January 12, 2012

Lecturer: Gavin Maxwell
Lesson two

In this lesson, we were doing improvisation exercises to do with the seven states of tension.
In the first exercise, we had to pull imaginary objects out an imaginary box, saying the first thing that came in to our heads. I thought this would be really easy when I watched other people doing it, but it was actually really difficult because in the moment I couldn't think of anything at all.

Next, we took it in turns to take an envelope and open it in front of the class. We had to read what was inside and react instantly without stopping to think of what to do. I found this exciting and fun. In my envelope, the slip of paper just said: "You have just been accepted for a job you really wanted."
I jumped into the air with my mouth wide open like I was screaming, then whipped out my phone and pretended to ring my mum. I got a laugh from the audience because of my shocked and delighted facial expression, which was exhilarating and inspired me to keep up the act.
My strength in this lesson was my ability to improvise on the spot and stay in character.
However, because I was enjoying the exercises so much, I sometimes forgot we were doing it for a purpose, so if we do this sort of thing again, I need to keep asking
myself, "what am I learning from this?"