Two people stand on stage. One has a script and plays their part with confidence. The other doesn’t have a script and has to fake it as best they can.
Sound familiar? Well not only is this a great improv game, it is a real actors’ nightmare. I have had it, and know others who have had it too. Whether it is as an actor, dancer, or musician, the nightmare is the same: you show up, a performance starts, and you suddenly realize you are the only one in the performance who doesn’t know their part. You play along gamely, making stuff up, hoping nobody in the audience or on stage notices.
Variations of this exist in other realms too: showing up for a math class feeling like you are the only one who doesn’t get it. Showing up for a staff or board meeting feeling like you are the only one out of the loop. These are all real nightmares.
In the ‘Actors’ Nightmare’ improv game one person has a script that contains the lines of a dialogue. Often the lines are from a scene in a real play, or even sources like comic books. It is the role of the person without the script to ‘justify’ the lines from his or her partner. They respond as if they knew the script, making up dialogue and actions that fit with, or ‘justify’, the script.
To do this well requires the player without the script to -
- Listen actively. This means actually hearing what is said without ‘anticipating’ too much. This is very hard as the temptation is to anticipate where the scene is going, and start pre-forming responses. But the moment you do that, you stop really listening. You start to force the scene in directions it may not be going in, and you start missing cues your partner is giving you.
- Accept the offers. As the lines and hints at action start to come from the script, go into ‘yes and’ mode. If your partner reads “Your hair is beautiful Marsha”, and you are male and bald, don’t block by asking “Whomever are you talking about?” Find a character, find a voice, and respond “Yes! Thank you! And what do you think of my nails?” Your commitment is what will make the scene start to cook.
- Anticipate with presence. Once the scene starts to roll, take greater and greater risks trying to move the story forward, but always remain present enough to your partner’s cues of body language and tone to change direction on a dime. Finding that sweet spot between imagining ‘out loud’ what’s coming, and remaining present enough to change direction when the script suggests it, is difficult, but has huge pay-offs when it works.
And requires that the player with the script to -
- Listen actively. Being the player with the script means more than just reading. It is your responsibility to pay close attention to where your partner seems to be going. If you listen well, you will make the next part more effective:
- Enrich the delivery. Use as much non-verbal colour as possible to help the other player see where this might be going. In theatre terms this means making your ‘offers’ as broad and rich as possible. Remember that less than 20% of communication in a conversation is verbal. Body language and tone of voice communicate a lot to your partner.
- Support your partner. There are a dozen ways a line can be read that either support or block your partner’s efforts. the magic of this game lies in the subtle dance between your partner’s risk-taking, and your interpretation of the script (‘the reality’) to support your partner.
- It can address the ‘control & power’ in the room. It can be fun to watch a ‘junior’ with the script, as their ‘boss’ tries to make the best of it. As I say in my workshops: most of us in positions of authority and/or of a certain age may have forgotten what it feels like to be under the microscope, as we were in school, etc. Those of us in a position of authority should be reminded from time to time what it feels like not to have that control. In that way this game can develop empathy and a livelier social intelligence.
- It reminds us that teamwork is not an abstraction. Teamwork is a muscle that must be exercised. It is hard work to make this game really fly. It requires a high level of listening, communicating, and being present to every word and gesture your partner makes. Communication on this level is rocket science.
- It drives home the point that your role on the team does not end with your “formal” assignment. Just because you have the script does not mean you can sit back and ‘just read out orders’. Just because you don’t have the script doesn’t mean you can passively wait for direction.
- Much of what is important just happens. The concept of accepting offers is driven home in this game. In improv, business, and life, you can only plan so much. Tomorrow is largely shaped by probability and forces outside of our control. Our job is to make the most of each moment as it occurs by being present; accepting that we have to deal with what is, not what ‘should be’; and making a commitment to act. And we do all of that best as a team.
Want to take the blah-blah-blah out of your next retreat or management seminar? To learn how an improv workshop with me can do that,contact me at clemens@clemensrettich.com. Improv takes great communication and management strategies,and makes them real and unforgettable.
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