Mr. Common Sense: A Process Drama

I once came across an interesting pretext online — the obituary of Mr. Common Sense (source). Here’s a brief summary:

In Memory of Mr. Common Sense

Mr. Common Sense became increasingly distressed by the rising number of insane events in the world. His health declined, and eventually, he passed away in grief. Few people attended his funeral, as most had already forgotten he ever existed. Before his death, his parents, ‘Truth’ and ‘Trust,’ his wife ‘Judgment,’ his daughter ‘Responsibility’, and his son ‘Reason’ had all passed away. He was survived by three half-brothers: ‘My Rights’, ‘Blame Others’ and ‘I Am a Victim’.

I was going to run a workshop for social workers and volunteers from a social welfare organisation when I came across this pretext. It seemd like a fitting theme. The organisation’s coordinator explained that their staff and volunteers often handle debt hotline calls and frequently encounter unreasonable, difficult callers. He asked me to design a drama workshop to provide them with a safe space to vent and decompress.

The idea of “Mr. Common Sense is dead” seemed to align well with the unreasonable stories the staff had experienced. I was drawn to its fable-like style — simple, almost childlike, yet packed with serious, thought-provoking undertones. The Process Drmaa plan was straightforward. I started with a question:

“There must be countless things that drove Mr. Common Sense to his death. Can you think of examples from your own life?”

Participants split into groups and shared personal experiences. Each group chose a story from their group (or combined several) and created a still image to capture the essense of the story(s). Then they developed the story into a short scene. After each scene was presented, we discussed the unreasonable behaviours depicted in the scenes. These scenarios brought a variety of problematic characters to life: inconsiderate people, irresponsible parents, runaway debtors, and overbearing bosses, among others.

Then I asked, “If Mr. Common Sense had other cousins besides ‘My Rights’, ‘Blame Others’ and ‘I Am a Victim’, who would they be, based on the stories we just saw?”

Instantly, a new cast of characters emerged: ‘Love Doesn’t Exist’, ‘It’s None of My Business’, ‘Stand By and Watch’, ‘I’m Always Right’, ‘Irresponsible’, ‘Selfish’, and more.

To wrap up the workshop, I asked each participant to choose one of Mr. Common Sense’s cousins and write them a letter. Once they finished writing, they exchanged letters, read each other’s words, and selected the most impactful sentences to share with the group.

The workshop ended here, and the objective of releasing pent-up frustration was largely achieved.

On my way home, I reread some of the letters. A few passages struck me deeply:

• “To: Love Doesn’t Exist… Love requires action, not just empty words. Only love backed by action is real love…”
• “To: It’s None of My Business… I have a love-hate relationship with you. I’ve always wanted to be you; you helped me handle life’s difficulties and made things easier for me. Yet because of you, I’ve also encountered many people I can’t tolerate…”
• “To: Stand By and Watch… Your social status and reputation may not be the worst, but I know you’ve been complicit in many wrongdoings…”