Scene Five — But It’s All About Me!
Start from the beginning HERE.
SCENE FIVE
Set: It is a bare workshop space. There are 12 chairs in a semi-circle. Beneath each chair is a notebook, a pen, and a few candies. In the centre of the semi-circle is a box of tissues.
Style: Movement based. Physical storytelling. Rhythmic, and poetic.
Invitation to:
Consider the three characters are interchangeable.
Consider choosing an issue of the ‘time’ and infuse it through the script.
Consider exploring a theme where reconciliation is the yearning behind the text.
Characters: The workshop junkies.
They don’t live ‘out there’, they live ‘in here’, in workshop spaces.
This is a mostly unscripted choreographed movement scene exploring the physicalization of what it means to say: I’M SORRY
When exploring a scene to be told through movement:
Consider: placing the actors in a current situation of the ‘time’.
Consider: exploring the edges of the theme decided upon by the actors/director.
Consider: the character of HE can be swapped for the character of THEY or SHE. Each character is interchangeable.
Consider: TEXT of ‘I’m sorry’ being used through out the scene perhaps PROJECTED onto the floor, onto the walls, onto the actor’s bodies, or WRITTEN and shared in interesting ways.
Consider: SITUATIONS OF I’M SORRY — related to the theme the actors/director has chosen.
Consider: exploring these possible expressions of what it feels like to truly say I’m sorry.
Shame, Fear, Grief, Empty, Frozen, Run, Hiding, Pretend, Power, Sly, Disappointment, Laughter etc…
Consider: ending the movement to a place of stillness and perceived futility to set up Scene Six.
HE: I’m Sorry.
SHE: No he’s not.
THEY: Yes I am.
SCENE.
There is a festival in Vancouver called: Theatre Under the Gun. In it, writers and actors come together to write, rehearse, stage and perform a one act play in 48 hours. At the time I wrote this, I was heavily involved in personal development work and the character of ‘the workshop junkie’ arrived. I have always loved physical theatre, clown work, mask and poetic dialogue. This piece is my exploration of storytelling this way.
And yes, we did stage the show. It was performed at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre a very long time ago with: Cyndi Mason, Judi Closkey and a guy named Ryan… oh man… I couldn’t tell you his last name. We met at a workshop.
For real.
TinaO is a storyteller, performer, and a professional listener who works with narrative and story structure as a vehicle for human connection. Her work is rooted in Myth, Mysticism, and the practice of personal faith. She is the founder of Live Your Best Story, a weekend retreat of deep listening held on Bowen Island, BC, Canada and is the voice and story behind TinaOLife. Tina is a proud associate of PowHERhouse Impact Media Group where she listens and supports the ‘stories’ of whole and integrated leaders of tomorrow.
