Apartment 111: A Play about Our Culture's Oldest Imaginal Guardians

Abstract

This thesis analyzes cultural icons categorized as Imaginal Guardians in Western civilization. The term "Imaginal Guardians" refers to figures that exist not in the physical world but in a collective social consciousness, whose role as symbols is to comfort humans from facing the tough abstract fears in life. The Imaginal Guardians examined in this thesis include Jesus Christ, the Devil, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, Cupid, the Boogie Monster, the Grim Reaper, the Stork, the Easter Bunny, and Bigfoot. As each of these beings possesses roots in the storied aspects of life, the majority of this thesis consists of a script that was written and performed at the University of Oregon in the Pocket Playhouse in the Spring of 2015. The following thesis document studies the relationships the Imaginal Guardians share with humanity, and their reasons for existence, which were synthesized into the ideas put onto the stage during the production of the play Apartment 111.