Why Wouldn't I?

So, I've returned from the Paddy Crean Stage Combat Workshop in Banff. It was awesome. Different in many ways from the FDC Nationals, but awesome nonetheless.

In several of the many conversations I had with people there, I was asked why I was there. As in, I'm a teacher (I haven't been writing much lately, so I left that detail out), and not a stunt performer or an actor, so what would possess me to come to a Stage Combat Workshop?

The quick response was, "It's nice to be a student." Lots of nods and, "Sure, that makes sense."

I would then be asked if I would take any of what I learned back to my students. Not really. I don't really have the skill to teach a room full of teenagers what these master instructors are teaching to a room full of adults with varying degrees of skill. There are definitely some skills and tricks I will put in my back pocket for directing shows when they're called for. Mostly approaches to physical comedy.

The workshop is a series of 90 minute classes on a variety of topics for a number of different skill levels over the course of six days. So that's a big chance to learn a lot of things from a lot of different people. By the end of Day 1, I stopped trying to master the skills and focussed on what it felt like to be in the room with those teachers. What was it about what they were doing that made me feel excited, or bored, or successful . . . stuff like that. Also, how did time move? Did it seem like it whipped by? Was I wondering what would be for lunch? Would I like to see more from this person? These are things that matter a great deal to students. And the stuff is fun. And do-able (sidenote - one of the biggest necessities in learning anything is a teacher's belief that the student can do the thing being taught. A quality which was present in spades at the workshop.)

I also watched how the instructors interacted with each other and how they made the quality of the participants' experience their top priority. And they succeeded.

Conflict is hard to write. In my world as a wife, mother and teacher, my job is to prevent conflict. "Be nice." "Don't fight." Don't say that comment that might incite a reaction, just suck it down and move forward. I have decent communication skills, so I don't run into as many conflicts as I used to. Plus, it's not socially acceptable to start conflicts and act like an ass, like we do sometimes when we just want what we want and we don't care how we get it. But nobody wants to see a play where everyone just plays nice.

Many of the classes talked about the nature of fighting. What causes two people to lose it and go at each other? Why may they choose not to? How close do you need to be on stage for something to happen? What is the dynamic when there are more than two people in a fight? How do we maintain tension and when do we let go of it? I don't think this just applies to plays with fighting in them. Every playwright needs to grasp how one stabbing remark differs from a series of cutting comments. And the ensuing reactions. I actually can't see a better way than on your feet, putting it all into your body and having it at the ready when you need to write a scene.

So, in my brain, the question isn't "Why am I here?" It's "Why isn't every teacher and playwright at something like this?"