This technically demanding game is probably a little niche to present regularly, but Reverse Scene in the Dark will certainly spice up your playlist if offered occasionally.
The Basics
Players improvise a scene in which they behave as if the lights are on when they are, in fact, off and contrarily move cautiously through the space as if they are in darkness when the lights bathe the stage. Shifts between these two states are cued by the technician (or, perhaps, the signal of a caller). Changes in the lighting should be acknowledged and justified throughout.
Example
The scene gains inspiration from a real estate agent showing an impossible to sell fixer upper. When the countdown ends and the scene starts, the stage remains blanketed in darkness. Player A, the realtor, and their clients B and C move confidently around the unit stage.
Player A: “I think you’ll agree the house has undeniable character. And most of the wood flooring and accents are original…”
Player B: “Darling, you have to touch this fireplace. The craftsmanship is unparalleled.”
Player C can be heard approaching their beloved.
Player C: “And, if I’m not mistaken, these are the original fire bellows as well…”
The lights turn on (and, therefore off in the world of the scene). Players B and C are revealed by the fireplace while A stands nervously at the door.
Player A: (apologizing) “Some of the wiring in this room is clearly original as well.”
A starts to clumsily walk through the room in search of the wiring panel. B nervously holds out their hand in search of C’s.
Player C: “I’m sure it’s nothing. I’m right here.”
Player B: (crawling towards C’s voice) “You know I don’t like the dark…”
Player C: “We’re house hunting on a budget. We’re going to have to make some compromises, Jordan…”
The Focus
Grounded yet playful physical choices are a must, as are crisp shifts from one environment reality to the next.
Traps and Tips
1.) Consider your launch. You’ll want to set up your world and expectations quickly. Avoid overcrowding the scene as it starts so that the first characters can create a clear relationship and start to define the space. It’s helpful to use an indoor setting as the norm because it’s more challenging to justify lights changes if you’re in the middle of an open field during midday! (There can only be sooo many eclipses in one afternoon after all.) If the stakes are too low, or the given circumstances too vague, it’ll be difficult to mine consequences from the changes in the lighting levels.
2.) Consider your movements. If this is a new game in your repertoire, it can prove helpful to rehearse the dynamic in the more traditional orientation; that is, moving in darkness, and then light. Much of the fun of the inversion is seeing (or perhaps, more fittingly, hearing) players move through the darkness with great confidence, and then seeing their physicality becoming anxious and jittery when the lights change. A small but important detail: consider your line of sight and eye contact carefully. In the “dark,” it’s helpful to avoid looking anyone directly in the eyes as this sells the conceit that no one is precisely sure where anyone else is standing or lurking.
3.) Consider your justifications. Be careful of just allowing the lights to randomly switch on and off without any sense of recognition or justification. These transitions need to become part of the fabric of the scene and environment, pushing the characters into greater and greater turmoil and emotionality. (This is, in part, my hesitation to play this game too often as there are only so many ways to comment on the lights plunging on and off without resorting to overused schtick.) Once the general premise is established you may not need to comment on each change – “the lights have turned off again…” But your characters should certainly continue to react to each shift, hopefully with ever-increasing levels of fear, or panic, or excitement, or delight…
4.) Consider your transitions. On some level this game can benefit from a Freeze Tag approach to each offer from the lighting technician. When the fictional lights turn off (with the corresponding theatrical lights turning on) there’s enormous fun to be had by discovering the characters in drastically new or unexpected positions that must then be incorporated and justified. Inversely, resorting to a largely talking heads dynamic will rob the game of much of this surprise and delight. So, as you move around the stage confidently in the blackouts (which shouldn’t probably be complete blackouts for everyone’s safety), keep an eye towards adopting dynamic new poses and positions.
In performance
A little rehearsal and unpacking of the core strategies can go a long way to setting the cast up for success and the audience for joy. This truth was brought home to me in a recent R&D rehearsal where we laughed heartily at the challenges of the concept.
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Cheers, David Charles.
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Photo Credit: Jame Berkley
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