When I first started taking theater classes, theater games scared the crap out of me. Whenever we would do them in class the same things would pop into my head:
“What’s the word I’m supposed to say? Wait, why are you looking at me?
What motion and the---AAAH!”
Then my face would turn a vibrant shade of beet red for the rest of class...
“What’s the word I’m supposed to say? Wait, why are you looking at me?
What motion and the---AAAH!”
Then my face would turn a vibrant shade of beet red for the rest of class...
Needless to say, I avoided them at all costs--the same went with improv, I didn’t know what to say or do, and I was so worried about looking like a doofus that I’d hang back and hide till the game was over.
Now that I’m a little older(ish) and wiser, I’ve realized that these games don’t actually have anything to do with me. Or with any one person for that matter. The whole point is to be a doofus, to surrender yourself utterly to the fact that you are a part of a group of people whose job it is to tell a story, no matter how silly or x-rated it may become (and believe me, improvs and theater games can get
pretty raunchy). The purpose of these games is to train an ensemble to work together, give and
take focus and to trust that wherever the story they make may take them, they are in it together.
Fast forward to Pericles workshops and Bryan’s introduction of “Zip, Schwartz, Svigliano,” (Hereafter referred to as ZSS) a variation on ZIP ZAP ZOP except with more complicated rules and more exciting names.
We, as a group, had just barely gotten the hang of doing Zip Zap Zop together and now Bryan was patiently shepherding us through a variety of improv games, including the infamous “ZSS.” All the old terrors came up--I could tell that everyone else (with the exception of Bryan) were all having similar worries as to the complicated nature of the game, especially that darn Svigliano.
The first couple of times we played it I know I was susceptible to quite a few brain malfunctions, but after a few tries we did get sort of the hang of it and
Erin developed a comforting catch phrase "We have months".
Erin developed a comforting catch phrase "We have months".
I’ve been thinking about what makes a really good ensemble since Gwen Sisco brought up the point in her comment to my last entry...and my brain keeps bringing me back to theater games...
There’s something to be said for being willing to act like a dork in front of the rest of your ensemble members, it brings everyone closer together and I think also lets people see the realest you there is, when you’re the most vulnerable, trying desperately to make sense of rules that don’t actually make that much sense. Also, the ability to move past the dork-acting phase and communicate with each other is empowering to say the least--the group develops a vocabulary together and becomes a tighter unit.
When that same level of attentiveness and willingness to give over to spontanaety is translated to the stage, it can make for some exciting theater indeed. For me, it’s totally worth looking like a dork if it means learning something in the process--and after all, what we put up on stage are called “Plays” for a reason, right?
What do you, the viewers at home think?
More on this Next Entry...In the meantime, here’s some “Who’s Line is it Anyway”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfsaSouIus8
There’s something to be said for being willing to act like a dork in front of the rest of your ensemble members, it brings everyone closer together and I think also lets people see the realest you there is, when you’re the most vulnerable, trying desperately to make sense of rules that don’t actually make that much sense. Also, the ability to move past the dork-acting phase and communicate with each other is empowering to say the least--the group develops a vocabulary together and becomes a tighter unit.
When that same level of attentiveness and willingness to give over to spontanaety is translated to the stage, it can make for some exciting theater indeed. For me, it’s totally worth looking like a dork if it means learning something in the process--and after all, what we put up on stage are called “Plays” for a reason, right?
What do you, the viewers at home think?
More on this Next Entry...In the meantime, here’s some “Who’s Line is it Anyway”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfsaSouIus8
RSS Feed
