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What is this project?
Years after the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, a participant recounts the background and traumatizing experience of an investigation into evil that became its illustration, through eyewitness narrative and reimagined lyrics to popular songs that were playing on the radio while it took place.
Alternating between retrospective narration and adaptations of popular songs, Lost in a Role: Memories and Music of the Stanford Prison Experiment tells the story of the landmark social-psychology study to investigate the behavioral effects of perceived imbalance of power. In this simulation, conducted by a team led by psychology professor Dr. Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University in August 1971, college-age volunteers were assigned randomly to be either “guards” or “prisoners” in a mock prison. Due to deteriorating psychosocial conditions, some prisoners were removed early, and the entire study – planned to run for two weeks – was abandoned after only six days.
(Note: August 14th was when the “guards” received their orientation and uniforms; the actual experiment, starting with the “arrests” of the “prisoners”, began on August 15th.)
The ten-song story-arc begins with well-intentioned scientific curiosity from Phil, who seeks experimental insight into the causation and prevention of troubling social phenomena. Christina initially appears indirectly as the personified voice of caution & reason, then directly when drastic intervention becomes needed later. The storyline details how researchers, guards, and prisoners sink ever more deeply into their respective roles – eventually threatening the identity, individuality, and morality of all involved.
(We’ve assembled a playlist of those popular songs, so you can listen to them in their original form.)
The interstitial narration comes from the perspective of a participant in the actual Experiment. The musical adaptations include new lyrics to popular songs that played on Bay-area radio as the Experiment took place: two of the songs were chart-toppers from earlier years, while the other eight were “Top 40” singles during that specific week (August 15-20, 1971). This juxtaposition invites the listener to consider how different a society might be, if the lessons from the Stanford Prison Experiment – which are even more critically relevant today – were as received, retained, and recounted as are the hook lines and catchy refrains of popular music.
Lost in a Role is not a documentary. It is an interpretative retelling that employs composite characters & events in a simplified timeline: partly to make it easier for listeners to identify characters and to follow the story in an audio-only format; and partly to allow each song to capture and to explore a distinct stage in the progression of the storyline.
Importantly, Lost in a Role is not a parody of the Stanford Prison Experiment, and it is neither a veneration nor a demonization of those who were involved in it. Rather, it aspires to be a respectful, faithful, yet novel messenger of the tremendously important lessons from a historical event that, when not remembered, is all too likely to be repeated.
How and why did it come to be?
Since childhood, I’ve been putting new lyrics to familiar music, mimicking yet redirecting the originals for commentary and critique. The 2015 release of a new film on the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) prompted a friend to challenge me to adapt a song about it. I then began research to refresh my somewhat vague recollection of the event.
A central theme emerging from the SPE was how prisoners, guards, even researchers became “lost in a role” – so caught up in the ideas and emotions of their immediate responsibilities and tasks, that they lost sight of their overall objectives – and eventually even of who they were, and who they wanted to be, as people. I was intrigued, as this perspective seemed extensible to many of the problems that we face in society today.
Once upon a time, the focus of organized sports was disciplined pursuit of excellence, both in athleticism and in character, and competitors were complementary teammates who challenged each other to be ever better. However, when competitors become too invested in “their team”, “their cause”, their role, then each views the other as the enemy in an either-or, win-lose battle. Victory is prized over excellence and fair play, opponents are recast as enemies, and contests can escalate into actual physical violence.
We can see this in sociopolitical debate as well. Truth and wisdom can be found on more than one side of a complex issue, and the best outcome for the bigger picture requires complementary contributions from all sides (“both-and”). For example, a correctional facility should provide respect and safety, both for its guards and for its prisoners (respecting both collective and individual needs), since big-picture objectives ostensibly include someday restoring rehabilitated prisoners back into society as healthy, functional members.
Unfortunately, imbalance (real or perceived) on one side often triggers over-compensatory imbalance from another side. In the SPE, the prisoners initially took their roles and situation far less seriously than did the guards. The guards responded harshly, the prisoners then responded to that response, and the cycle escalated destructively as the perceived roles (particularly those of the guards) eclipsed the larger objectives – and the means became the end.
Once someone is lost in a role, they easily can fall under the influence of one or more intoxicants: unwavering confidence in the nobility of their cause; dehumanization of opponents into foes to be vanquished; and the pursuit, acquisition, exercise, and celebration of power to coerce others. We see this in the more aggressive guards in the SPE, but we also see it in political parties and in social movements.
Ultimately, the SPE is a cautionary parable to all who aspire to inform, conform, deform, reform, or transform problematic structures and systems in society. Critics and crusaders can get “lost in a role” when they forget that they themselves are both parts and products of imperfect structures and metasystems. The researchers in the SPE failed to anticipate, recognize, or address that they were subject to the same systemic influences and degradation as were those whom they were studying – until damage was already done.
Could everyday social dysfunction – poor sportsmanship, road rage – be both the effect and the cause of individuals getting “lost in a role” too easily, for complements becoming destructive instead of constructive? Might these eventually escalate tribalism, impasse, and outrage in complex social issues, causing difficult situations to become intractable and unstable situations to become dangerous? Could the Stanford Prison Experiment, its failures, and its lessons inform actionable discourse on a far larger scale?
The implications and applications of what transpired in August of 1971 caught my imagination. What began as an impulsive lark became serious inquiry, then a full-blown project. Instead of writing a single song for fun, I eventually wrote thoughtful new lyrics for ten songs that were playing on popular radio during the week of the actual Stanford Prison Experiment, which together highlight its important, impactful story.
Although the Stanford Prison Experiment took place more than fifty years ago, its lessons still can equip and encourage us: to be wary of blanket assessments, convenient characterizations, and simplistic solutions to complex problems; to maintain mindful resistance against getting “lost in a role”; and to seek the truth and wisdom of “the other side” as we pursue shared objectives for desperately needed systemic change in society.
Where in the process is it currently?
A solo-performance audiobook of Lost in a Role is in the final stages of production. This includes:
- A Prolog, in which the Narrator explains why he’s sharing his personal experiences from the Stanford Prison Experiment through memories and music — leading into a musical cover of the number-one popular song during the week of the Experiment
- Scenes 1-10, in each of which the Narrator shares further information and background of the Experiment as it unfolded — each leading into (and reinforced by) adaptations of songs that were actively playing on the radio during the week of the Experiment
- An Epilog, in which the Narrator recounts the repercussions of the Stanford Prison Experiment on institutions and on individuals, then summarizes the vital relevance of lessons learned — closing with a reprise of the top song during the Experiment
The subsequent phase will be to produce an accompaniment CD and a performance-rights package, to equip schools and community-theatre groups for live public performances with a narrator and a few vocalists. Such performances could conclude with panel discussions, question-and-answer sessions, or similar springboards for conversation with attendees around many contemporary issues. (To facilitate such conversation, a discussion guide is under development in parallel with the audiobook.)
Eventually, the single-voice narration will expand into multiple characters and dialog, for adaptation into a full stage musical (with accompanying performance-rights packages). Such productions would be excellent opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration of a university’s Media, Theatre, Dance, Music, Psychology, Sociology, Law, Criminal Justice, and/or Athletic departments: throughout preparation and rehearsal, then after each performance, giving opportunity to explore the present-day relevance of the larger themes of the story.
To follow (or to shape!) ongoing progress, contact: Lost in a Role email address
Detailed information (including backstory, timeline, and pictures) on the Stanford Prison Experiment itself can be found on the Stanford Prison Experiment website.