One-off workshop: This Is Going To Be Emotional

Learning Objectives:

• To allow emotional connection to colour the spoken word and drive physical connection
• To empower each performance with ‘information’ so that players have a clear idea about how they feel and why before entering the playing area
• To emotionally prepare in the wings so as to bring dynamism, direction, clarity and focus to each entrance.

Step 1

To start your rollercoaster-ride of emotion, have the players gather in front of you and hold up a piece of paper with an alliterated saying upon it; let's go with… ‘HARRY POTTER WAS A ROTTER’. Have the whole group recite this, as one. Now, hold up a written emotion and ask the players to repeat the mantra, only this time they should inject the given emotion into their delivery. They will find that this simple act completely transforms the delivery of the line as the ‘excitement’ or ‘fear’ permeates each word and brings an altogether new colour to the spoken word. Without having to ask things, such as ‘whisper this' or ‘scream this', the players will instinctively know how to deliver the dialogue on account of the attributed emotion. If emotional connection is not present it will always be acutely apparent as the delivery will be one-dimensional and lacking in the colour that a connection to emotion creates.

Step 2

With the emotional adventure under way, let's take away the vocal aspect of emotion (for now) and look at something rather more internal…

Have the players sit in a circle and on a table in the centre of the circle, place a piece of paper. This piece of paper is in fact a letter and when read, it will trigger an emotional response from the reader. The response triggered will be determined by a single emotion that you will have written on the paper. Keep these emotions pretty simple, such as: delighted, disappointed, heart-broken or enraged.

Now ask a volunteer to approach the letter and read it (internally), encouraging them to remain connected to the emotion until you bring the exercise to an end and ask the watching audience to guess the emotion. The portrayed emotion will usually be quite clear but after a few readings, ask ‘is the work truthful?’ The response will be a unanimous… no! Why is this?… Because there's nothing underpinning the delight, disappointment or heart-break, the players are merely ‘showing’ an emotion without any basis for the feeling.

So… in order to truly emotionally engage, more information is needed. In fact, the more information players have, the more emotionally connected they will be and the deeper into the created world they'll be drawn.

Step 3

To explore this, have the whole group gather around a doorway and ask one player to exit through the door. Once outside, they should give themselves information about a dramatic event that has taken place outside the door, such as being chased by a knife-wielding ex-lover, or evading capture by the police – the more dramatic, the better! With the information firmly implanted, all they have to do is focus on the information and enter the room. A ‘performance’ is not required here, players should simply focus on the information and truthfully enter the room in response to the ‘event’ that has just taken place, remaining focused until you bring the exercise to a close.

What you will often find is that players will enter with a clarity of focus but the more time they spend in the playing area, the more aware of the audience they will become and the less convincing their portrayal will be.

Step 4: Work the wings

Divide the players into groups of three or four and ask them to produce a piece that consists of three short scenes with a focus on sustaining emotion between scenes…

Scene One: Someone is upset/hurt by another in a cutting exchange and the hurt protagonist exits extremely upset.

Blackout

Scene Two: Set less than five minutes after the ferocious exchange, the hurt protagonist enters still upset and seeks solace from a friend/family member. The friend/family member determines to resolve the matter and they both exit.

Blackout

Scene Three: Again, set less than five minutes after the previous scene; the hurt protagonist and their comforter return to the ‘scene of the crime’ and the player who caused the hurt is confronted. A final (contrasting) emotional state should be decided upon for the conclusion of the piece.

It is imperative that players remain focused between scenes and truly ‘work the wings'. Each entrance must connect to the scene before, and players should be encouraged to sustain their emotional connection throughout. By remaining focused and ‘in the moment’ during the transitions, players will find that they are able to immediately immerse themselves in the created world and each entrance will bring emotional impact and dynamism to the playing area.

By now, the players will be embracing the possibilities of emotional connection, so now it's time to up the emotional challenge!

Step 5: SLAM-RING-SLAM!

Ask the players to devise a piece that consists of two entrances and a phone call. The first entrance (SLAM) will cause EXCITEMENT, the phone call (RING) will produce FEAR, the second entrance (SLAM) will cause TERROR and the scene should end with DEEP SADNESS.

Players may well have shied away from these exposing emotional states at the beginning of the session but by now, players should hopefully be much more open to exploring these diverse emotional states, bringing the stage to life with commitment, truth, vocal colour, dynamism and emotional connection.