Emotion, Relationship, Situation

Why I’m not using “who, what, where” as much at the moment

Show line-up announced for Robin Hood International Improv Festival

You know when you have a secret you’re itching to tell people? This schedule has been under wraps for a while now and I’m so excited to see it out there. The third annual Robin Hood International Improv Festival comes to Nottingham from 4th - 8th September this year, with Saturday headliners:

Shamilton - The improvised hip hop musical

Plus shows and performers from across the world, in a host of different styles. With performers and teachers from the USA, Pakistan, France, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia and even a small town called London, there is going to be some incredible improv happening for five days. Check out the full line-up!

Who, what, where vs emotion, relationship, situation

I’m teaching who, what and where less. Am I making a mistake? Possibly, but I’m finding it less useful. Don’t get me wrong, knowing who you are, what you are doing and where you are is important in a scene so why am I not using it as much?

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Who:

This is always important in a scene, but the issue I have with “who” is that it doesn’t give me the information I need to be the character. “Susan Prentice is 37, and a plumber” - for me that’s not the info I’m craving.

To play a character on stage, I need to know how they are feeling now. When I concentrate on the who, I’m having to assemble a lot of cerebral information. When I think about feelings, I can create behaviours. Knowing someone’s name, age, and even occupation tells me very little about how they are going to behave. I could meet five different plumbers with the same name and they would all behave differently.

What:

Again, this is “dry” information. Digging a trench with a friend is, I guess, some information I can use. But does it help me create a character? When I know how I feel, I’m able to add context to it. “I am angry because my friend said this would be fun” - and there you have relationship information, as well as context.
Who plus what is information whereas situation plus relationship plus emotion is an interaction.

Where:

Again, it does matter where we are? Only in as much as it might tell us why the characters are behaving like they are. I feel like this is a layer of context that can just as easily be added once you know the prevailing emotions that exist between the two characters. This information is likely relayed in the ‘situation’ these characters are in. The difference between ‘situation’ and ‘where’ is that ‘where’ gives you fewer clues than the ‘situation’ does. ‘Where’ is fine for creating object work, but how do we interact with those objects? If I’m “in a kitchen” that tells me less than “there’s a flood in your kitchen” and the latter inspires an emotional reaction and more purposeful object and environment work (sorry, I seem obsessed by plumbing today. Things are fine, honestly).

As I’ve tried out using emotion, relationship and situation instead of who, what, where, I’ve noticed scenes have taken off more easily for newer improvisers. There are fewer redundant questions in scenes. There is less standing around. They act more!

I’m sure, like any system, this has its flaws, but right now it’s working for me so I thought I’d share it and, hopefully, get your take on it in the comments too.

Have a great week,

Lloydie