Silence – Family – Death

A father and his adult son in a fishing boat. The only things on their minds – apart from the fish – are the things they cannot bring themselves to say to each other. But someday there will no longer be a chance to say what seems impossible to say now. Is this really the time?

This scenario is largely about children and parents, at that age where the children are mature adults in their own right, and the parents are creeping inexorably toward the end of their time. These people share so much between them – including a massive chasm of communication that somehow feels impossible to approach.

“Did I make you proud?”, “What did I do wrong?”, “Does he even like me as a person?”, “Why can’t he understand?”. These questions are clichés in the relationship between fathers and their children, but here they will play into the fantasy we harbor about settling the score once and for all with our relatives, with finally fixing and defining our feelings for each other and proving the existence of unconditional love.

Expect plenty of silence in this scenario – in fact, expect to use silence as a mechanic. The words we choose may cost us, so they shouldn’t be used carelessly.

A father and his adult son in a fishing boat. The only things on their minds – apart from the fish – are the things they cannot bring themselves to say to each other. But someday there will no longer be a chance to say what seems impossible to say now.

Number of participants: 3-20
Duration: 1 hour
Content info: family, death