Thought, feeling response...

-
In the present reductive atmosphere of cuts and caps across education, welfare, health and culture there is a lot of talk in the networks I frequent about the value of studying drama.  I get frustrated sometimes that this value is articulated in glib, sweeping statements…well meaning but ultimately not of use. Part of the reason is that as drama practitioners and teachers putting the transformative things we see happening for those we work with through their engagement with drama is hard to put into words.  However something occurred to me in rehearsal this week that demonstrates one distinct way in which drama rehearsals and workshops teach those that take part something that helps them with the things life throws at them and so I thought I would share it with you.

One of the plays that we are performing as part of our Birthday Celebrations follows six characters as they go through a series of life changing events.  Telling the story of the play is one thing but telling the story truthfully is very different challenge.  One of the things that I keep reminding the actors in rehearsal is that when one of the characters sees, hears, experiences something a chain of things happen…after the event has occurred the character who experienced it has a thought which progresses into a feeling, which then creates their reaction or response – which is, of course, some sort of event in itself…and so the chain sets off again…and keeps going and going and going to dizzying ends…actors have to be aware of that sequence and live through it to tell the truth of a characters story…

The thing is, in life we take this chain reaction for granted…it just happens and too often we don’t realize we can take control of it to be able to make sure our life is a happier place…we all have those moments when we just allow events to explode around us while we stand in the middle feeling powerless to do anything – however we can take control of our thoughts, feelings and responses – the things we say or do - allowing us to influence the chain of events.  When we do we go from being passive audiences of the events around us to central players…but that’s not all…once we understand the event, thought, feeling, reaction/response we are given a key to a happier, fulfilled life – we develop the skill of empathy – which although some people are born with a generous helping, others find it more challenging.  The understanding of thought, feeling, reaction/response allows us to begin to understand why people do what they do…indeed to start asking why they are doing it and to stop just reacting in a thoughtless, heartless way… 


It’s as simple as this practicing understanding and influencing the thought, feeling, reaction/response in the rehearsal room or workshop makes us better at it in life…simple but true and ever so, ever so valuable…

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chloe's Leavers Blog - finally :)

-
  Please excuse how this was written, I do a very silly drama school course, and I haven’t had to write more than my name in 9 months. I’m sat in my silly dorm bed writing me this on my DSA laptop (a win for the mentally ill girlies), realising how utterly bad my ability to Words has become. Anyway.. Leaving YTYT was one of the oddest experiences of my life, and yet, I don’t remember it at all. I’d spent the last few years, waving off some of my closest friends as they went on to conquer their dreams, in a tearful circle, yet all I have is a fuzzy memory and a video saved in an instagram highlight. I’d sell a kidney to try and bring back that experience, to do my final show unclouded by new medication and intrusive thoughts, but as that isn’t possible, I thought I’d finally write my leavers blog, even if it is a year late. I started Yew Tree in 2017, as a way to explore drama outside of the agonising GCSE setting, and across the years, it became a lifeline for me, providing confidence,
Read more

Arwen's Leavers blog

-
I made a start writing this leaver’s blog when I was on a bloody needed holiday over a month ago, on the glorious Isle of Islay in Scotland. I’m re-writing it now, because I think it was naff to be honest. And I’m not in the same mindset as I was then. Also I might have had a few too many drams of whisky whilst writing it there, so there’s that. A line I’ll keep from it however is: “How am I meant to do justice and summarise in my writing the enormity of an impact that Yewtree has had on me these last 5-ish years?” How can I articulate all the skills that I've learnt and developed? The experiences I’ve had? There’s so much, where and what do I start on? So I’ll do just that, and put some of the skills I’ve learnt into use: “You can’t be a creative, a critic, and an editor at the same time” But in fairness - I don’t think I could share and articulate all those things. And I’m not sure that I want to, they’re for me. I can’t put that expectation on myself. The past year I’ve felt as
Read more

Celebrating the past in the present...

-
  Next year Yew Tree Youth Theatre will be 30 years old.   We haven’t quite decided how we will celebrate - any suggestions would be gratefully received. No doubt there will be some nostalgic perambulating down memory lane and some haphazard but joyous celebrating of three decades of creativity we have shared.   Some variation of those two themes would feel fitting. This blog however is something different. This blog is a celebration of the present of those who attended YTYT in the past. Alumni, graduates, previous members – I can never seem to find the right term – but whatever word is chosen I know for sure they are part of the fabric of the youth theatre and I’m grateful to have known all of them, mainly because I have learnt so much from them.   I also can’t put a number on how many people have spent significant time with YTYT over the last 29 years.   I know we started with a group of 8 and now have about 80 members, I know at our peak just before COVID we had about 130 young pe
Read more