1b. Perspectives with commentary on 1a (True Story Theater)

Basics of Perspectives online:
Four actors each do short solos, each offering a different perspective on the story. Each perspective captures one of the teller’s core feelings. At most, only one of the four will explicitly play the teller’s actor. Actors can come out in any order.
This is an engaging form to choose for longer stories, and easy to do online. It is especially useful when most of the “action” is internal to the teller so that interaction between characters is not that important. It can also be helpful for intense or traumatic stories because it offers greater abstraction.
After "Let's watch," the actors all turn on their videos on and start in neutral. The musician (offscreen) begins immediately. When the first actor starts moving, the host SPOTLIGHTS their video. The musician continues as the first actor embodies their character nonverbally. the musician stops when the actor starts talking.
After the first actor completes their solo offering (roughly 30-60 seconds) and freezes, the musician begins again. The actor stays frozen until another actor starts moving and the host SPOTLIGHTS their video. (This will automatically stop the previous spotlight. Once the next actor has been spotlighted, actors can adjust their freeze to something more comfortable while still embodying their character.) This repeats until all actors have made their offers and have frozen onstage. The enactment ends with a final piece from the musician.
Conductor says, “Thank you actors” offscreen, the actors return to neutral, the conductor and musician turn on their cameras, and then the conductor invites the teller back on screen for a closing intake. The audience stays off until the closing is complete.
Finer Points of this Form:
Each actor first makes clear who or what they are. Then they embody one of the teller’s feelings or needs through that character.
If a significant other is in the story, one of the four actors should be that character (usually human, but sometimes not, such as “my writer’s block”).
Dramatize the experience in the present moment, rather than narrating.
When referring to the teller, it is far more emotionally compelling to speak directly to them, saying “you” rather than using the third person (e.g., their name or pronoun).
Each actor seeks to embody a different feeling or theme, so be prepared to change if a previous actor covers what you had planned. It’s helpful for the conductor to call the form early in the intake so actors have time to mull possible perspectives.
Social forces can be shown through specific characters rather than abstractions. (E.g., portray a tired circuit court judge, rather than waving a scarf and saying, “I am Justice.”)
When you come into the action ask yourself, “What’s important for the teller to see that she hasn’t seen yet?” If you’re the last actor to come out, ask, “What do we want to leave the teller with at the end?”
Actors can interact or refer to the characters that have been portrayed prior to their offer, but those actors remain frozen.
If you are working with people who may be confused with abstraction (such as the elderly or children) choose more literal characters in the story (e.g., the protagonist’s dog rather than the dog’s leash or the spirit of doggy love) and be sure to show the teller as one character.
For more information on PNA, please visit our website playbacknortha...