Dreams and nightmares.

Dreams and nightmares.

Have you ever woken up and automatically forgotten the dream you've just had? Even though you feel strange for some reason and that dream must have had some important reasons. The dreams you do remember are confusing and you try to make sense of it but you can't. Our subconscious communicates to us using our dreams and the language it speaks is symbolism. Symbolism is using things that represents something else, such as the ability to fly in a dream represents your free spirit but seeing snakes represents your fear.

A famous psychologist Doctor Freud came up with the theory that dreams are a path to understand a patients subconscious. One of his patients had a continuing dream of wolves sitting in a tree and Freud tried to figure out what it meant. He found out that man, when he was very young, once saw his parents make love. During this time many other doctors thought he was foolish but now it is common for psychologists to understand their patients' dreams.

Many people have had dreams where a close person who has died comes to visit them in their dreams. Some say they have brought warnings about something bad that is about to happen or comfort them during hard times. Some scientists say it is just your grief trying to deal with the lose of a loved one. Though, is our dreams a door to the beyond and our only connection to those who have left us behind?

Your task:

In your group you must make a short play about a dream that you might actually had or to make one up. Below are some ideas you can use if you can't think of any topics. The dream must represent something such as a student's fear of failing so he/she will have a dream where they fail an exam. Or to make a dream that represents a person's character such as flying which means this person is free. Though, a dream could be about a person who is in a cage because something about his/her life is wrong and in real life they are trapped to be free. Maybe their parents won't let them do the things he/she really wants to be but is unable to do so. Don't just make a strange dreaming without meaning, it must represent something. For example, a person has a dream about not having any arms, what could this mean in real life? Our dreams are trying to tell us something and your play must have a meaning.

Choose a topic:

a dream where you are the only person around and you can't find anyone.
a strange dream about having an exam and everything is going wrong from not having a pen, forgetting all the answers and the teacher failing you.
a nightmare where you are being sold at a market and people are going to buy you for food.
a dream that you can fly but only if you have to do a certain task first.
a dream where you are in a fight but you can't move your arms to punch the other person.
a dream of being visited by a close relative who died years before and is bringing you a message.
a dream of a past life you once lived such as a peasant in ancient times.
a dream that even your own parents have forgotten you.
a dream about you wandering around doing what you normally do but you're dead.
a dream about being chased by something but you can't see what is chasing you.
a dream where you are lost in a foreign country but you have to get back to your class or else you will fail.
a dream of being in the middle of the ocean in a boat that won't move but you can see your home but if you swim, there are people in the water that will drown you.
a dream about going back to visit your home but your parents are no longer living there.
a dream that you are going to class but you realised that you're naked.
a dream that no one can see, hear or speak to you and no matter what you do, no one will notice you.

These are just examples to give you ideas but you don't have to use them if you have a better idea. Please remember to make your play have a meaning and the dream represents that meaning.