Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

I really think there should be the option "seen" on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ for the plays we experience on stage. It is much more powerful than merely reading them.

Spending a few days in London with my three teenagers last week, we all agreed on the favourite treats: the two (very different) theatre performances we watched, one of which was Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre in Westend.

Those scenes in the end, when Uncle Vanya, Astrov and Sonya reflect on their suffering, and find hope in the idea that the future will make their individual pain obsolete, and that people will find better ways to communicate and share with each other, for better relationships to develop! The double pain you feel as a spectator, knowing they were so wrong about the future, and so right about assessing their own misery!

We still cater to narcissistic energy vampires and long for love in the most hopeless places. We still suffer from a lopsided supply in desire and attraction towards undeserving people for superficial reasons. We still struggle to find our role in families where different needs and wishes clash with brutal force, and we still find solace in committing to everyday tasks to stay sane - "cultiver notre jardin", as Voltaire's Candide would have put it after experiencing the craziness we call the world.

Watching the raw emotions play out on stage while the world keeps feeding the insane frenzy of a few powerful all-consuming egos is a strong indication of Aristotelian cathartic healing actually working to a certain degree.

For you leave the misery on stage and walk out into the London night, watching people leaving theatres around you, and despite all, you feel a tiny bit better and more hopeful.

As long as theatres set up plays, not all is lost!