Hand Directing

Some of you might know Keith Johnstone’s “STAGE DIRECTION’S” exercise.

When one person in the scene says a line of dialogue; “Hello!” their partner immediately supplies the stage action that follows; “She said, while walking towards me with her hand out.“.  

It’s a great game to practice for giving and taking control and moving stories forward. I love the game now but it wasn’t an easy one for me to connect with at first.

The frustration I had while learning to play and teach the game was that I recognized a weakness in the exercise for people who are not so verbal or confident with language in general. 

So… I thought I might take a look at control and directing for people who are more comfortable with movement rather than speaking.  The side benefit of this new game makes directing a little more comfortable for some and allows them to change the style of risk taking. Instead of struggling to find the right words to direct the story, all you need is a focused wave of the hand and your partner interprets the rest. 

GAME: Hand Directing

ORIGIN: Shawn

BENEFITS: 

• A physical way to inspire partners and scenes 
• Practice with giving and taking control.
• Pushes you to pay attention to your partner
• Encourages risk taking with interpreting offers

# PEOPLE: 2 or more – (scene work )   

GOAL: Non-verbally alter your partners behaviour, give up control and justify unpredictable actions.

PROCEDURE: The description is simple. The practice takes some work.

• Start a scene.
• When one person speaks, the other performer can show a stage direction with a gesture of their hand.  They do this by briefly making a fist with knuckles pointed up. This is the signal to let everyone know they are going to give a physical direction. (The actual directing could be a pointed finger to the sofa, or shaking a fist with anger, or any physical gesture that the speaker will interpret and then do.) The person directing ends the direction with their fist up briefly like the initial movement to indicate they are done.
• The speaker who receives the direction, can start doing the action as soon as the direction begins, always remaining in character. (Don’t just stop the scene for directions.)
• It doesn’t matter if the gesture is understood 100%. The person receiving the direction can interpret it as best they can. There are no rewards for getting it right. Your task is to do something , honoring what the direction could mean. If your partner points towards the chair but you mistakenly think she pointed at the door, she shouldn’t be upset if you walk to the door and open it. 

EXAMPLE: Jonah and Marie are sitting on the sofa watching a movie.

Jonah:   Thanks for coming over! 

((Marie raises her fist to indicate she is about to give a stage direction. She points to the side of the stage and twists her wrist around. She makes a fist again, indicating she is done with her stage direction.  Jonah interprets this as a direction for him to go to the kitchen, and pour drinks. He stands and walks to do it.))

Marie:   Where are you going?

(( Jonah continues walking to the kitchen as he shows the directing hand shape. For his direction, he moves his hands quickly to focus on the spot where he is standing. He makes the sign that he is done with his direction.  Marie runs  quickly like  the finger movement to stand beside him.))

Jonah:   I thought I would get us a little treat. 

((Jonah is about to get some wine but notices Marie make the sign  that she’s going to give a direction. She puts three fingers up like an imaginary fork pushing into food.  Jonah gives up his plan and opens the refrigerator and pulls out a cake and grabs a fork.))

Jonah:   Happy Birthday. 

(( Marie signs again. She places one finger to her lip. Jonah interprets this as a direction for a kiss.  He leans in to Kiss Marie.   ))

Marie:   You are such a great boyfriend.

((  Jonah tries something more abstract with his  direction. He squeezes his hands around his face.  Marie interprets it as best she can. She sits on the sofa and buries her face into her hands and starts to cry. Jonah hadn’t expected this. ))

 Jonah:   What’s wrong???!!

((Marie makes two or three gestures which Jonah interprets as putting the cake on the table and kneeling in front of her. ))

Marie:   I’ll never be enough for you. I know it. That’s why I think we should break up.

((Jonah signs three fingers in the air. Marie grabs a fork and starts eating the cake. . ))

Jonah:   WHAT?!?! What are you talking about?!?? 

(( Marie signs….      ))

…And the scene goes on.

TEACHING TIPS: 

• When you first workshop the exercise, encourage people to only do the physical work inspired by their partner’s directions. Don’t add your own physical actions. 
• Let them know they aren’t limited to just the hands in their directing. They can change expression or use other parts of their body.
• Mention early on that the director should not mime scenarios of what they want their partner to do. You might have to limit the time that some directors can gesture for. (possibly 3 seconds). Their job is to indicate initial  behaviour and let their partner interpret it.
• When a director is uncertain about what to do, tell them that they can just move their hands or change their expression or move their feat. Their partner will do the rest of the work. 
• If the person receiving the direction continually says, “I don’t know what that is. I don’t know what to do.”  Tell them that they don’t have to get it “right”. Their job is to give up control and simply react immediately to their partner’s directing offer. Their risk in taking initiative is part of the lesson to make sense of something they don’t know for certain. It could be to move at the speed that their partner moves, to change emotions because the gesture and expression inspires a reaction or to do the obvious thing that makes sense.

IMPORTANT: 

• The opening and closing sign with the fist is a beginning tip to make the signing distinct from normal physical behaviour.  At some point it can be dropped if partners are able to understand when a direction is being given versus when hands are just moving normally.
• Eventually, You don’t HAVE to direct anything if you choose not to. If you choose not to show the sign that you will direct,  your partner will simply move forward with the scene. (When learning the exercise, practice putting in a direction every time your partner speaks)
• You don’t HAVE to “take turns” and go back and forth with lines, and directions. Notice in the example above, Jonah speaks, gets a stage direction and then gives another line (and gets a second direction).
• Having an intention of what you want your partner to do is good and it’s great for you to be as clear as you can BUT you must remember that this is not MIME. You shouldn’t act out what you want your partner to do. If your partner “mistakes” your direction, don’t be surprised.  Adapt and move forward.