Subtitle: Oh, that's what Alex was talking about!

We welcome Dean!

In this session we explored further the idea that 'You Play Chess Until You Box.' We've been bandying this idea around for a few weeks but I felt we hit on something useful here, that the difference is between covert and overt actions. Sometimes we want the other people in the scene to know we are trying to have an effect on them, threaten them, challenge them, tease them, antagonise them or whatever. But sometimes we don't. Alex's example is of picking up girls - sometimes we want to them to know we are interested. Sometimes we want to keep our flirting under the radar, so we can't get caught out! Similarly, when talking to someone sometimes we want to show that we know what they're up to, that they are attempting to change us, and sometimes we want them to think we remain ignorant of their tactics. Recognising an action, a threat or a challenge for example, can both amplify it and destroy its power.

Section 6

We started by trying to make all our actions covert by saying 'What? I'm not doing anything, I'm just saying...' before every line. We were trying not to get caught.

When we were obviously playing something the listener was asked to call us out by saying 'No you're...' and naming the action, or saying 'No, you're doing something.' Pretty soon we refined this to merely 'Caught you.'

It was noted that we are almost always aware that the other person is trying to influence us, as of course they always are, but that sometimes the action was so covert we can't quite call them on it, or sometimes we feel it is the smarter move not to. This is the chess approach. When we felt this we were asked to say 'Ok.'

So, on each line the person tried to play their action without us noticing, and if we felt they were too overt we called them on it by saying 'Caught you' and if we felt we couldn't quite pin them on it we let it slide with an 'Ok'. After being 'caught' the speaker had two choices, to deny it and say 'What? I'm not doing anything I'm just saying...' and repeat the line again trying to be more covert, to appear more neutral and simply helpful to the other person. Or they could say 'Yes, I'm saying...' and repeat the line playing the action even stronger, more overtly. This is where boxing comes in. We played the scene developing this game and then played it without the extra words, but keeping an awareness of the implications of how covert or overt the other person was being.

Section 9

We got more subtle here, as the listener was asked to give a covert look to the audience whenever they were aware of the action being played on them. We started to allow the speaker more choices, as before each line they could choose to be overt by saying 'I'm laying my cards on the table...' and saying the line, or just say the line without this declaration - covertly hiding their action under the guise of the conversation.

Section 7

We started pushing the boat out in terms of the levels of our overtness and covertness. These covert actions are tricky - as Ben pointed out you can't play two things at once. If your line appears threatening, but you say it as helpfully and sensatively as you can, it may well be deemed as a veiled threat. But the speaker is only doing one thing, trying to set the other person at ease say, or befriend them. So choosing to be covert or overt is also about choosing when we play against the text, and noticing when we are in the same place as the line and when we are not.

LINE CHANGE

PG 11 POLICEMAN
Near the top of the page. Cut the bit in bold

Policeman: Mark Stone...It says here it's your birthday. Congratulations. How old are you? Nevermind What else does it say? Ah yes... (rest of the speech continues as is)

Section 27 - just after the sentences have been given and the police have left the cell

Some notes form Alex:

Remember what you're talking about. One of you is going to be executed.

The blame game. People may be watching. You do not want the blame to be on you for long. It is important to shift it on to the other people to protect yourself.

Time pressure. You don't know how long you have.

Hunt the knowledge. You'll get the answer quicker as a team. Help one another find a solution to the problem. Preferably one that incriminates them and exonerates you.

An interesting point here about staging, and I'm sure we'll find many other examples elsewhere. Gandhi reads the document. This we know for sure. And we know that until he has read it (and for Mark even later as he asks if Gandhi is certain it doesn't say on the next page) that Mark and Tom haven't also read it first. Everything else is up for grabs. So Tom or Mark can pick up the document before Gandhi reads it or after but if they get it before Gandhi they must find a reason to hand it to him to read instead of reading it themselves, an active reason, rather than just handing it to him.

LINE CHANGES
PG 42
Half way down. Swap the order of Mark and Gandhi's lines 'Give it here if you can't see it.' and 'Let me get my glasses.' So Gandhi's line comes before Mark's, directly after Mark says 'What does it say on the paper - does it say anything on the piece of paper?'

PG 43

CUT THESE TWO LINES

GANDHI: There's nothing else, just formalities.
Mark: The formalities are the most serious thing. That one of us is going to be executed is a formality. That one of us is going to spend the rest of our lives behind bars is a formality. Read the ******* formalities.

So it goes from 'Mark: What do you mean pretty much?' to 'Gandhi: 'This is a classified...'

PG 47

So many changes here I'm just going to write out the new text for you to replace/change the old. Starting with Mark's line to the mirror which used to read '(To the mirror) Hey! Hello? We need to talk to you. Hello?' and going down to Gandhi's scream. It now goes like this.

Mark: (To the mirror) Hello? We need to talk to you. Hello?
Gandhi: You said no one was watching.
Mark: What else can we do?
Tom: Oy! Is there anybody out there?
Mark: Will somebody f*****g listen?
Tom: Hey! You. What are you playing at?
Mark: Who gets what?
Tom: Are you just going to sit there?
Mark: Do something.
Tom: Listen to us you bastards!
Mark: Don't you care?
Tom: Hello?
Mark: Hello?
Tom: Can somebody come in here?
Gandhi lets out a long, long scream at the mirror

That's all folks. I'm not here next week so have fun.