Day 2

All present today, thank you!

We began with deep breathing and stretching: Sun Salutation.
We then did a variety of walks with the following cues:
Scale of 1-5:
Weight: Heavy to Light
Space: Small to Large
Time: Slow to Fast.

We did some equations or "combinatorics" with these elements. For example
Weight 4 + Space 2 + Time 1.

We next let certain common metaphors influence our walks:
walking on eggshells
head in the clouds
heart of gold
weight of the world on your shoulders
butterflies in your stomach
snake in the grass
cool cat
timid as a mouse
bull in a china shop

Next we did some walks inspired by the various character masks (personae).

We then told the story of 3 Pigs "channeling" the different personae.

Finally we watched a character improv:
Ash and Jeffrey chose a persona and enacted a brother and sister meeting at the airport prior to a family reunion.
Ash and Jeffrey next chose a second persona for the "child" they became when arriving at home with Mom & Dad.
Kathlyn and Chip joined in as Mom & Dad.

We watched and discussed the simple transactions in the scenes.
Discussion of the concept of a "stroke economy" in which certain behaviors are selected to elicit strokes (either positive or negative) to satisfy a character's "stroke hunger." Example: Chip as Dad gleefully embraces Kathlyn as Mom. Mom shrugs him off and mildly abuses him with her bad atittude. This wins a stroke for Dad. Some attention is better than none.
Something we did not discus is the idea of permissions. Mom in this scenario gets something too. She gets permission to dump on everybody.

As we look at the concepts of Berne's T.A. such as the stroke economy, earning permissions (what Berne calls "cashing in stamps") and the Parent/Adult/Child ego states within any given character, we can make connections to concepts from Stanislavski's approach to acting concerning Justification, Logic, Consistency, and Motive Forces.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
NC Stage will present a staged reading of Oedipus The King Friday & Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2 pm. UNCA students receive a discounted ticket of $5. Yours truly is in the cast. See you there!