Sarah’s IFH Journal - Day 1
(Sarah & Keith - Anything Can Happen 2022)
Day 1 of Improv from the Heart
A really active, engaging first day of class! As we walked in, each person wrote what they want to get out of this class. I wrote "To trust myself and others."
After just a bit of theoretical background and history of the Meisner technique, we spent most of the class engaged in games and activities with the group or with partners. We started out the day with a short period of quietly listening and naming everything that we heard. Listening is one of the foundations of improv and acting.
The old schoolyard thumb wrestling and hand slapping games that we've all played a thousand times took on new meaning as we became aware of character wants and needs, as well as impediments that get in the way of those needs.
As a group, we played a gesture game to learn and remember everyone's name, while warming up our 'instruments'. We played Kitty Wants a Corner, sound-ball, and sword throwing to practice listening and awareness. These games also keep us 'empty' of the usual critical thoughts that crowd our heads, and forced us to stay in the moment to receive and give 'offers' to each other.
More partner play introduced the idea that players must take action in order to affect or change their partner. This led us into our first round of 'beginning' Meisner. One partner made a simple physical observation of their partner. The observation gets repeated from the partner's point of view without changing the observation. This exercise looks simple but is deceptively difficult. It feels strange and uncomfortable to continue repeating, until the words almost lose their meaning. We got the encouragement to continue this, even though it felt so unnatural.
Our final exercise was more Meisner but this time allowing the observation to change when it naturally changed. With a new partner, we practiced this together. Although I was only meeting him for the first time, this activity gave us a feeling of knowing each other very well, probably because we were activating all of our listening and receiving skills that we had been practicing all day. It was surprisingly touching and emotional to experience this with a stranger. It left me very interested and excited to see where this exercise will take us, and how this technique might bring me closer to my goal of trusting myself and others.
Sarah Elovich - Writer, Actor, Writing Coach (Re-Write Yourself)
Alameda, CA