Every task in this course asks you to risk looking silly in front of people you will see at lunch. That is not a side effect of drama — it is the material. A room where it is safe to freeze mid-scene, to try an accent and miss, to play a character nothing like yourself, produces braver work than a room of more talented people who are protecting themselves. Safety here means emotional safety as well as physical, and it is built or spent in every single class. Our Ensemble Agreement is our written version of it; this discussion is where that agreement comes from.
Questions worth arguing about
- Think of a time you decided not to try something in front of others — in any class, not just this one. What exactly were you protecting?
- Laughter can be the best thing in this room or the worst. Where is the line between laughing with a performer and laughing at one — and who gets to decide which it was?
- What could a group member do, without saying a word, that would make you more willing to take a risk in the next rehearsal? What could they do that would shut you down?
- Is trust something a class agrees to once, or something rebuilt every day? What does your answer mean for the day after somebody breaks it?
- Physical safety has clear rules — no contact without agreement, no surprises. Should emotional safety have rules that clear, or does writing them down miss the point?
Nothing we make later — not Tableau Story Sequence, not the cold scenes of the Improvisation Showcase — works without what this conversation builds. When you propose a norm today, propose one you are willing to be held to, because Our Ensemble Agreement will hold you to it by Friday.
Curriculum connection
C3.1
identify and follow safe and ethical practices in drama activities (e.g., find ways to ensure the emotional safety [trust] and physical safety of themselves and others, both onstage and offstage; identify and follow guidelines for avoiding plagiarism and for respecting/protecting their own and others’ intellectual property rights)
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C3.2
identify and apply the skills and attitudes needed to perform various tasks and responsibilities in producing drama works (e.g., demonstrate respect for others and use focused listening, negotiating, consensus-building, and collaborative skills in group work)
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