Counterplay26: Reflections
This post is part of a series reflecting on my experiences attending Counterplay 2026. Check out the other posts here.
I arrived at CounterPlay late into the first day just in time for a 45-minute solo improvised lecture about 'play personalities' and self-critique by a clown. If that sounds intense, how do you think I felt. This being my first time at the conference, I had literally no idea what to expect, including whether the session I had pitched was still running; such is the chaotic, playful, emergent nature of CounterPlay. I asked someone where I registered, to be told there wasn't really a registration process as such; instead, everyone had made nametags out of a variety of arts and crafts materials on a big table in the middle of the conference venue. This was new. Opting for a large piece of cardboard and some bungee cord, I put my name down and wandered cautiously into something that I'm finding quite difficult to describe.
Because CounterPlay isn't an academic conference. It's something else entirely - a festival, a community, a collaborative playtime. To call it disorganised wouldn't be fair to the organisers - rather, they openly allow changes and shifts in the conference to emerge. New sessions are suggested, existing ones are rescheduled, regular update announcements are made and there's a general sense of organised chaos. The sessions are all play-related, and their breadth and variety demonstrate play's infinite possibilities: clowning sessions roll into meditation, followed by RPG tabletop games, which run in parallel with printmaking workshops, forum theatre games and group reflection sessions. For 72 hours, Designskolen Kolding was filled with feathers, confetti, coloured paper, protest placards, fake sunglasses and about 100 people from around the world coming together to play...together. At the end of each day the whole delegation shared a meal, reflections, experiences and conversation. Oh, and there was a David Attenborough-themed ceilidh. And bubbles.
So much happened that it wouldn't be productive for me to go through every individual event or workshop that I went to. Instead, I've tried to group some of my thoughts, reflections and learnings here. I'm still processing, so there's more to be said I'm sure, but I felt like it was important to get things out early to capture some of the raw reflections. A note: this is not meant to be a critical breakdown of the conference. More, a collection of subjective thoughts, feelings and observations.
Trust
I am reminded of just how much play and playfulness are all about trust: trusting the space, trusting others, trusting ourselves. If there is one thing we must strive for more than anything, it's to build a space in which we can trust.
But sometimes that trust might get conflated with other things - friendship, or closeness. Those things may come from trust, but they don't have to. You can have a close, respectful, trusting relationship without needing to agree on everything.
The importance of briefing and debriefing
Possibly the most obvious thing to me throughout the conference was just how much time was dedicated to reflection, both on individual sessions, and the conference as a whole. There was literally a sat down group reflection session with everyone at the conference. I've never encountered that before. And whilst not all of the debriefing sessions were equally effective, what felt clear to me was the importance of debriefing as part of the play process. Debriefing provides the opportunity to "remove any damage that occurred" (Jones, 1992) in a session; to share, and reflect, and feed back with context.
Similarly, there was a range of different briefing styles used. Some workshops were laid out clearly in advance, some were not, and some were explicitly, purposefully left as emergent. Subjectively, I found it much easier to play a game or participate when I know why we were doing it, or what we were supposed to be doing. That's not to say it all has to have a purpose (an outcome!), but more that if we're going to be doing improv theatre at a session that's pitched as decolonialising play, I like to know how those two things connect so that I can immerse myself more deeply in the play. That won't be true for everyone, of course. But I think there is something important in setting the boundaries of play, and allowing everyone to meet each other on an equal footing, not feeling like some people "get it" and others don't. Whitton's (2022) point about democratic magic circles is exactly right here: when we create and destroy them, we must do so together:
Rather than playfulness being an approach that is used [on participants], it should be a democratic conversation, with all participants having the agency to play in ways that are appropriate for them (Whitton, 2022, p.163)
Preaching to the choir?
An interesting point that came to light was that everyone at CounterPlay - at least those I spoke to - were already invested in play. To what extent, I wonder, are we in an echo chamber, talking about the importance of play to people who know play is important? This wasn't new information, though, as it was discussed in a group feedback session towards the end of the conference. This in itself differentiates CounterPlay from some of the conversations I see on LinkedIn about play; conversations which don't attempt to invite people to play, but instead to tell people why play is productive, or how play might be utilised in their business, or whatever. CounterPlay felt much less extractive, and more inclined to develop, and grow, and become more and more inclusive. I think it's wonderful that like-minded people can come together, and be aware of the potential echo chambers.
Reflecting on this, though, it did raise some other questions for me about the exclusivity of playful spaces. This is nothing to do with CounterPlay specifically, which genuinely feels like a place that is attempting to include any and all peoples and relationships to play. What I found interesting was my personal, internal reactions to some of the experiences I had over the weekend. It is so unusual to play openly as adults that play can be quite confronting, challenging, even off-putting. Sometimes, despite the best intentions, play itself can feel unwelcoming. If you're not used to practicing playfulness - by which, in this instance, I mean openness, willingness to engage with a genuinely open mind - some types of play can be really uncomfortable. This is something we're finding on the MWD project; that, despite being conceptually invested in the idea of play, that doesn't always translate to actual playfulness. Something to think about.
Not all play is equal and not all players play equally
I've written elsewhere about some of the challenging moments I had at CounterPlay in terms of negotiating the boundaries between different people's play. One of the challenging things about play that I was reminded of is just how differently we all play. Some people are loud, some are quiet, some are big, some are small - we're all different. What's key - and potentially tricky - is creating a space where all players feel valued, or safe, or able to access play at the same time. It doesn't have to be in the same way, and it doesn't have to be at the same level, but people should not feel excluded from play. But similarly, there is perhaps an onus on the players to let themselves go a bit. This is something I felt very strongly - that actually, it wasn't the space, or the players that affected my playfulness early in my time at CounterPlay - it was me.
At events like CounterPlay I can feel a self-inflicted pressure not just to be there, but to be positive, relentlessly, visibly positive...to be good at play. Because play isn't grumpy, right? Play doesn't wear black - play is colourful! And joyful! And HAPPY! But me performing positivity isn't the same as me being playful, and I'm not sure it's any more honest or playful than my partner's assumption that their energy was mine to absorb. The more genuinely playful response to discomfort, I'm slowly learning, is curiosity rather than resentment. To ask what it's telling you, and consider what opportunities it might surface, rather than assuming it's wrong.
Play can be selfish. When we are enjoying ourselves, we have the potential to prioritise our own engagement over others. We just need to be aware of that; to reflect on our playfulness and build on that where we can. Similarly, trust is not one-sided - whilst we have to build trustworthy spaces, we also have to actively put our trust in the space; we have to let go a little. That's why playfulness is so important to practice on a personal level, as well as a communal one.
Additionally, it's worth remembering that when we (I) talk about play, we're largely talking about Western ideas and ideals of play. Play operates differently in different cultures in different parts of the globe (Lancy and Tindall, 1976; Sutton-Smith, 1999). This was discussed at the conference, but it highlighted how little I know about other forms of play and playfulness. What might other cultures' play teach us about our own? What could we learn by broadening our play horizons?
Playfulness is a muscle
To build muscle, we must progressively overload the muscle - we must push it slightly beyond its limits, tear it, and allow it to regrow back bigger and stronger. That's how strength training works. I think playfulness is the same; I think in order to grow it, we potentially have to push ourselves beyond where we feel comfortable playing. Like muscle growth, that can take several forms - perhaps we increase the weight (i.e. the type of playfulness), or the reps (i.e. how often we are playful). Proyer's 2017 study suggests that a practice of being playful in a new way - akin to a heavier weight - is a productive way of increasing one's own playfulness.
I'm not saying we need to do entirely new things that make us feel really uncomfortable and hope playfulness increases. What I'm highlighting is what I've said elsewhere - that playfulness is a practice. But that practice might include putting oneself in slightly different, potentially uncomfortable situations, opening our minds and our hearts to them, and seeing where that takes us. Maybe nowhere, and that's OK. But who knows.
Play creates the spaces in between
Whilst the play sessions were many things - fun, thought-provoking, challenging - what felt most exciting and valuable to me was the times when we, the CounterPlay community, came together to share food, drink, secrets, hopes, stories, experiences. These moments in-between are where the real magic of play happens; as one new friend put it, we often began behaving as friends even though we had just met. For me, this is the real magic of play - the ability to strip away social awkwardness and convention, and allow us to connect on a deeper level not just during the play itself. In these moments we shared ideas, thoughts, feelings - I brainstormed animated maps, talked about constellations and ate a risotto made of white chocolate. It's in these "coffee room" (Calvert, 2023) moments that people from a range of disciplines come together to create new things.
Overthinking is underplaying
I spent a lot of the conference bouncing between taking notes, and actively trying not to in order to just "be". I found that when I focussed too much on trying to learn about what we were doing, I learnt less - I had a lot more to say about the things where I maybe took one or two brief notes before allowing myself to learn through more physical and affective engagement in what we were doing. This thought in particular needs a lot of development, but I wanted to capture the idea because I think it's particularly pertinent to the work we're doing on MWD. I think one challenge we're going to have is going to be encouraging people to uncouple from thinking "how does this benefit the work" and instead just do the thing, and allow that to open us up to interdisciplinary discussion and, ultimately, knowledge creation. As I mention above - perhaps it's the spaces, and connections, in-between that are the most important part of play.
Final thoughts...for now
Despite being the longest post I've written for some time, this post only really scratches the surface of my thoughts about CounterPlay. There's so much more to explore...but I had to start somewhere. I'm willing to admit that I found it at times really challenging, confronting. From Hollie Stoppit's improvised lecture that felt like it cut straight to some of my self-confidence issues, to moments where I was invited to play in ways that made me feel uncomfortable, to conversations that really got me thinking about my own personal relationship with not only play, but with myself, and with those around me, CounterPlay was a LOT. It's telling that a lot of the chat on the Discord was about how tired people were - but it was a tiredness that came from joy.
One of my new friends raised a point that we must consider not only what hides play from us, but what play hides from us; that play protects us from the outside world, from the pressures and problems that the everyday contains. Coming home, I was struck less by what play hides than by what it reveals. During CounterPlay I thought harder, and with more clarity, than usual about the way I engage with others, and with myself. Returning home, I can feel myself trying to be more open, spontaneous, kinder and more trusting of my own playfulness in my day-to-day life.
The more I think about what I learnt at CounterPlay, the more I think about what it means to be playful. For me, it's not about play, it's not about activity. In fact, I think I generally have mixed feelings about play activities when described as such. But playfulness...playfulness is magic. Playfulness is the thing that encourages us to have an open mind, to go with the flow, to connect with other people and explore the boundaries of how we all communicate. As friend and colleague Lynn Love put it:
We co-created hundreds (or thousands) of joyful, beautiful, revealing and sometimes difficult moments together through play. These moments connect us in a deeply human way that wouldn’t be possible without the silly, without the fun and without the being together intensely, mindfully and playfully.
If I take one thing away from CounterPlay, it's a much stronger belief that playfulness is an energy which connects us all; when we share it graciously, like a flock of starlings we begin to move, to think, and to be, together.
References
CALVERT, J. 2023. A Place for Science and Technology Studies. Inaugural Lectures. The University of Edinburgh.
JONES, K. 1998. Hidden Damage to Facilitators and Participants. Simulation & Gaming, 29**,** 165-172.
KENT, C. & STEWARD, J. 2008. Learning by heart, New York, Bantam Books.
LANCY, D. F. & TINDALL, B. A. 1976/1979. The Anthropological Study of Play: Problems and Prospects, West Point, N.Y, Leisure Press.
PROYER, R. T. 2017. A New Structural Model for the Study of Adult Playfulness: Assessment and Exploration of an Understudied Individual Differences Variable. Personality and Individual Differences, 108**,** 113-122.
SUTTON-SMITH, B. 1999. Evolving a Consilience of Play Definitions: Playfully. In: REIFEL, S. (ed.) Play & Culture Studies.
WHITTON, N. 2022. Play and Learning in Adulthood, Palgrave Macmillan Cham.