Active Endowments: If I say, “I love cats,” I’m just emoting. If I say, “I love this cat,” I’m emotionally reacting. If we make the object of our emotion active in the scene – actually tangible/observable/repeatable on stage – then we have something to react to instead of just talk about. What is it specifically […]
BLIND SCENES – Player One starts engaged in the environment (with an action, object, atmosphere, etc.). Player Two, starting with his back to the stage, has the first line of dialogue. Lessons: • No justification necessary – If players’ initiations don’t align, they don’t have to make sense of why they’re together. They can just […]
FREEZE TAG – Two players engage a scene, having been encouraged to be physical. A third player calls, “Freeze,” causing the players on stage to hold their physical positions at that moment. The third player replaces a player of their choosing, assumes that same physical position and starts a brand new scene. Lessons: • No […]
Emotional Initiations: The sooner we identify how a player feels the better – because that feeling can be heightened by the player and played to by the player’s teammates. The sooner we can identify how a player feels about a something the better – because that something can be heightened by the player to heighten […]
Self Contained Emotional Statements: Emotion should be the base of all the improv we do. A “Self Contained Emotional Statement” establishes a stable starting point without dictating a direction and therefore is the initiation most conducive to patterns’ possibilities. Suggested Exercises: SCES CIRCLE I – Around a circle, everyone makes a Self Contained Emotional Statement. […]