HowlRound Theatre Commons: As the field of intimacy direction grows and its approaches are refined and codified, rehearsal practices are undergoing a transformation. Discussions around safety and consent are foregrounded, new lines of communication are established, and artist-authored standards, such as those created by the Chicago-founded Not in Our House movement, are being adopted.
2 comments:
Up until very recently, I had never heard of intimacy directors. However, in January I worked on a show, and the woman who drove me home every night after rehearsals was one of the only intimacy directors in Northern California. I believe that intimacy directors are of the utmost importance to creating intimate scenes that both realistic and comfortable and safe for the actors. Their approach helps to facilitate not only a comfortable environment to explore the scene but also to choreograph connection making a better experience for the actors and audience. Consent is very important and in theater is no exception. Often times actors find their ability to provide consent sacrificed by the director and intimacy directors can advocate and provide the ability to consent to scenes and actions. I hope that intimacy directors become more increasingly used as there are only advantages.
Moments of intimacy are such vulnerable things, and even more so when we bring this to a stage, audition, or rehearsal room. Through the last few years, I have learned a bit about intimacy choreographers and their mostly new place in the entertainment industry. It is comforting to know that someone is there to protect the performers and their vulnerability in order to create a safe interaction and environment for the intimacy in question. I had never thought about taking this to an earlier stage of development to weave this protection and guidance into the actual text itself. Navigating performer and character boundaries and giving intimacy choreographers a descriptive narrative to work from will ensure that they can work the scene in a comfortable and effective way. Ultimately, it should all come down to making the performer comfortable. I think there is always a way to accomplish the goal of a scene without putting someone in a position of outright discomfort or harm, and a playwright is in a position to make this that much easier for the performers in question.
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