save the world."
COUPLE 1: "This new generation was raised on senseless violence."
COUPLE 3: "I'm all for saving the whales. Let's pray we can save
ourselves."
The conversations all progress and heighten, but the sections of each couples' dialog become shorter and shorter as the piece grows. We can see a major theme emerge out of the conversations, one that could not be planned ahead of time. This theme could be explored further, if the Cocktail Party were used as an opening for a Harold. In the case of this example, the Harold would focus on the next generation and their responsibilities to the world they have inherited.
REFLECTION SCENES
This exercise is a series of two-person scenes that reflect the ideas of the entire group.
It begins with two actors starting a scene without any input on the themes or locations. They must complete a scene that is as rich as possible, both physically and verbally. When this scene is completed, another two players take the stage. They improvise a totally different scene, but one that somehow is inspired by something they noticed in the previous scene. It can be a physical inspiration, or an idea created by the theme developed out of the previous scene. It can be anything at all, as long as there is something derived from the first scene.
A third scene is then improvised by two players who are inspired by anything they saw in the previous two scenes, and so on.
This example of a reflection exercise took place in a workshop situation.
Scene one involved a young woman and her domineering parents. The woman was tired of feeling inferior, so she decided to join the army and "be all that she could be."
The second scene revealed a relationship between two roommates who had been friends since childhood, a friendship threatened when one of them turned "punk." His new clothes, earrings, and shaved haircut would be unacceptable at the places the two of them used to visit together. To solve the problem of not being able to go out together, the punk roommate transformed his conservative roommate to a punk look that can be used on a temporary basis.
59
Scene three took place at a car dealership, where a man wanted to buy a Porsche. The salesman thought the customer looked too conservative to drive such a flashy car, and wanting a satisfied customer, tried selling him a car more suitable to his image.
The fourth scene was at a carnival, where two workers were observing people from the big city, noting the differences ranging from punkers to yuppies. But no matter what the customers looked like, the carnies put them all into one category — "marks."
Scene five portrayed a man attempting his first parachute jump. We learned he was in training for the Air Force, and that this jump was one of the many tests he was facing to overcome his fears. As the plane increased its altitude, he noticed a carnival below in the distance.
These scenes all seemed to reflect attitudes about self- image, and the image that others perceive. The scenes also connected on a physical level. The punkers seen at the carnival were obviously the roommates from the second scene, and the carnival itself was the same one seen from the plane by the reluctant paratrooper. The Air Force scene was inspired by the line from the first scene, "Be all that you can be."
If this piece had been an actual Harold, the Air Force trainee would have undoubtedly met the young woman from the first scene, after she had joined the service.
When doing reflection scenes, the group begins to notice ideas that are constantly being recycled on many levels. Soon, these totally separate scenes each become a part of a large group piece, from which a major theme emerges.
Another example of a series of reflection scenes began with a Tai Chi class between a master and his student. The spiritually heightened master teaches his student how to join him on the spiritual plane; the scene also has sexual overtones, as both are orgasmic when they reach the
COUPLE 1: "This new generation was raised on senseless violence."
COUPLE 3: "I'm all for saving the whales. Let's pray we can save
ourselves."
The conversations all progress and heighten, but the sections of each couples' dialog become shorter and shorter as the piece grows. We can see a major theme emerge out of the conversations, one that could not be planned ahead of time. This theme could be explored further, if the Cocktail Party were used as an opening for a Harold. In the case of this example, the Harold would focus on the next generation and their responsibilities to the world they have inherited.
REFLECTION SCENES
This exercise is a series of two-person scenes that reflect the ideas of the entire group.
It begins with two actors starting a scene without any input on the themes or locations. They must complete a scene that is as rich as possible, both physically and verbally. When this scene is completed, another two players take the stage. They improvise a totally different scene, but one that somehow is inspired by something they noticed in the previous scene. It can be a physical inspiration, or an idea created by the theme developed out of the previous scene. It can be anything at all, as long as there is something derived from the first scene.
A third scene is then improvised by two players who are inspired by anything they saw in the previous two scenes, and so on.
This example of a reflection exercise took place in a workshop situation.
Scene one involved a young woman and her domineering parents. The woman was tired of feeling inferior, so she decided to join the army and "be all that she could be."
The second scene revealed a relationship between two roommates who had been friends since childhood, a friendship threatened when one of them turned "punk." His new clothes, earrings, and shaved haircut would be unacceptable at the places the two of them used to visit together. To solve the problem of not being able to go out together, the punk roommate transformed his conservative roommate to a punk look that can be used on a temporary basis.
59
Scene three took place at a car dealership, where a man wanted to buy a Porsche. The salesman thought the customer looked too conservative to drive such a flashy car, and wanting a satisfied customer, tried selling him a car more suitable to his image.
The fourth scene was at a carnival, where two workers were observing people from the big city, noting the differences ranging from punkers to yuppies. But no matter what the customers looked like, the carnies put them all into one category — "marks."
Scene five portrayed a man attempting his first parachute jump. We learned he was in training for the Air Force, and that this jump was one of the many tests he was facing to overcome his fears. As the plane increased its altitude, he noticed a carnival below in the distance.
These scenes all seemed to reflect attitudes about self- image, and the image that others perceive. The scenes also connected on a physical level. The punkers seen at the carnival were obviously the roommates from the second scene, and the carnival itself was the same one seen from the plane by the reluctant paratrooper. The Air Force scene was inspired by the line from the first scene, "Be all that you can be."
If this piece had been an actual Harold, the Air Force trainee would have undoubtedly met the young woman from the first scene, after she had joined the service.
When doing reflection scenes, the group begins to notice ideas that are constantly being recycled on many levels. Soon, these totally separate scenes each become a part of a large group piece, from which a major theme emerges.
Another example of a series of reflection scenes began with a Tai Chi class between a master and his student. The spiritually heightened master teaches his student how to join him on the spiritual plane; the scene also has sexual overtones, as both are orgasmic when they reach the
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