Wrds

Ron son son a ron son son...

So, this week, I have been thinking about words. 

Well, to be honest I've been thinking about not words. About how words can sometimes get in the way. Of how, sometimes, we don't really need words. About words having so many different meanings that they simply don't matter. 

I've been lucky enough to be working with a group who are new to improv this week. We did the exercise where you don't speak in words, but with numbers. It was a game that was introduced to me by Jenny Haufek at the Maydays retreat about a year and a half ago. 

The game is short, usually about 2 minutes long. Long enough for the two players to count from 1-50. The key to the game is that you substitute a word for a number in the sequence. You talk as if you are talking to someone three four five six seven. 

PLAYER ONE (angrily): One two three four five!

PLAYER TWO (apologetically): six.....seven....eight.....

PLAYER ONE: NINE! TEN! Eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen/

PLAYER TWO: /sixteen

PLAYER ONE: SEVENTEEN! ............

.........You get the drift

I played a beautiful scene with the truly awesome Kathy Rinaldi (you should really go see her and her husband Joe in their show ImprompTwo they are awesome) where we played a short scene, with no words, but spoke in the sequence of numbers from 1-50 as described above. 

That two minutes was such a special experience for me. It was one of those truly magical performance experiences that reinforces the power of improvised theatre, and its ability to change one for the better. 

The truly amazing thing about this experience was that it was the very first time I met Kathy. The very first time I shared a stage with Kathy. And we have been friends ever since.  

Whenever I do this exercise with improvisers they tell me there is a change in them. There is such a freeing element to it. Think about it...NO WORDS. No need to make conversation. No compulsion to come up with a killer line, be funny. You are there, in the moment, with your scene partner, and there is true connection. 

The audience can see the narrative arc, they can see the relationship, they can see the emotion from both performers, there is true listening and reacting. It's beautiful. And without the encumbrance of nouns, adjectives, verbs et al. to come along and play gooseberry. 

I'm going to be exploring the power of non words in the future as it really helps us as performance cut to the good stuff...the stuff that the audience really loves to see...the stuff that they can connect with, relate to, laugh with, cry with. 

As the amazing F.R. David once sang "Words, don't come easy to me..."

So...

SHUT UP DAVE!

Until the 26th