RECENTLY DE-CLASSIFIED INTEL FROM CHALLENGER H.Q.-

Relationships, Hierarchy, and Status are, in a nut’s shell, how you RELATE to others and your environment.  This creates ENSEMBLE, and ENSEMBLE is what makes any company “Click.”  If you achieve true ENSEMBLE, stepping through the threshold and joining your company’s circle will be a JOY every single day.  This is your CULTURE.  This is what makes all the WORK worthwhile. Making Others Look Good is more than just saying “Yes, And…” (Total Acceptance… Also a great thing) to a fellow Agent on stage. Making Others Look Good is truly analyzing and understanding what your fellow Agents NEED to be THEIR very best… on AND OFF the stage. 

In the field or on the stage, Relationships, Hierarchy and Status are valuable tools to make navigating an unscripted scene much easier.  Understanding each term can make any scene, game, or activity flow much more organically.

• Relationships.  These are usually permanent.  Having a labeled relationship like Mother/Daughter, Boss/Employee, Teacher/Student can instantly make a scene more accessible to both Agents and Audience.  The converse is also true… NO relationship (Two relative strangers) makes a scene much more difficult to play and follow.

• Hierarchy. These are FIXED/ICONIC status relationships.  There are natural vocal and physical and even narrative choices that go along with being HIGHER or LOWER in a scene.  MOTHER is usually HIGHER than DAUGHTER.  BOSS higher than EMPLOYEE.  Understanding when to go with the flow of Hierarchy and when to flip it makes for very engaging scenes.

• Status. Status can fluctuate from moment to moment… just walking down a hallway, you will act very differently if passing a 5 star General as opposed to a private trainee as opposed to Betty from accounting whom you have had an unspoken crush on since kindergarten… all in less than a minute.  But, there is always someone HIGHEST and someone LOWEST, with everyone else somewhere in between.  Knowing that there can only be one Alpha and one Zulu can be very helpful in a scene with large numbers.

Whether a tool for successful mission outcomes or the key to Ensemble within the barracks, Relationships, Hierarchy, and Status are learned skills that every Challenging Agent must possess.

DEEP COVER, ASSET CONDITIONING and FIELD SITREP –

Creating a Safe-house environment free from judgment and fear is the clearest path to establishing a culture of Ensemble where every Commander, Agent, and Cadet feels valued and fully accepted.

Cadets and Agents will…

• Celebrate failure

• Say “Yes, And…” to all ideas generated by the group

• Vocally and physically support all fellow Cadets and Agents

• Always value group gains over individual gains

• Possess a thorough Knowledge of the differences between various relationships, hierarchies and status levels

• Possess the ability to establish and “Play” with the concepts of Relationships, Hierarchy and Status on stage

• Recognize and associate with the vocal and physical qualities that are iconic in EVERY Relationship

BASIC TRAINING FOR ALL FIELD OPERATIVES –

Here are some H.Q. vetted strategies in acquiring the last few above skills…

• Let’s introduce ETUDES here.  Vsevolod Meyerhold taught the bulk of his Bio-Mechanics skills through these basic training exercises using one or two Cadets performing simple tasks in very regimented, choreographed to the tiniest detail, “Scenes.”  In the two-person ETUDES, Relationships, Hierarchy, and Status can be Physically AND Vocally drilled using Repetition and Muscle Memory to create iconic reactions to different Status and Hierarchical relationships.  The most widely distributed two-person Meyerhold Etude is “Stabbing with the knife,” in which it is very clear that the cadet with the knife takes on the higher Status regardless of their initial Hierarchical relationship.  The actual “Stabbing” is not even necessary for an Etude designed to drill Relationships… Once the knife is pulled, the status is established, and the reactions can be played.  Simpler tasks like “Giving the Gift” or “Asking for directions” can be used along with more bombastic tasks like “Diffusing the bomb” or “Strapping on the experimental jetpack.”  Always keep in mind that the objects like “The Gift,” “The Bomb,” and “The Experimental Jetpack” can also have the highest STATUS.

• Line games can be extremely effective for drilling relationships.  A Mission Commander can call out relationships as two Cadets at the front of their lines meet in the center, and they can play out a quick two line scene or just pass one another playing a vocal and physical reaction.  Silent scenes where cadets simply feel the force of different status relationships can work, as well.  Keep the lines moving.  Repetition and Muscle memory are more important than subjective ideas of quality.

• Limiting games are essential tools especially for “showing” relationships.  Unless you are Shakespeare… and even if you ARE Shakespeare, just yabbering on about how you love Juliet is not as important as what’s in your eyes or how your body and face reacts in her presence.  Challenger H.Q. also had a game when entities like SIRI and ALEXA came out, where two agents would read the most dynamic dramatic literature about relationships in the most impassive manner they could muster… fun.  Very limiting and fun.

• All Improv Troupes, including the Challengers have some variation of a CROW exercise (Character, Relationship, Obstacles or Objective, and Where).  Essentially, you just play scenes until all of those elements are visible, then stop.  You can create all sorts of variations, and creating a game that is just R (Arrr, like a Pirate) would just be playing the scene till the Relationship is solidified.  Again… get as many reps and different kinds of Relationships in there as you can… Encourage full Vocal and Physical expressions, then muscle memory for reflexive reactions in the field.

• Scene work with Status.  Using playing cards or just numbers on sticky notes, Mission Commanders can create simple scenes for any number of Cadets.  In a scene where a group must break into a room and steal enemy plans, one cadet knows they are the ONE, another is the THREE, and any others are TWOs.  Play that out.  Switch it around.  It can be played where the Cadets don’t know their own numbers, but the other Cadets do, or have three or more ONEs, or even three or more THREEs (That one should end in total chaos… fun).  Have FUN.  Continually reinforce the value of SHOWING the relationships with the FULL voice and body.

BLACK BAG ACQUISITIONS FOR DOG AND PONY SHOWS –

Other than pure gag, line, or step-forward games, all performance improv games require solid relationships on stage.  Audiences will always “RELATE” better to who you are on stage if you clearly show them how you relate to others.  Some games will get you there faster than others…

• Master and servant games.  The Challenger version was called “Sidekick Disaster.”  Any game where a relationship is implied in the title invites shifting that relationship around in the playing of the game.

• Simple two line games where Agents need to establish CROW immediately on entering a scene… It’s Tuesday, The Alphabet Game, Verse, The Question Game, etc.  All of these (except It’s Tuesday) have the limiting gimmick, but require quick, SOLID relationships to work well.

• Any full scene games INCLUDING long form are great for building Relationships on stage.  It doesn’t matter if there are reality changers or limiters… those will just give agents more fluctuations to challenge themselves with and add to their onstage relationships.

Mission Commanders can always modify their feedback to reinforce areas of growth in any Performance scenario, and the best way to learn is by doing.  Bravo Zulu!