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CHAPTER FIVE: DATA ANALYSIS
One reason for the change could be the presence of an audience. The importance
of getting your thinking through to the audience is clear from this excerpt
from a discussion with one of the participants who volunteered to be in
an individual improvisation: “It was really hard to tell what the others were
thinking. That is why I asked if I could talk. I wanted to talk so others can
understand what I am thinking”.°**
The importance of expressing yourself verbally, and everyone understanding
what you think, could be the impact of the school system which values verbally
expressed thoughts and an intellectual approach. Using the standard gestures
is the closest one can get to this without speaking. But there might be another
cultural notion at play here as well. The generally accepted idea of theatre,
especially in school plays, is that of conveying messages and using gestures
and characterising and so on. While in a whole group improvisation the sense
of the activity is closer to play, in improvisations that have an audience
a culturally coded concept of acting begins to manifest itself. This was an issue
I tried to address in the second cycle by offering a basic concept of theatre.
Though this section is primarily about Enactment, it is important to note
that the ‘being’ mode of LTD offers much to investigate. One incident occurred
during the first cycle which raised further questions. In the Children series
I told the participants twice that the boy had burnt the house down, first
out of role and then again when all of us were in role at our meeting place in
the fiction. I asked the focus group whether the two were different for them.
P1: Yes, when the boy said it, it was like “whaaaat?”
P2: It was easier to believe it when the Joe said it.
P3: It was much easier to believe it in the situation. It was a better feeling to be
there and to play. In the situation you could do something, otherwise you're just
listening to it.??
This example shows that the same information was experienced differently
when participants were in role. Participants reflect on their relation
to the fiction and to them having a possibility for action, a relation to an
extreme moment that makes it “a better feeling”. It is interesting that it is not
the novelty of the information in the situation that creates the “whaaaat?”¬
effect. While I feel it would be useful to examine the ‘being’ in ‘living through’
in itself further, the main question for my research is whether the awareness
that is needed to enhance Enactment has an impact on the experience of
the participants. I continue by examining Cathexis and the use of objects to
create meaning.
6388 F D2,
°F GL,
+ 192 +