making senses

Self¹  is an old yarn I weave and tend to believe—told, and sold by a hero-making storyteller inside. Character is a profile the world perceives in me: an identifiable collection of traits and habits. If these are at odds, I will experience distress, unless the world or I can change to resolve it.

This workshop approaches Self and Character as constructs of hardware and software. We'll create characters from the outside in, develop a sense of self from the inside out, and see what sense they make of each other in Impro games and scenes.

Inspired by Will Storr’s Selfie, we'll explore how our self-concept shapes character and destiny in story.

Status²  is not what we are; it’s something we inherently do—a shifting force that shapes our every interaction and positions us, relative to others, on the leaderboard of life. Are you stations above, or beneath me? Are we in competition? Or, if you and I can get along, perhaps we can get ahead?

This workshop approaches Status as a game, defined by one simple principle: the see-saw effect. In this game of balancing acts and extreme gaps, if I'm to go up, you must go down.

Inspired by Will Storr’s The Status Game, we’ll play with Keith Johnstone's Impro method in status games of dominance, prestige, and success. 

Story³, at large, is 'what happens'. It's a lot to take in all at once. Thankfully, human brains organise events by when and why things happen, naturally creating a convenient and consumable narrative. We call this 'storytelling', and we use it to entertain, educate, engage, empower, enrage, and endure.

This workshop approaches Story as a process of making things happen in the lives of characters we care about. Establishing and disrupting routines, we chart courses of change in ensuing scenes.

Inspired by Will Storr’s The Science of Storytelling, we’ll ground Story in the emotional experiences of flawed characters absorbed in crises of self, asking: Who am I, really? And who am I going to be?

Space⁴ is an information gap—a void we rush to fill. Between what's outwardly happening, we flood the scene with our own projections. Invisible forces of comic-dramatic tension give rise, holding us in suspense, where storytelling brains can anticipate and agonise, until we are released, in surprise.

This workshop approaches Space as a narrative agent that can be created and manipulated to make things happen in our minds. By holding space for stillness and silence—creating distance in between what we say, do, and choose not to—we bring an audience's Making Senses into play.

Style⁵ is what makes what you do feel like you. Sometimes, it's intentional. Other times, we're less aware of what we're doing, how we do it, or why. Selective style plays with attention and intention: What I do. What I choose. What I lose.

This workshop approaches Style as a game-like framework for play, creativity, and performance. Starting with genres, we'll explore how their goals, rules, and creative tools shape what happens. 

Inspired by Jonathan Burrows' A Choreographer's Handbook, we'll map Venn diagrams of our influences, interests, and intentions as teams. Finding ourselves in the intersections, we'll bring our styles into play—shaping the choices we make and routes we take to make what we do feel like us.

Scene⁶ is a glimpse—an encapsulated moment, hinting at a bigger picture. In sequence, scenes can round out whole stories. In isolation, a scene stands alone, asking us to take it at face value, search for meaning, and wonder. We can't help but fill in those gaps, and we find ourselves reflected there. 

This workshop approaches every Scene as essential and absolute—not a drop in the ocean, but the ocean contained in a drop. Here, now, and long after the fact, we make things matter by playing with impact. Through affecting and being affected by one other in the moment, trajectories can be altered, pivoting on the potential of change.