lived. “I disappointed her, didn’t I? That’s why I’m here right? I strayed too far from my mother”, she asks in regret.

The character's frustration is apparent when she wasn’t allowed to access the fourth chair. The highlight was when she tore apart the space by tossing the chairs around in anger after being attacked by the invisible figure. Unable to take it anymore, she yells, “do we just sit here until we are no longer a memory? Or is this the punishment because we forgot?”.

Colours are used to visually symbolise bridge’s “neutral zone”. The character is dressed in grey which universally signifies transition by being in between black and white. The attire has an expanded bottom but fitting top to eliminate half the shape of the human figure. This hints that she is no longer alive but still retains the essence of her humanity.

The lights in the play gradually shifts from saturated red to purple, then saturated blue to show character development. It externalises the transitions in her emotions as she moves from the “neutral zone” to the “new beginnings”. The colour blue would hint of how she is feeling more at peace, in contrast to the more hostile red.

The character’s strategy to navigate through the transitional period based on Schlosberg's theory is mostly futile because very little are within her control. The construct she found herself in is guarded and held in its place by The Divine. In this case, the only aspect of the "Four S" that she could change is “self’. Evident from the character development, she became a new person towards the end – more grateful, understanding and surrendering. This helped her to navigate through her final moments in the loop.

Ultimately, what strengthens the piece as a depiction of transition it’s the play’s ideology. In a glance, it could be easily be confused as an absurd theatre piece for possessing similar traits like the inability to move on and the mundanity of life. However, "Chair" never succumbed to existentialism for the very evident fact that its parameters are grounded in religion and the existence of The Divine. This would entail towards the concept of creationism and therefore restoring meaning into the character's existence.

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In summary, it was evident that the play intended to capture a transitional moment in the afterlife and this was proven by the character psyche. Imagery of flashbacks provided through dialogue aided the scenes of nostalgia. The changing of self as a coping mechanism which birthed to character development helped ease her transition. Lastly, the character was thrown into a transitional period by an unanticipated event and stayed in it due to a non- event. The structuring of the phases from ending to a neutral zone and to a new beginning was represented by her death, the purgatory and lastly, judgement from The Almighty. These further reinforces William Bridges’ and Nancy Schlosberg’s transitional theories in the play.