The Six-Step Rehearsal Entry

1.  WHO AM I?

a.  What is my background: social, economic, educational, religious, occupational, family?

b.  How do I want to be perceived, and how am I afraid I am perceived?

c.  What is my present state of being physically and emotionally?

2.  WHAT ARE MY CIRCUMSTANCES?

a.  What time is it? (Year, season, month, day, time) How does this affect me?

b.  Where am I? (Smells, sounds, shapes, colors, textures, weather, friendly/unfriendly, public/private, inside/outside) How does this affect me?

c.  What are the immediate circumstances? (What do you think the facts of the situation are? What do you think has just happened before this scene begins?)

d.  What is my “moment before”?

3.  WHO IS MY TARGET?

a.  How do I see the target (my partner) when the scene starts? (i.e. as a stranger, jerk, authority figure, friend, etc.)

b.  What kind of relationship would I like to have with him or her?

c.  How do I see the target transform itself during the scene?

4.  WHAT IS MY ACTION? (WHAT DO I WANT and NOT WANT?)

a.  STEP ONE: The Literal. What is the Literal Activity in the scene (Business and Dialogue)?

b.  STEP TWO: The Want. What does my character Want in the scene?

c.  STEP THREE: The Action. (Think in doubles)

  1. What is (are) my Essential Action(s) (Goal with the Partner/Target)?
  2. Get a stranger to find me attractive without scaring him off
  3. Get a jerk off my back without letting her know I detest her
  4. Beg a friend’s help without humiliating myself
  5. Make her understand I don’t love her without destroying her

ii. What is (are) the CAP(s) to the action(s)?

d.  STEP FOUR: The As If. What is currently happening in my own life that is like my character’s action? It’s as if…

  1. WHAT ARE THE STAKES? (What do I have to win and lose? Again, think in doubles.)

6.  WHAT IS THE URGENCY? (Why must I do it NOW?)