This is a journal of "e5m2" or the interactive theatre troupe, based in the Twin Cities that has kept the name of the Syracuse version. I'm creating this to keep as an idea of what happens step-by-step, and later (once things are up and rolling) when issues come up that I feel should be addressed.
I'll attempt to write this the night of the rehearsals and performances, and then get them on the site as soon as possible (without sacrificing my sleep, of course). I'm not going to use names, except for the colleges. I do have permission from the rest of the group to write about what is going on.
This is a work-in-progress, and it's not supposed to be terribly eloquent writing, but rather an account of what goes on in an interactive theatre troupe. I know not when it will end, either. =)
Aaron
August 1, 1996
Prior to tonight's meeting, the remaining members for last "year's" troupe had talked about starting off on our second season, and already had a date to train the Resident Advisors at the University of St. Thomas (August 22). With one member dropping out (not for her), another who had moved to San Francisco, and yet a third not back until St. Kate's came back in session, we had the designated facilitator, director, and me (not officially, but the presumed actor/perpetrator). The director, who is also a staff member of S.O.S. Of Ramsey County (one of our sponsors, along with the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault), worked on getting other people.
Fortunately, she found two: another man and woman. We met tonight at SOS to introduce the e5m concept, work on scheduling, and talk about what's coming up.
Those of us from last year talked a bit about what we do - all the relevant warnings about the emotional work and what we can expect from audiences and the odd jerk. We watched a video we shot of our first performance last season at Macallaster College as well (much better than the one from Syracuse - and I'm allowed to say that because I was in both videos).
They wanted to be in it - cool.
Scheduling is always interesting - and when you have two and a half weeks to put together a scene, even more so. People work nights and on weekends - but we've pieced together six rehearsals and an emergency date.
Next and last was talking about St. Thomas. They wanted a variation of what we did last season, but without a dating history - the scene be set during or just after freshman orientation. While we talking about jockeying the format, we decided we just didn't have the time to be overly artistic, yet. Once these quick date(s?) are done, we can relax and try more things. We set the basic framework of the scene, and are going to do first improvs next rehearsal. We are going to have an older student assaulting an incoming freshman, and the freshman going to her RA (since this is an RA training). This is a list of issues we want to cover in the scene(s):
€Alcohol - responsibilities vs. Responsibilities
€Invitation - invitation to what? (Victim blaming)
€The No-Yes game.
€Control issues - who's forcing what even before the assault happens?
€Freshman behavior
€Residence Life vs. The Client - who's needs are more important (mandatory reporting)
€RA/Victim support networks (taking care of yourself)
€RA support network vs. Survivor's confidentiality
€Belief
€Medical/legal/security/University issues.
€Superman Syndrome
There's already a scenario in our heads for the scene. I think by the end of next rehearsal, we will have a working scene. It will need polish and reworking, no doubt, but it will not be guesswork.
August 6, 1996
We chatted, we played Twister, we chatted more, we worked out the scene. Today was as much a "get-to-know-you" day as anything else. Considering what we'll be doing, it's as important as anything else, too.
We went through the ground rules we set after the end of last season, and then hammered out the framework of the scene; we haven't worked an improv of it yet, but we now know what our goals are going to be for the scene, so on the next rehearsal we know what we're going to do (roughly).
Pre-show/On sight:
1.Never perform for less than 15 people. (We will have a video or some other presentation prepared in case we need it.)
2. Do not warm-up in front of the audience: Have a Pre-show huddle to be absolutely sure that everyone is clear about what is happening.
3. Decisions will be made by consensus. (The group should meet away from audience etc... to decide)
4. Group must meet with-in a week of the performance.
5. People in support roles need to rehearse with the rest of the group.
6. Whoever is in the role of counselor can-not participate in discussion, they must remain completely available.
7. There must be a director, or some other person who can act as stage manager at every performance.
8. Set up a contingency plan... who understudies for whom, when do we do the video, monologue, nothing?
9. If there is any change in the "game plan" everyone will be notified as soon as possible.
During discussion:
1. Stick to time limit (set by group prior to the show). The audience should not be told what that time limit is.
2. Have pre-arranged signals with characters so that the facilitator knows when to intervene.
3. Direct questions towards the audience, not the actors. (If characters are talking/arguing amongst themselves the facilitator should redirect that our to the audience.)
4. Audience should not give notes. (If someone begins to critique an actor's performance they will be invited to fill our the evaluation in the program, and/or stay afterwards and speak to us in a more appropriate setting.)
5. Prioritize issues.
6. Silence is ok.
Out of character:
1. The audience still can not critique acting. (Same responses as above.)
2. This part of discussion should last a max of 15 minutes before we break out altogether.
3. Both in and out of character, actors can choose to pass on any question they feel that they cannot answer.
August 11, 1996
Please pardon me if I sound egocentric in this entry - but when dealing with the actual assault scene - it's a lot of personal work in a lot of personal space.
Today was work on the assault portion of the scene. It's not fun; I've played a perp going on five years now, and it's never been fun. It doesn't get easier the longer you do it, but it does when you know the person you're playing against - there's a comfort level that's already been established. I'm sure it's very similar, if not the same, for the person playing the survivor (of that, I can only conjecture).
The key word is patience - even though we're racing against time. A lot of the work, especially if the two actors don't know each other, is just getting to know boundaries and getting used to being acting intimate and then violent.
Establish communication between the actors involved - what do they need to have them do what they need to do. When I play the perp, the woman I play opposite of controls the scene: when she does X, I can do Y; and what does she need to do X, and so forth.
The marathon continues tomorrow and the next day.
August 12, 1996
If necessity is the mother of invention, then panic is the fertility drugs that can insure conception. We realized that in a calendar we printed we left out a rehearsal for Tuesday - and cast members had already made work commitments. So our remaining rehearsals are Saturday, Sunday, and our safe performance on Tuesday night
All I can say is, thank [insert deity of choice here] that we have awesome actors. The assault portion of the scene was completed with no stoppages, and advanced light-years. The third portion of the scene (survivor-RA scene) turned out very well - there's no physical barriers broken like the assault portion, so it advanced much faster, and each section is at an even keel.
We're having a number of breaks during the rehearsals, but everything is much more down-to-business, and the formalized breaks take place of the chatting and getting to know you banter of previous meetings.
We knew from the beginning that this was not an ideal time-frame to have everything spit-and-polish ready. But if the rate we're going continues, and because the people in the case already have backgrounds in sexual assault and acting, I think we're going to be ready by next week for the University of St. Thomas.
Okay... So my fingers are still crossed. =)
August 17 and 18
Saturday and Sunday are sort of blurred together, so I'll write about them together, too.
A lot of fine tuning, repitition, and notes. We re-worked (or re-positioned) the assault portion of the second segment, to make it easier to see, and more effective.
As a group we're becoming more and more comfortable with each other. There wasn't any of the problems when we first started with invading body spaces. We spent a lot of time this weekend just talking and having a good time. Of course, we spent a lot of time together this weekend: 10am to 5pm on Saturday and 11am to 3:30pm on Sunday. Being comfortable with each other is terribly helpful in changing the scene, which will happen at later dates when we want to emphasize different aspects of the subject.
August 20 - Safe Performance
The safe performance is a way to run the scene in front of people who you trust. We ran a quick performance in front of some of the SOS staff. We did good.
It's mainly a test of the questions and answers - do we know our characters well enough for a real blazing. We encourage our audience to be as mean and nasty as possible - because we know they don't really mean it. But though them we can prepare for the real thing if people do mean it.
August 22 - First Performance
What can I say? We kicked! This was a mandatory training session for the RA at St. Thomas University. Roughly 60 people. We were able to get out the major issues, including responsibilities to change our thinking and society.
I wish I could say more - except we did what we wanted to do. Because these were RAs, we're expecting to come back for residence hall performances (especially with the positive responses we received).
I think from this point on this "journal" will consist more of major events, rather than a play-by-play. Recruiting, notable performances, etc. We have another performance (another RA training) next week, and then will focus on recruitment for e5m and advocates for SOS. I hope this had been, and will continue to be, helpful to you.
August 28 - Hamline University
(OK, so I got the colleges mixed up. It could be worse - I could have went to the wrong college for the performance)
This piece has changed in my mind as I've driven home from Hamline. This wasn't a major situation - it's actually quite common, but it did get me thinking.
This was another RA training - a captive audience (always a nice thing). One guy asks a question that can lead up to victim blaming ("why didn't you just order him out" or something like that). Our facilitator said that the question wasn't necessarily appropriate, because who's actions lead to what? He grumbled and said if we weren't going to talk prevention, then what's the point. After we left character, both myself, and others, chimed in that WE are the prevention: the RAs, the audience - everyone. Our attitudes toward things that create an "us vs. them" relationship give permission for people to assault others.
And I wanted to rail on that point (here) for awhile - but while we, the cast, were talking over various forms of lactose-laden relaxants (ice cream and steamed milk) it occurred that the fact that he brought this up is good - it brought up the bright neon sign that said "ADDRESS THIS ISSUE!" We, as educators, get used to hanging around other people who are also educated on these issues, and forget the reason we address these myths is because they're still out there and prevalent. It also reminded us that we don't always get the neon sign, but the myths are still there and need to be corrected.
Most of these myths are more subtle and we need to keep our eyes and ears open so they don't slide past us. Perhaps the occasional dingo-boy can allow us to remember what we need to cover, that we may have missed otherwise.
February 6, 1997
It's been sometime since I've added an entry into this section. There is a reason: after last "season," I was only going to enter unique events... like today's.
But a re-cap of this season's events. We have some new cast members again, and are doing a similar scene, which has turned out quite well. But the interesting bit is we're having a performance Monday at Totem Town.
Totem Town is a penitentiary for young offenders (males from 13 to 17); so our performance there is a bit of an experiment. Is what we do going to be effective for that type of audience and that type of setting? Both here and in the Syracuse we have patterned ourselves for a collegiate audience.
We have been re-tooling and preparing ourselves for this. Our goal is to bringing out the issue Of consent and to have these offenders, some who are in for sexual crimes finally see a victim/ survivor as a person who the pep has hurt - maybe the only time it will or has happened.
So there is a bit of apprehension an our part. This is our new cast members' first real performance (as opposed to our safe performance), and I'm hoping it's not a trial by fire. But with a performance schedule where we never know where we'll perform for next, or for whom.
February 12, 1997/March 10, 1997
I actually wrote this on the 12th, but hadn't gotten around to putting it up. My apologies.
I've had a chance to collect my thoughts on the Totem Town performance; forgive me if they're a bit disjointed. I only have a few minutcs here and there to put pen to paper (or, in this case, stylus to Newton).
Fortunately, we did not go in cold; I've hod expvience With performing in front of young offenders before, and other advocates have done programs at Totem Town before.
When dealing with these kids, it's almost like starting from ground zero. You have to assume that a good portia of them have no education on these issues at all. Then you have everyone trying to be more macho than everyone else. In other words, we prepared for the worst.
And the worst did not happen. True, it was not the ideal reaction to the date rape scene (laughing and asking to see more), but better than I expected. The goal (one of them, anyway) was to have them see the afteraffects to the survivor- and that was effective- something else that they may hove neucr seen, thought of, or cared about.
So, the question becomes, was it worth it? Was it effective? If the answer must be answered in absolutes, no. But we gave them a chance to see a victim of a crime they may never have seen before. There will be no spontaneous conversions for these kids, the best we can hope for is gradual coming around; these kids went beyond probation or electronic monitoring. They are in prison; a prison for 13-18 year-olds, but a prison, and maybe that all the more reasm to be frightoned of what they could do if not encouraged to change.