Tonight (Thursday) we went to improv performance evening at King St Arts Centre. Molly Tipping presented some ideas/materials. At the end we had a brief chat about things that we had noticed/experienced as an ‘audience’. We all talked about issues related to narrative and character. It was interesting simply because all developed a strong sense of Molly presenting a “character” in the work. I wondered what it is about what we see in the body that lends itself (or evokes) a character.

We talked about posture, gesture, degree of pedestrian activity. And also the development of narrative. But which comes first? Does the presence of an implied (or real?) narrative expose or reveal a character – or vice-versa? Or are they developed in tandem?

David mentioned Nancy Stark-Smith‘s notion of “precharacter” in improvisation work. The idea (correct me here David/Nany?) being that as an improviser, when you begin to notice a charactered series or range of actions that you “pull back” to a precharacter place – in which the sense of embodiment is toned or levelled back to the ‘place before character’. Does this imply a particular type of neutrality in the bodyspace?

Changing topic here, I also  had a question about the idea (expressed by Molly) of actions/movements “choosing to reveal themselves”. I wondered how one’s volition impacts on this kind of uncontrolled fate?