Interactive drama

Interactive Drama is a style of drama whereby a scene is performed live in front of an audience and the scene is stopped and the audience is invited to interact in some way. The audience interaction can be in the form of discussing the scene the audience just witnessed, the audience suggesting changes to the scene and seeing it replayed, or audience members actually joining the scene as performers to try out their own solutions. (see Continuum of Partcipation)

These scenes, no matter the level of audience interaction employed, have the audience experience the situation or concept. EffectiveArts sessions invariably produce a high level of engagement by the audience. Follow up research on interactive drama training has shown that the learning is retained better, and that it is far more effective than other forms of conventional training (especially in skills around stressful situations).

Improvisational acting

improvise (im' pr' vis'), v.,
1. to perform or deliver without previous preparation.
2. to compose on the spur of the moment
3. to make, provide, or arrange from whatever
materials are readily available.

-- Webster's College Dictionary

"Improvising" implies taking action, now, without knowing exactly what to do or how to do it. Improvisation is an everyday reality in organizations and corporate life. Improvising requires thinking on your feet, creativity, imagination, multi-modal listening, and courage. Most human interactions are improvisational in nature, yet most of us never receive training in how to improvise. EffectiveArts embeds such training in most of our work with organizations and corporations, as well as offering specific trainings on improvising.

Range of Heat

Many EffectiveArts interactive drama scenes are intense, especially our Laboratories With No Consequences™. While intensity can be a good thing, sometimes the non-actor participants in the scenes are not yet trained enough or experienced enough to handle the worst a situation has to offer. With that important consideration in mind, we design our scenes to be appropriate to the skill- or experience- level of the non-actor participants such that they succeed in the interaction. Just like ordering food in a Thai restaurant, we can vary the Range of Heat (Two stars? Three stars? Five?) to match the amount of intensity that can be handled.

Continuum of Participation

EffectiveArts programs usually involve several different activities. The activities vary along a scale of audience participation. As the amount of audience participation and interactivity increases, so does the engagement. On a scale from low to high audience participation, the following shows the Continuum of Participation: