2012 marked the 30th anniversary of the
Insight Theatre Company, a touring teenage troupe that expresses the concerns,
emotions and situations of themselves and their peers through improvised
scenarios. The troupe is sponsored by
Planned Parenthood, Ottawa, and I was fortunate to direct and produce the first
company for them.
At the time, I was working for Stage Fright, a local theatre
company that was producing the Canadian Improv Games, a competitive improv
format for teens, inspired by David Shepherd’s Improv Olympics. Planned Parenthood, Ottawa, contacted Willie
Wyllie, the head of Stage Fright, to attend a performance of the Youth
Expression Theatre, a teenage troupe sponsored by Planned Parenthood,
Boston. The audience consisted of health
officials, teenagers and teachers with the Carleton Board of Education. Willie
invited me along.
Planned Parenthood, Ottawa, wanted to develop a similar
program for teenagers. At the time, I
had no idea Willie had already chosen me to produce and direct the Ottawa
company. Therein lies the reality of my
thirty-plus year friendship with Willie.
He allowed me the luxury of believing that I had freedom of choice, when
in fact a decision had already been made on my behalf. But, I digress.
I had never seen anything quite like the Youth Expression
Theatre before. The Boston teenagers,
with an age range of 15 to 18, were edgy, acerbic, confident and had an element
of danger about them. The scenes were
designed to increase awareness, provide information and encourage discussion of
controversial subjects relevant to teenagers.
The scenes all had unresolved endings, so that the cast could engage the
audience in a dialogue after the performance.
I was in awe of the intensity and candor of the actors
during this portion. Their accessibility
made it easy for the teens in the audience to engage in hard-to-discuss
topics. There were two parts to this
discussion, first with the cast in character, then as themselves. They did not seek to offer judgment or
present a particular point of view with these scenes. One particular scenario involving a girl who
brings her date home only to discover that her parents were not there, got the
most questions. She didn’t want to get
involved sexually, but he did, becoming increasingly aggressive until he
finally raped her. The girl who played
the assault victim said she had doubts about joining the troupe, because she’s
Catholic and her family was disturbed by Planned Parenthood’s involvement. After giving it some thought, she realized
that the program’s educational input would prevent abortions. There was a rousing round of applause at this
statement.
What I learned afterwards, was that this type of show was a
Theatre-In-Education (or T.I.E.), production – which is an umbrella term for a
technique that utilizes all the elements of theatre as a teaching tool. I eventually got my Master’s degree in this
discipline at New York University.
My first concern was whether Ottawa teenagers could pull off
a show like this. At the time, I viewed
Canadian teens as simply “nice” and wondered if they were capable of the
honesty, courage and self-awareness needed for this type of production, whereas,
my thinking about Boston teens was that they had the advantage of living in a
city where controversial subjects were discussed openly. Although teenagers in Ottawa experienced the
same pains of adolescence as the Boston group, they displayed it on a more
subtle level.
Willie and I contacted about forty teenagers in Ottawa, to
be interviewed at the Planned Parenthood main office. All of them played in the
Canadian Improv Games, so, from the start, a big plus was that I was going to work
with teenagers who already had a strong foundation in improv. At the interview, we broke the kids up into
four groups. Willie, myself and two
Planned Parenthood officials led discussions on topics such as sex, school,
drugs, and parents. Afterwards, we
compared notes, made suggestions as to who to call back, and eventually we had
our troupe – sixteen members, which eventually shrank down to ten.
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| Cast with Jack Eyamie of Stage Fright (bearded gentleman) & director (mustache) |
|
At the first workshop, I kept thinking to myself “God, these
kids are so white!” I assumed most came
from middle to upper middle class families.
Turns out, many came from families close to the poverty level and had to
work after school jobs to help out. A few
came from single parent families, or were living on their own with a relative
or friend.
For the first few weeks, the girls would sit on one side of
the room and the boys on the other. As
the discussion sessions became more personal and open, the boys were able to
become more sensitive and aware of the needs of the girls, and vice-versa. The mingling began. After each rehearsal we would go out for
coffee and talk about what transpired in the workshop. I was trying to discover what these teens
felt, what they needed, and what I discovered surprised me, and slowly
destroyed my preconceived notions about Ottawa teenagers.
In intensive rehearsal sessions, theatre skills were
integrated with education in the areas of teen concern. I shifted their improv focus from comedy and
exaggerated characters to realism, emotional sincerity, and approaching the
scenes with an activity- based perspective, rather than a verbal one. Applause was prohibited at rehearsals, to cut
down on the temptation to entertain. I
had seen teams at the Canadian Improv Games present scenes dealing with issues
such as dating and peer pressure before, but the depth potential was barely
scratched.
In the beginning, my emphasis was on familiarizing the group
with each other. However, physical
contact was very rare in scenes. Whether
it was out of nervousness, being self conscious, afraid of what the group might
think, or what the other player in the scene might feel – there was
resistance. With Spolin’s game Contact,
where a player has to touch the other in a different way every time they speak,
it seemed like I was asking the teens to copulate in front of the group. Another obstacle was that nobody wanted to
play a character that might generate a negative reaction from the audience. They wanted to come off as hip and amiable as
possible. Interestingly enough, when it
came to playing parents, the kids’ roleplaying became extremely realistic –
shouting, shoving and touching!
The warm-ups were designed to delve into personal beliefs
and values. Most effective were Tirades
and Endorsements, a quick “soapbox rant” about what you’re passionate about in
life and what makes you angry. Best
Thing/Worse Thing, a brief commentary on the best and worse thing that happened
to you that day. What I Need/What I Don’t Need – was a great warm-up to
generate empathy in the group. Character
Hot Seat, where a player is interviewed as someone they knew well, provided
valuable information on the world the teenager lives in. All of these exercises provided the
springboard to explore various themes, issues and scenarios in scenes. But, it was Spolin’s Activity that Describes
Yourself game that became a watershed moment with the group.
In Activity that Describes Yourself, a player has to
pantomime an activity that provides us with a glimpse into their life. One by one, members did activities such as
typing, playing sports, cooking, and reading.
Then one player, Sandi came up, sat down on the floor, created a knife
and slowly sliced small cuts into both her arms. There was giggling from the group at first,
then the slow realization sank in that she was serious and the room became
intensely quiet. When she finished, the
group immediately began to question her without waiting for me to facilitate a
discussion.
Sandi was surprised by the reaction from the group. She explained that when she “screws up” or
doesn’t do well in school, she cuts herself as punishment. Apparently, her sisters exhibit the same
destructive behavior. There was a moment
when Sandi felt like she was being judged by the group, and started to regret
participating in the game. Then, the
group proceeded to share examples of their own self-destructive behavior: Warren smacks his head against the wall until
he draws blood or passes out, whenever he loses a hockey match. Celia sits in the snow wearing only a t-shirt
and shorts until she can barely move whenever she doesn’t do well on a
test. Ralf gets on a bus destined for an
unknown area with only enough money for one way when he gets turned down for a
date. Ann places her hand over a flame
to see how long she can hold it before burning herself whenever her parents
fight.
As the discussion continued, with one member after another
revealing aspects of their personalities they had never talked openly about
before, I realized that I had severely underestimated this group. They were self-aware, coping daily with the
painful transition from adolescence to adulthood – and they were all in this
together. This was the beginning of the
family-like atmosphere of the group, complete with honesty and trust.
Various community and social service groups participated in
workshops with the troupe: Our House Drug Rehabilitation Centre, Rape Crisis
Centre, Child Development Centre, Gays of Ottawa, Family Planning Clinic, and
Planned Parenthood, Ottawa. For many of
the parents of the kids, it was important to know that while Planned Parenthood
sponsored Insight, the troupe was not a public relations tool for the
organization. I was shocked by the
misconception the public had about Planned Parenthood and frequently had to
remind people that the organization was not against pregnancies, but rather
unwanted pregnancies. Also, family
planning was just part of the services Planned Parenthood provided. Again, this was thirty years ago, although,
there are days when it seems like not much has changed with the public’s
conception, if you forgive the pun.
After each presentation, we would brainstorm scenes, and
then start improvising. The method used
to develop scenes I learned from David Shepherd and Paul Sills, who constructed
scenes for Compass, the first professional improv company in the United States,
in this manner: As the players started
improvising, I would write down important “beats” in the scene, which is any
significant change in action or an important piece of dialogue. Once a beat outline was finalized, the goal
was in cutting the length down to the point where it was as sharp as
possible. This proved most effective
when certain cast members couldn’t attend a performance. All their replacement had to do was look at
the beat outline and they were set.
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| Insight beat outline. |
As the show came together, the issues we were dramatizing
included drug and alcohol abuse, difficulties in communicating with parents and
peers, homosexuality, acquaintance rape, depression, stereotypes and teen
pregnancy. As heavy as this may sound,
there was a great deal of humor in the shows, which always came from the
reality of the situation and characters.
Aside from the workshops, it was up to every cast member to
do outside research. Some developed
relationships with the organizations who participated in our workshops. Others interviewed runaways, drug addicts and
teen parents. Most of the situations we
dramatized were not necessarily ones which the actors had experienced
personally in real life, but there was one notable exception.
Marni, a 18 year-old cast member, had been sexually
assaulted at a costume party by the father of her best friend. The Planned Parenthood associate on the show
and I helped Marni with getting in touch with counselors at the Rape Crisis
Centre and filed a “fourth person report” with the RCMP. Marni did not want to file charges, but if
the father assaulted another underage girl, Marni’s report could be used as
evidence against him.
Few weeks later, Marni stayed behind after a rehearsal and
we started talking about the assault.
She was still very much in the mindset that somehow she was responsible
for the attack, based on the outfit she was wearing at the party, and how
devastated her friend would be when the news got out about her father. I asked Marni if she would be willing to
explore the before, during and after events of the incident through a series of
monologues. Not for the show, but to
help Marni cope with the experience.
Over the course of the next few weeks we worked on the
monologues together privately, and the experience helped Marni cope with the
assault, and more importantly, accept that it was not her fault.
The process of working on the monologues empowered Marni to the point
where she insisted that it be included in the show. It became one of the most powerful moments in
the show, and there were easily scores of young women who came up to Marni
after the show over the course of the tour admitting that they had a similar
experience. At the end of every performance,
we handed out a sheet with contact information for all the organizations that
participated in the production, and Marni made sure each and every girl knew
where to go to get help. Months later,
the man who attacked Marni assaulted another young girl, who did file
charges. Marni’s fourth person report
was used as additional evidence, and he was convicted.
It was not unusual that audience members came up to share
experiences with the cast that they had previously kept private, was not
unusual. Every cast member became an
ambassador for the organizations involved in the show. As the tour progressed, the content of the
show became richer, more complex and instantly identifiable regardless of the
audience we were performing for. Audience
input during the discussion section would change the direction and content of
certain scenes for future performances.
When we had time, occasionally we would replay scenes on the spot, incorporating
the audiences’ suggestions, then go back to the discussion, focusing on the new
approach.
A scene I wish I could have included in the show came out of
an improv after Jim, the head of Gays of Ottawa, conducted a workshop for
us. He had recently left his wife for a
man, and was dreading telling his two children that he was divorcing their
mother and admitting he was gay. I
suggested that he could practice telling his kids, by roleplaying the situation
with two of my players. Intrigued, he
agreed. In the scene, he carefully laid
out why he was leaving their mother, that it had nothing to do with them and he
was gay. Grant, who played his son asked
“But, you still love us, right?” Jim
replied “Of course.” Patti, who played his daughter asked “Do you love this man
and does he make you happy? Jim answered
“Yes.” The scene ended with the kids
telling Jim that they loved him too and were happy for him. It was one of the most moving scenes I have
ever seen in a workshop.
Couple of days later, Jim called me in tears. He had the talk with his kids and amazingly,
it went exactly the way it was played out in the workshop. I asked if he would be willing to give me permission
to use the scene in the show. After some
thought he decided it was too personal and I respected his decision. But, damn – I wanted to use that scene! In retrospect, I should had prodded him
further – reasoning that it could inspire other people to come out.
The troupe toured for 6 months, performing for community
centers, high schools, social service agencies and guest spots on local
television shows. The troupe quickly
became a close-knit group, socializing and at times, dating. Rehearsing scenes away from the workshop was
encouraged. Sometimes, when I felt a
scene was starting to get stale I would recast it right before a performance,
to give it a fresh surge of spontaneity.
I became extremely close to the cast.
Their parents viewed me as a father figure. To the cast, I was a slightly older version of
them.
Willie and I were roommates, and
frequently we had a cast member as a houseguest.
Most cases, it was just to hang with us for
the weekend and help out with administrative work needed for Insight or the
Canadian Improv Games.
But, we had one
long term guest.
Patti’s father suddenly
died of a heart attack while jogging with her mother.
Patti was emotionally shattered and was
ready to leave the troupe and high school, and “hit the road” because the grief
with her large family was unbearable.
We
allowed her to live with us on the condition that she remained in high school, the
troupe, and more importantly – take charge of the housecleaning.
This arrangement worked quite well.
Our apartment never looked better.
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| 4 1/2 Henry Street Ottawa, home to wayward improvisers. |
One day when I had to go down to New York to see the opening
of a friend's play, Warren offered up his mother's car. One catch.
Warren, Ann, Patti and Ralf were part of the package. I had a catch too, which wasn't revealed
until we arrived in New York. Ralf and
Warren stayed at my parent's house. Anne
and Patti stayed at a friend's place.
All seemed surprised by this arrangement. Nice try, kids. For the record, no cast member became a
parent on my watch.
My role slowly changed from director, to confidante of the
group. If any member of the group had
problems with school, parents, boyfriends or girlfriends, inevitably, they came
to me. I appreciated their openness and
honesty, but had to be careful with how I would use this knowledge –
particularly in rehearsal. In cases
where I would, it was always in private and to provide them with a frame of
reference if the content of a scene wasn’t clicking. I call this technique “Spolin meets
Strasberg.” As for my original impression that these were
lily-white teenagers with privileged lives, that was finally put to rest when
we did a workshop on runaways. Sandi
admitted she ran away from home at 15 to Newfoundland, where she worked as a
prostitute for close to two years and finally returned home after she was
gang-raped and left for dead.
The Insight Theatre Company garnered a great deal of press
and we were suddenly thrust into the celebrity spotlight when Platform, a
current events television show, wanted to do a one hour adaptation of the show. During preproduction, several unexpected
problems arose. First, ACTRA (Association
of Canadian TV and Radio Artists), felt the cast weren’t amateurs, based on the
professional level of their performances.
I suppose it was a compliment, but we didn’t have the $10,000 on hand to
make every member part of the union.
Howard Jerome, one of the founders of the Canadian Improv Games made a
passionate plea on our behalf, and ACTRA changed their decision and granted us
waivers to appear on the program.
Next, the producers of the show were uncomfortable with a
scene between two brothers where one admits to the other that he was gay. Since this was an early morning show, the
producers felt the scene might be offensive to some viewers. When I suggested, as a joke, that I could
change it to two sisters instead, the producers thought that was acceptable,
and that’s the way the scene was presented in the broadcast. Finally, because of the three camera set-up,
the cast couldn’t be as physical as they were in the stage show. So, the scenes either had the actors standing
and talking, or sitting and talking. The
end result came off a little more heavy handed in tone than the stage show, but
was still effective. The broadcast got
high ratings, was repeated a few times, and led to the creation of a four
episode series called “Crisis Theatre” which was essentially Insight for
adults.
Three decades later, I’m still in touch with many of the
troupe members. A few have become
life-long friends. Others, I’ve recently
re-connected with through the magic of Facebook. Most are parents with teenagers of their
own. When their kids complain they don’t
understand them or have forgotten what it’s like to be a teenager, they throw
on the Platform television show, stand back and silently observe their minds
being blown.
Michael Golding is a writer,
director and improv teacher. He can be contacted
for workshops, festivals and private consultations at migaluch@yahoo.com. Michael participated in the evolution of the Improv Olympics
& Canadian Improv Games. Artistic director of the Comic Strip Improv
Group in N.Y. & created the Insight Theatre Company for Planned Parenthood,
Ottawa. He is a faculty member at El Camino
College in Los Angeles, working with at-risk teens and traditional students. Michael holds a BFA degree in Drama from New York University’s Tisch
School of the Arts & an MA degree in Educational Theatre from NYU’s
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education & Human Development.
