1: Well, I would say its late Egyptian.
2: Most likely Ramses III. But I wouldn’t bet my camel on it.
1: I’ll bet the last of my water and food that its Ramses II period.
2: Let’s take a look in my iPhone’s ‘hieroglyph identification’ app. Hmm. Ramses III.
1: (Gulp) well, that’s interesting.
2: (taking the food and water from partner’s pack and putting it into their own)Ahhh, canned hummus. I love hummus.
1: I do too. (looking hungry)….Hey! Look! A mummy! I bet you its haunted.
2: Some mummies are haunted, yes. But its never a surefire thing. I wouldn’t bet my sunscreen on it.
1: I’ll bet you double or nothing for my food back.
2: You don’t have any food or water to put up to bet.
1: Triple or nothing.
2: You already have nothing. You could do a credit thing, take out a loan or…
1: or, bet my life!
2: or bet your life.
1: Its on.
2: I’m not sure exactly what ‘is on’.
1: I bet you my life that this mummy is haunted.
2: So if it is haunted you live and if it isn’t….
1: You can kill me.
2: You’re my best friend, research team coordinator, Doctoral advisor, kidney donee, half brother, and at times my lover. There is no other life I’d be more honored in ending.
1: Thank you. Besides, I would have slowly died of dehydration and starvation anyway, so really its helping me out.
2: That’s a good point.
1: Half of me hopes this mummy ISN’T haunted.
2: More than half, here.
1: (Picks up a jar) Hey, Mummy! I’m messing around with your stuff!
2: I think that you might need to desecrate it.
1: Like have sex with it.
2: Let’s start with making out and we can go from there.
1: (makes out with jar) Uh! This tastes horrible! (makes out some more) Oh! There’s a dead ol’ cat in here!
2: I thought that looked like a cat burial jar.
1: Uh….I’m getting its burial wrappings and cat hair caught in my teeth. Is that mummy moving yet?
2: A little, but not really in a scary way. Its just waving happily. (waves back) hello!
1: I have the worst luck ever.
2: Hey, luck is subjective.
1: How’s that?
2: I’m going to get my right kidney back.
1: True…I had grown attached to it though.
2: You just never learned your lesson! You remember last year when we went to Vegas and stayed in the Luxor hotel?
1: Of course! I lost my original right kidney in a bet there.
2: And that wasn’t enough to convince you that you have a gambling problem?
1: Gambling is only a problem when it interferes with your life.
2: Well, now its going to be ending your life.
1: Everybody’s got to go somehow. Better by the hand of your best friend and kidney donor in a pyramid than by say….old age or something.
2: (takes sword from sheath and approaches)
1: Hey! One last bet.
2: Okay.
1: I bet you my pith helmet that you’ll regret killing me.
2: Okay. (runs the sword through. 1 staggers gurgling and collapses. 2 waits then shrugs and takes 1’s pith helmet)
Mummy: Ohhhhh! I’m a haunted mummy!
2: The shedding of innocent blood has awoken you!
Mummy: No,
2: The making out with your cat has awoken you!
Mummy: No, I overheard that there’s an extra kidney to be had. I just love kidney pie. You ever had kidney pie?
2: No.
Mummy: I bet you’ll love it.
2: You’re on!
Tim is sleeping in his dark apartment and the phone rings.
Tim: ….Hello?
Dave: Tim!
T: Yeah, yeah, I’m here. Hello?
D: TIM!
T: Dave? Is that you? What is it? Oh my god….
D: Hey man.
T: Yeah, Dave! Are you all right?
D: I’m golden dude. What are you up to?
T: I’m sleeping. Is everything alright?
D: Yeah. Yeah. What? Are you sleeping?
T: I uh…yeah. I uh.
D: Why are you sleeping?
T: Its like uh, four in the morning. We’ve got to be at work in the morning-are you okay?
D: Dude-you got to work in the morning?
T: Tomorrow’s Tuesday. The Hamshire deal….the big eight o’ clock meeting, Dave!
D: Oh! That’s right tomorrow’s Tuesday! I totally lost track of time.
T: How do you lose track of days Dave? Christ! Why are you calling me? Is this about the meeting tomorrow?
D: Tim, dude I’m sorry man. No, I just called to say hi. I totally forgot about the meeting. I’m on vacation.
T: You’re on vacation?
D: I’m on vay-cay, baby. That’s cool about the meeting though. Good luck in there.
T: Thanks. I guess. Why did you call me at four in the morning again?
D: Why do you keep saying its four in the morning?
T: Because it is!
D: Where are you right now?
T: My bed!
D: In L.A.?….Oh, dude….I’m sorry.
T: You’re on vacation?…Aren’t you supposed to present the proposal?
D: I emailed you the powerpoint.
T: No you didn’t.
D: No, I just did. You didn’t see it?
T: I’m not in the office-
D: You got your Blackberry with you?
T: I’m sleeping!
D: Well, when you check it, it’ll be there.
T: A powerpoint.
D: Well, not a powerpoint. A Word document. But you’ll be able to put it into a powerpoint.
T: For tomorrow’s meeting?
D: Yeah. I put in some links to Google images that are cool too. Like one of a bar graph and one of a poodle wearing sunglasses and stuff. Check it out.
T: I will. In the morning. Waitaminute: where are you?
D: New York. I thought I told you.
T: No.
D: Yeah! I’m in New York! Can you believe it?
T: No.
D: Yeah. That’s why I guess I thought you’d be up.
T: Because its what? Seven o’ clock there?
D: Is it? I dunno. I’ve been out drinking all night.
T: Goodnight, Dave.
D: Are you in a bad mood?
T: Well, Dave-
D: Because you really shouldn’t stress about tomorrow’s meeting. There probably won’t be any lay-off announcements tomorrow anyway.
T: There’s going to be lay-offs?
D: …Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.
T: You know about lay-offs? Ms. Lindel said she wouldn’t lay anyone off this fiscal year.
D: Well, she would tell YOU that.
T: What does that mean?
D: I shouldn’t have said anything. Look, dude. I’m sorry I’m talking your ear off. I should let you go-you got like a pivotal career making or breaking meeting tomorrow and you’ve still got to get a powerpoint together for it, so I should let you go.
T: No, wait! You got to tell me what you know about lay-offs! Am I being fired?
D: Dude, Tim. Relax, alright? I’ve got to let you go. I’m meeting some ladies at the club. Talk to you later!
Dave hangs up and Tim clicks his phone down. He tries to rest, but turns uneasily. He finally sits up again turns on the light and calls Dave back on the phone.
Dave: Hello this is Dave.
Tim: Am I being fired tomorrow?
D: Who’s speaking?
T: Me! Tim.
D: Did you get my email about the presentation?
T: No!
D: Oh. I was just expecting you to call when you tried to open it because there will probably be some problems opening it. I used an old Mac letter template and I think it was a pirated copy because I found it on an offshore porn website.
T: Dave. What did Ms. Lindel tell you about my job? Am I being fired?
D: Mom didn’t say anything really. Its not that big a deal.
T:….Ms. Lindel is your mom?
D: Uh…
T: The boss is your mom?….Dave?
D: Step-mom. Officially she’s my step mom….But she has legally adopted me.
T: Now it all makes sense.
D: What does?….I mean speak up, I can hardly hear you. We’re doing some coke over here and its getting hard to pay attention to what you’re saying.
T: I said it makes sense why you get away with being drunk at the office and why you get raises every year and yet other more talented and hard working people get fired!
D: That sounds accusatory, Tim. I’m not a sensitive guy. But I could take offense. Really. I’m not sensitive or caring at all, and I arguably have no emotions. But you’re getting close to poking a tender spot, here.
T: You know what, Dave? Do you know what I’m going to do?
D: You’re going to tell me off and then hang up the phone and then say something snarky that reincorporates.
T: As funny as that might be, Dave, I’m going to rather divulge my sinister plans to get back at you.
D: I don’t like that ending so much.
T: I didn’t think you would. I’m going to go in to work tomorrow with some Bree cheese-
D: No! You wouldn’t! That’s Mom’s favorite!…
T: And I’m going to romance your mother by feeding her Bree cheese on rye crackers-
D: Oh no!
T: Then I’m going to marry her and through years of manipulation and devious plotting, I will wrestle her job as CEO from her, take over the company, and then I will fire you!
D: Tim….Can’t we make a deal? I mean let’s be reasonable. Please.
T: Too late, Dave. The wheels have already been set in motion. Tim gets out of bed and begins clicking on his iPhone I’m ordering some Bree cheese to be delivered to me right now.
D: You’d have to order all the way from New York at this time of day its like seven o’ clock!
T: Four. I’m in L.A.
D: That only confirms my point! There’s no place in L.A. where you can buy fancy cheese at four in the morning!
T: I’ve found a store already called “Bree Storehouse For The Conniving” in New York and it says that they can rush order it in time for the meeting!
D: Dave looks up and sees he’s standing next to the sign for the store-he motions to the teller to buy some Bree
T: They have one wheel of Bree left and I’m ordering it right now! Hahahahha! What?
D: Did the website tell you the last one was just bought?
T: ….Yes. How did you know?…..realizes and silently admits defeat Dave, I should let you go. I’ve got to get ready for the Hamshire meeting tomorrow.
D: Tim…I’m sorry I woke you up tonight buddy.
T: That’s okay. Don’t worry about it.
D: Have a good morning, buddy.
T: Yeah. You too. Hangs up phone his girlfriend Brenda rolls over from where she’s been hidden in the covers
Brenda: Would you really have married your boss just to get back at Dave? You’ve always told me you don’t want to get married.
T: Oh, Brenda-you know that was an empty threat. It would have never worked out between me and Ms. Lindel anyway. I’m lactose intolerant.
B: You’re lactose intolerant? Uh. I think we need to start seeing other people. The phone rings
T: Can you answer it? I can’t take anymore. Is holding is head in his hands
B: Hello? Oh, Hi Dave! Yeah. Laughs again and again flirtatiously. Yeah, dinner sounds nice. Yeah, I’m single now. Friday sounds great. Yeah, he’s here. He’s just a sour puss right now. Okay. I’ll tell him. Night, Dave! See you soon. That was Dave.
T: Really. sarcastic
B: Yeah. He said that he’d thought of something snarky you could say that would reincorporate but he forgot it. He’ll call back though. Well. I’ll see you, loser. She leaves in her pj’s and slams the door. The phone rings. Tim looks at it despairingly. Finally concedes to pick it up
T: Hello?
Francois: In thick French accent Allo! This is Francois from Bree Storehouse for The Conniving. Yes, the fellow who bought our last wheel of Bree returned it. Would you still like it sent to you express?
T: Yes….Oh, and do you sell Lactaid?
F: But of course.
T: hahahahahahahahahaha!
curtain
Expect a lot of controversy this week.
Ugh.
There’ll be many a ‘flame war’ among internet
trolls and the African Bishops, I just know it.
You know, there were nay sayers when
Pope Clement the Eleventh said there was
no grace outside the Church.
And you know what?
They burned in hell.
And when Pope Gregory the Sixteenth said that all Bible
interpretation is left to the infalliable Magisterium of the Church
there were those hipster ‘blog’ journalists who chimed in.
And you know what?
They had unusually high viewing records for that week.
Because religion sells.
And controversy ups blog hype.
And you know what?
The current Pope is expecting and ready for all that
you internet-dwelling-microwave-baked-beans-eating-nerd-chic
Mac-using-jerks can throw at him.
Well, I for one appreciate the spirit and daring prophetic
vision that the Pope had this week when he declared my perpetual virginity.
And a Papal decree of virginity is WAY better than any ol’
evangelical ‘born again virgin’ bullshit.
You tell someone you’re a ‘born again virgin’ as they’re about
to fist their way into another fistula and you’re bound to get laughed
out of the academy.
Evangelicalism won’t get you anywhere in serious religious discussion
or in the sack.
But a statement written in Latin will sew you tighter than the security at Dulles.
That’s the breaks, folks. I wish all you sluts good luck-as for me and my perpetual virginity,
we’re heading over to the House of Blues on Sunset!
You know, some of the best poets never spoke literally.
Why is it that we need to always speak of religions literally?
Really.
Have you ever thought about Mormonism in a non-literal sense?
It seems pretty cool in that way. You know, like, these immigrants
or more appropriately refugees have to flee and lo and behold they
end up in the Americas.
And this fella cares about their stories and writes them down and
then this other dude finds them and in an effort to establish harmony
and unity, makes a new myth for spiritual folk in America.
Forget literalism! It’s a cool story.
And its in that same spirit of Mormonism that I can tell you that
I’m sober.
I’m totally not high-in a metaphorical sense.
You see, when I body paint magical runes on myself and eat
chocolate covered cherries and watch the sunset over LA,
I can say that like every religion worth its weight in salt,
I’m operating at a purely mythic level.
So to answer your question:
Yes, I am perfectly fit to walk to
Jack In The Box.
Just write what you want down on this old google maps.
Hey! Oh my goodness. I mean oh my goodness! Good to see you. My. I haven’t seen you since Dave and Paul’s party this spring. Yeah! Yes, I remember you-silly! Of course. You look great. Just great! You’ve been working out. Pilates! Oh my gawd! I tried that once and nearly broke in half, girl! It works for you, though. Damn. I’m telling you, I was on my way to my second pilates class, and caught a different bus and went to The Massage Place on Montana instead. I said: “I value my life more than that.” Well, good for you. Wow. You look great. And I’ve got to say, your nose job looks alright. Yeah! Don’t be shy! No! It looks okay. Yeah. No, I’d heard some things, but from what I’d heard I had a totally different image in mind. But, no, it looks like…not bad at all. Totally. Would I lie? I’m like George Washington over here, girl. I’ll be the first to tell you I took somebody home last night and then passed out half way to second base and then kicked them out at six in the morning ‘cause I had the runs. No, believe me: its just about passable. Yeah! Are you walking this way? I can walk with you. Oh, I’m in a hurry too. Maybe I’ll just walk with you to the parking garage. Okay. Oh, you’re getting a phone call? Go ahead answer it, yeah, no, I’ll just walk with you.
Hello everyone!
I was among the many today to get an email response from John Geary, GM and VP of KRXQ.
Like so many others around the country and world, I’d sent Geary an email expressing my sadness and hurt over statements made by Rob and Arnie about Trans youth. Well, I was happy to get this email in my inbox today-
“Thank you for your feedback regarding the May 28th and June 3rd, 2009 broadcasts of “The Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show.” I understand the seriousness of the issue, and want to share with you a copy of a notice that has been posted on our website, www.krxq.net these shows, Rob and Arnie made what we, and they, recognize were completely unacceptable remarks concerning members of the transgender community, especially children. Accordingly, this Thursday, June 11th, 2009, the show will be dedicated to what we anticipate will be a forum to promote a better understanding among all listeners of the issues involved.
DuringJohn D. Geary Vice President / General Manager”
So, all you who have been following this story, our voices have been heard. But, let’s continue with this. Let’s listen in on this Thursday June 11th to the ‘Rob, Arnie, and Dawn’ show and continue to let our voices and stories be heard.
Well, just a word about the title: the entire station of KRXQ is not who I’m really talking about. Even Dawn the morning of the original transphobic broadcast did well to not jump on the Ignorant Bandwagon. So what I’m talking about is the comments Rob and Arnie made, the way the two of them handled it, and the way their station dealt with them-i.e. not firing them, suspending them, or even issuing an immediate and complete retraction and apology for their statements. But for the title’s sake, KRXQ makes for easy searching.
So, why the “Gender Panic” in the title? Aren’t we talking about ‘hate’ or ‘transphobia’? Well, maybe. I think that the more general issue at stake is gender panic in a wider sense.
I’m sure that many of you all have kept up to date about what was said, and the fallout that occurred, and I wouldn’t rehash too much here. You can check out these links for more info:
http://www.tips-q.com/982923-follow-krxq-controversy
http://glaadblog.org/2009/06/04/update-makers-of-the-best-stuff-on-earth-pull-advertising-from-krxq/
So: what’s all the fuss about? The fuss is about two white guys on the radio singling out young people with gender dysphoria (or ‘GID’) and calling them “freaks” and making flippant remarks about abusing them.
Funny? Worthwhile? Adult? Admirable?
Or, seriously troubling, sick, infantile, and abhorrent?
Well, I tend to lean towards the latter. People will say (and they have): “Rob and Arnie are protected by the First Ammendment!”
and I would respond that I nor any LGBTQ or allied person has said that they should be jailed or prosecuted because of their statements. This is not about the First Ammendment. This is about the good of our communities, the safety of our children, and the benefit of our families.
Folks will also say: “If you don’t like the show don’t listen to it!”
I would respond, I am sure that George Tiller never listened to shock jock hacks. Its not me and my sensitivities I’m worried about. I won’t listen to Rob and Arnie (when Dawn gets her own show, I’ll consider it), but some folk who are are very gender panicked and bigoted already might, and they might get off on the idea of this level of bigotry, misinformation, ignorance, and violence (and yes, even if its ‘hyperbole’, it was violent) being said over the airways and do something to act out their twisted and repugnant ideas.
So this comes back to the first point about this not being about ‘rights’. Rob and Arnie should be able to freely say whatever they want. I’m just here to say that they should be saying it with the fourth grade assholes who don’t know better. Not over airways with sponsors and music breaks with My Chemical Romance.
But, this whole nasty mess is a step in the right direction. How? The lives and narratives of GenderQueer folk, Trans folk, Gender Dysphoria folk are all being told and heard in a totally new venue that is wider than it was a week ago. This is a good thing.
Also, add to your list of ‘good things’: Look at how many sponsors have pulled their advertising monies out of KRXQ! Wells Fargo, Verizon, Carl’s Jr., Sonic, Chipotle, Bank of America, Snapple, and many others!! This means there is a lot of people upset and hurt by Rob and Arnie’s hateful speech.
Rob and Arnie, like many other older folk who still don’t get it, underestimated the LGBTQ communites and their allies. They underestimated their solidarity, their numbers, their organization, and…the justice, goodness, and divine prophetic energy infusing their cause.
What is gender panic? It is the state most folk live in everyday without ever thinking about it. It is like the systemic White Privilege and racism that insidiously lurks in the machinery of America’s culture. “Boys don’t wear dresses!” Cultural marks that are arbitrary, continually shifting, and often ethically value neutral, become enshrined into idols of the mind and heart. Our coding of what ‘man’ and ‘woman’ are become to us the utmost importance: not a person’s intentions, actions, choices, and involvement in the community. Gender, like sex, is wild and fluid. Science and the best trained doctors and philosophers have yet to figure it out. Rob and Arnie also have yet to figure it out.
And I haven’t either. All I know is that I want to love people. Listen to them. Care for them and their families. I am hoping that everyone involved with this will take a moment to search their heart, meet a Trans person, go to a place of worship that celebrates all people regardless of gender, or just breath and ask: ‘what do I want my legacy to be?’
Here’s some links to more qualified folk. If you are more interested in Trans folk, gender, and the reawakening spirit of divine love and justice that’s occurring in the world, I hope you find them useful:
This post has been radically altered now on the morning of Tuesday June 9th.
I wanted to change it to reflect the sense of victory and joy that I feel this morning after seeing the note written in response on the station’s website, krxq.net. In quotes are some of the original writings, but I have left citing only the companies who first left the station out of good faith and out of consideration for the health and safety of all our families. Those companies should be contacted and applauded. I will create a post with contact information of those companies so that we can tell them we appreciate their support.
“KRXQ in Sacramento, by their not immediately firing Rob and Arnie has proven itself to be a station that condones hate speech against transgendered youth. Being flippant about child abuse and calling any young person a ‘freak’ doesn’t make for a very good image for any business to be associated with, right?
So far, (as of 10:41 pm PST Friday the 5th) McDonald’s, Snapple, Chipotle, Wells Fargo, BOA, Nissan, Carl’s Jr., Verizon, and Sonic have done the right thing and pulled their advertising monies from KRXQ!! (Yay!) Let’s support those businesses that support our families!
(P.S.: Companies are siding with our families by the minute! Thank you to those companies! We love your support-and we’ll support you!)”
Mindflowers was getting a lot of looks at this post and I imagine it was people, who just like us at Mindflowers have a love for all families, including those families in LGBTQ and allied communities.
I personally am excited this morning. Some have been more wary with their enthusiasm, saying “people that only ask for pardon after their advertising monies are withdrawn are hypocrites and not sincere.” And I totally can feel that sentiment.
However, I would say that this is bigger than just the individuals at the station. This is about the sphere of public debate. This is about the milieu that our Trans young people grow up in. This is about setting a future standard of Trans folk being a group that cannot be so easily derided and slurred in pop media.
And that being the case, I see victories here.
We can look back to just about two years ago when Don Imus thought he’d get away with slurring Black women. He didn’t. He couldn’t. Maybe he would have just ten years earlier, but not in 2007. Things are changing in America, albeit slowly, for the better.
Now here it is in 2009 and those with Gender Dysphoria and Trans folk are shown to be a political force of consideration. That would likely not have been the case just ten years ago.
Like Jesse Jackson said at the time of Don Imus’ firing: it was a decision for public decency.
We are America, where supposedly everyone has a part to play in the future of the world. Everyone has an equal say. Now, we know this is not the reality of the situation. We are a deeply racist, sexist, and classist culture yet. But, the promise for a better future is there-in what our country was founded upon, in what our flag symbolizes.
Here’s to hoping that each day, the good people of conscience from all faiths or no faith will continue on towards more justice for all people. Continue on in each little step and savor every little victory.
Hello! We here at Mindflowers in the past have dicussed improv basics, but here’s just a few new musings on the basics to help you get started or thoughts to keep in mind at whatever your level.
The “Story Spine”: Using the game in pairs or larger groups where you tell a story along the major points of 1) Once upon a time…2) and every day….3) until one day….4) and then… 5) until finally….6) and since that day everyone lived happily ever after…..is very helpful to get into the idea of story arc and moving a scene along. It is helpful to note that there is a period in 1 and 2 where things are going glowingly. This can be thought of the character and relationship building period where you are also very positive (!) with your partners. This holds off conflict and lets everyone find happy spaces in their relations where rapport and the seeds of objectives can be sown through the characters.
“Raise the stakes” Mounting tension to the point of ridiculousness is a fun part of improv and a fun part of life in general. This is the way that we tell our tragic stories of our days right? “So I spilt coffee on my shirt and then guess what? I had my job performance review!” Do you feel a scene lagging? It may be that there’s a fear hiding there-a fear of taking things to a more dangerous level. But remember! Raising the stakes may not always mean making the horrors more unbelievable. It may be that things get much better. Or even to “the best!” Your partner may become endowed with being “the best” pig caller in Topeka!
“Follow the gossip” There are times when in a scene, someone may go for the joke or begin to waffle and ‘gossip’ and make ‘nudge nudge’ comments more to the audience than in their scene. These comments can become boring and waffling should certainly be avoided in favor of action, but one way of racheting these moments up is by ‘following the gossip’. This may involve a ‘jump cut’ feel where someone off stage (or on stage) calls to see what it would look like if the ‘gossip’ would be played out. Use sparingly, of course. Its better to keep actional, stay away from jokey comments, or playing the ‘wink wink’ to your audience.
“Vulnerability” If I had anything to say to new improv-ers, it would be to remain vulnerable. Its the players who seem unflappable at their first tries at improv that must be reminded of this. It may be easy (easier than you think!) to step into a feeling of “I know what’s going on” when you’re new to improv and come across as an ‘actional’ player when really you may be forming the habit of bullying people around. I say this because I learned the hard way. Believe me-its been my bane. So I now keep in mind: ‘vulnerability is the beginning of ethics’ and I treat scenes like an ethical exercise. This doesn’t mean that I can’t play a sadist, or even an antagonist, but I do keep in mind that every character must be impressionable-otherwise their player is a tyrannt. First and foremost-listen to what has been said and let it permeate you. You may be a strong character, yes, but one must keep in mind that the scene is shared and everyone is directing it. A simple ‘in’ for me to get out of the “invulnerable dickhead” habit is to love on the other characters. This may mean that you play low status characters, or that you emphasize the ‘positivity’ and rapport in the beginning of scenes. I speak as one who has been burned by this aspect of improv.
“Trust” A good litmus test as to whether you are not trusting your fellow players is if your scenes feel like work. If it feels like “they’re just not playing the right scene!” you’re not trusting your partner. I have come to the conclusion that if the best improv-er ever just trusted their partner, something enjoyable and entertaining would arise. “But!” you may counter, “What if my partner is horrible?” The simple answer is trust. And keep to the basics: (CROW…character, relationship, objective, where) you’ll be fine. Scripting, invulnerability, waffling, they all come from a lack of trust. You will never come out looking bad if you give all to your partner.
“Give and take” This means sharing stage space. Talking with two people on stage will be a back and forth and most likely fall into an equal space sharing if both are trusting each other. When more folks are piled on stage, each must sit back and take a smaller piece of the pie. I was once in a scene where in a bakery we started out with a group of four and had good rapport and character and were sharing space and then we had four more characters added to our bakery. Everything fell apart. Why? Because there was now 8 pieces to share equally and that’s a tough challenge! But, if relationships are solid, you can rely on spatiality, gesture, bodies, touch, to express all you need without taking too big a bite out of the stage. In fact, some of my most pleasurable watching during that exercise was watching those who never said a word and were just ‘in the moment’ of the madness!
Hope some of these notes are helpful, and as I’m just a greenhorn myself, I will of course welcome comments/critiques!
