THIS IS WHAT EXCLUSION FEELS LIKE [Excerpt]

The following experience is intended to give you—the audience—a sense of what exclusion feels like. There are many kinds of exclusion in the world and, undoubtedly, you have experienced at least one form at some point in your life. If you have not, it is likely that you will in the future. Rather than focusing on the specific experiences that are faced by a particular group, this experience is intended to highlight the impact that everyday exclusionary behaviors have on those who experience them. Upon experiencing this short piece, you are invited to reflect on what you saw and felt, considering the times when you have actively excluded others or have been excluded. By focusing an entire theatrical piece on this subject, the performance validates these everyday experiences as serious threats and worthy of time, energy, and consideration.

Experiences of ridicule, disassociation, bullying, isolation, and mobbing are harmful to the mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual health of all human beings. It is only by validating and acknowledging the gravity of these experiences that we can begin to fight them.

Room Two

A room that looks something like a stage. There are about five to seven people performing a very regimented set of movements exactly in time with one another. One of them comes over and tries to teach you how to do the dance. No matter how well you do, you “fail” and the others continue doing the movements, watching you the whole time (their heads turned in your direction) with disapproving and embarrassed looks.

Room Four

A room full of ordinary-looking (pedestrian) people. They go about their business, walking, mimicking speech, talking to each other. As you (the viewer) walk around the room, they turn their head away from you, while looking at you from the corner of their eye. The ones you cannot see constantly have their eye on you, but the moment they turn their gaze, their eyes shift away. No one ever truly acknowledges you.

Room Six

You sit down across a table from a person (the staring one from the first room). The room is stiflingly hot. There is a large cup in the middle. Each time you reach and grab for the cup, the person pulls it just out of reach. This goes on for at least five minutes. If you stop trying, the person takes out a cool pitcher of water, pours him/herself a drink, and drinks it very slowly, staring into your eyes the entire time.

---

A notebook for reflective feelings will be available at the end of the piece for anyone who is so inclined. There will also be a link to a blog — and possibly a tag for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. — where audience members can submit reflections, experiences, photos, etc.

Casting notes:

-The audience for this piece is one person at a time. He or she should go through each of these rooms in sequence, like a haunted house.

- Approximately fifteen actors are needed for the piece. Some exposure to movement/dance experience is helpful but not required. 

- Diversity is encouraged among cast members—there is no requirement of ethnic, cultural, or gender uniformity as these will be conveyed through movement and dress.

- Most likely, the set would be a house with at least eight different rooms/spaces. Alternatively, the piece can be launched in an academic building or school with eight classrooms available for use.

- Costuming should convey uniformity and lack of access for the audience member. Consider color coordination, quality of pieces, and/or design.

- Music and sound design should be minimal. A rhythmic piece is needed for the scenes with the dance movements.  

General notes:

- This piece can be scaled down and altered for bullying and social exclusion awareness events, such as orientations, workshops, and training. 

- As a general consideration when the project is in rehearsals, actors and designers should carefully consider the implications that their choices have with regards to portraying experiences of exclusion as “in the mind” or a matter of perception. It is up to the creative team in question how they will handle the specifics, but this topic will most likely arise early in the process.

- The discomfort associated with recalling exclusionary experiences may pose mental and/or emotional health risk to some audience members. All participants should be duly warned of such risk.