Tangled by the Polyglot Theatre is a very free and liberal form of play. The concept of Tangled is made real through the use of elastic thread-like strands wound around the designated area of play. This designated area of play is usually a public space within which something like Tangled would ideally not be cited. As the play activity is on-going, there usually is some background music that plays in order to provide a very relaxed and playful atmosphere. This music is the combination of random sounds from different instruments and digital systems. Tangled is primarily designed for children, and their parents to play together and have a good bonding time.
As mentioned earlier, Tangled is for kids and their parents or guardians. It is noteworthy that despite both contrasting age groups in the play space at the same time, their experiences are often miles apart. Tangled is designed in such a way that children naturally enjoy it more. The attractive colours of the thread, the music and even the presence of more kids doing the same activity makes it enjoyable for the children. Tangled plays heavily on their imagination and challenges them to create whatever they want to create. It gives them absolute freedom to do as much as they can in terms of forming patterns intentionally or unintentionally. Parents or older people in general perhaps find joy in seeing their kids play and have a good time but most likely do not share the same level of excitement as the kids. This is a somewhat natural reaction in the sense that the set-up of Tangled may be too abstract in their minds and the objective may be distant. A successful session of Tangled requires the full wild imagination of the player and this is something adults usually lack in thereby robbing them of the true Tangled experience. Having taken part in Tangled at the same time as other kids much younger than I am. I noticed that from the onset, the kids would run off in pairs or in groups and try to be as creative as they possibly can. I, on the contrary, felt a bit out of place because I felt as though I was playing a children’s game.
Tangled can be considered a social game in the sense that it requires the collective collaboration of many players (the kids and their parents) to achieve a successful session. A single person entering the play space and winding the elastic thread around would certainly defeat the purpose of the activity and perhaps, the person might feel extremely bored. Tangled is designed to be played with many people at the same time. This particularly is due to the fact that, the more people there are winding up the thread around the space, the livelier the play space gets and the wilder the imagination of the participants run. The joyful screams of a fellow tangler, the patterns they are making, their movement through the space or even their level of involvement in the activity all influence a player’s experience, making it a very social game.
After a session of Tangled, the woven elastic forms a random but intricate pattern. Coupled with its colourful nature, this could be deemed as an artwork. The aim of the play experience, however, is not to create an artwork but rather to provide an opportunity for kids to have fun. Also, the randomness of the aftermath of a play session makes it difficult for one to draw artistic meaning out of it. Indeed, the pattern that remains after each play session if different from the previous one and thus meaning is almost impossible to draw. It is definitely aesthetically pleasing to observe but, in my opinion, Tangled cannot be deemed as art.
At the start of the session, the players are handed a balled up piece of the colourful thread and are told to go and tangle. That is the only instruction given – to tangle. This leaves the participants with all the freedom they desire to play as they so wish. They can make any patterns they want, they can wind the thread on anything they want, and they can play for as long as they want. This level of freedom is indeed what makes Tangled what it is. Also, the disruption of a rather unusual public space sends the idea to the children that they can achieve any play experience anywhere and that play ought not to be limited to certain areas only.
Overall, Tangled successfully achieves its aim of providing a very fluid and free space for children and their parents (or guardians) to play without the hindrance of any rules or prohibitions. Despite the subjective outcomes of the play experience, Tangled indeed offers a somewhat good time to all its participants.