Touch Things

Day 7 Topic 7

The Issue

There are three human behaviors that seem to disappear once young performer takes the stage. When these three behaviors go so does the audience belief that they are seeing real human interaction.

First, in real life humans don’t usually stop to rest in the middle of a room or away from furniture and other people. They stop next to other people, by furniture, and generally avoid the open negative space of a room. Not only do they stand by other things they touch what they stand by. Try it. Enter a room and stand in the open places and see how it feels. Stand where you normally do but don’t touch anything and see how that feels. See how other people react. You will probably be asked “what is wrong?” or “can I help you?”, or “are you lost?”.

Second, in real life humans are constantly touching their own bodies. They are scratching their head, twirling their hair, kneading their hands, crossing their arms, and on and on. Try it. Try to not touch any two parts of your body together. If that is too hard just try to not let your hands touch your body for more than five minutes. It takes serious concentration and is not a natural state for most people.

Third, in real life humans touch other humans. We brush up against them, touch their shoulder, give hugs, take peoples arms, pat a back, and a wide variety of other social customs that involve physical touch between two humans that don’t even take into account romance.

In todays day and age where lawsuits, the fear of germs, and a more migrant working class humans touch less than ever. Add to that the stress of being on stage and physical contact seems to disappear all together. The visual result is that a performance looks sterile, dead, robotic, unnatural, and like none of the character connect with each other. It will distance your audience from the performers because empathetically you will make them feel extremely uncomfortable.

If that is what you want then this is great news. If not and you want it to look and feel natural and engaging then you will need to be more deliberate with physical touch.

The Solution

Touch things! Touch your own body, clothes, and hair. Stand next to and touch furniture and other people. It is that simple.

The Game

If you are struggling to do this yourself or to get a group of performers to commit to this turn it into the following game. The rules are simple.

Whenever they are stage they must be touching something or someone. They can not go more than one phrase in the music without reconnecting with someone or something by physical touch. If they really get in a bind they can touch their own bodies in a way that is natural to their character. After a while of this it breaks the ice and physical touch becomes a more normal part of being on stage.