It feels good to be back in a class. While I'm teaching now, it's been a long time since I've been in a full term of classes. I've taken seminars and workshops, but not a full class. It feels good.
Way back in the day when I started improvising one of the things I really took hold of was giving your scene partner gifts to work with. The idea that we are the masters of our universe on stage is not lost on me. We can imbibe each other with gifts, bring things into the scene for your partner to react to, for you to build on and to create something together.
Over the years it's become really clear that this good quality to have has actually become my crutch. When I get stuck in a scene, when I don't know what to do, I begin to fill the scene with facts... who we are to each other, our history, things we like, why we're there, etc. While that can be a good thing, too much of it is like putting more and more ingredients in a cake... it's just too much. Instead of adding and adding, we can make another choice to build on something that's already on the table, especially emotion, motivation or needs.
Already in this Boot Camp class I've realized how valuable this lesson is. Today I got into a scene and felt a moment where I wasn't sure what to do next. I felt the exposition rising up and I stopped, held it and just let the scene be quiet for a moment. We reconnected to a previous thought and the scene continued, exploring the reality we had already created on stage.
There was no need to add more, there was only the need to focus on what already was.
For this old-timer, this realization is so welcome.
