Lesson 3 - Building a Platform

Intro
A brief recap on the session from last time, ask people what they learned and if they have
any questions.

Warm-up

8-Count Shakedown

I Am A Tree
Circle up. Player A goes to the middle, strikes a pose and says who or what they represent.
For example, they lift their arms over their head and say "I am a tree." A second player
arrives, adds to the picture, and also says who or what they are. A third player enters the
scene and completes the suggestions from A and B. Now that the scene is finished, player A
leaves the stage taking one of the other players with them. The other player stays on the
stage and repeats their sentence (without changing their pose) As a result they offer a
suggestion for a new scene.

Example
A: I am a tree.
B: I am the dog who's peeing on the tree
C: I am the man whom the dog belongs to.
A: (leaves the stage) I'm taking the man with me.
B: I am a dog.

Circuits
Circle up. Players hold one hand in the air. The leader points at another and says that
person’s name. The recipient of the “you” then passes it to another student whose hand is
still raised, continuing until the last person with their hand raised points back at the first
student. This is the first circuit. (It is very important that each student remembers who
pointed at him or her and who he or she pointed at.) Repeat the circuit a few times. After the
circuit is established, repeat a few more times without pointing, using only eye contact. From
there, additional circuits can be built, by stopping and having the students put their hands up
and pointing at a new circuit partner again. The circuits should start with the same player but
continue on different paths. Circuits can be categories of things or saying your own name to
another player (challenging). Once a new circuit has been introduced and practised, without
pointing, the first player can reintroduce the initial circuit. Continue adding in new circuits as
desired (three is initially very challenging; over time as many as 5 or 6 can happen). If a
circuit gets dropped, the offer can be gently remade until it is picked up again. The entire
circuit can also be begun again at will.
Exercises

Platform / Tilt / Resolution

“Every scene is based on a platform, tilt and then a resolution. In other words, someone sets
something up, something is done to make things weird, and then something resolves the
problem.”

The who, what and where of a scene. The success of a scene often depends on a solid and
clear platform, so we probably want to establish the platform as early as possible. It’s an
opportunity to drop seeds, to build relationships, to give a context to a scene that can turn
into a tilt. There is a natural tendency to try and make things “interesting”, but when building
a platform, we are building a world which makes everything that happens afterwards more
satisfying for everyone involved.

Three line scenes

Emphasis on the what, where and when.

Mirroring
Copy the physical movements of your partner.
Music plays.
First, one mirrors the other.
Then the other takes the lead.
Then switch between the two.
Then no one leads.
Music stops.
No one leads, and no other input, see what happens.

Find the Tilt

Get an offer, play a normal scene, don’t play it for laughs, but build the elements which can
be used later. No big offers. The audience put their hands in the air when they think that a tilt
is appropriate for the scene, something which develops it and allows something more
ridiculous to happen.

Don’t talk about what you’re doing

Get a scene offer which has a distinct physical action. Play the scene, but do not talk about
the action that you’re doing or incorporate it into the conversation you have in any way.

Finishing
The Cauldron