We will take a journey together seated in a sacred circle—or a chain of many squares—of creativity which will include ancestors, strangers, desire, wounds, first awakenings, loss, courage, anger, love, and other messy and human things.
First do some loosening up exercises for head and shoulders: Close your eyes. Adjust your body on your chair. Straighten your back and neck, as if there were a string pulling your body up from your torso to the top of your head. Breathe eight times, and with each exhalation release the tension from your body. Let the worries and stress of the day begin to disappear with each breath. Let your head drop forward on your neck. Then back. Make a circle with your head by rotating it slowly to the right, then to the left. Come back to center and continue to breathe. Think about your heart.
The writer-facilitator then reads the following texts aloud: ”Heart to Heart” by Rita Dove, “[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]” by e.e.cummings, “I Cry” by Tupac Shakur, and “The giver (for Berdis)” by James Baldwin.
Imagine the shape and size of your own heart. What color is it? How many beats do you imagine it beating every minute? Send your breath to this area, and breathe using the rhythm of your heart as your guide. Imagine how your heart is connected to the rest of your body.
How does your heart feel today?
When you have a clear picture in your mind’s eye, open your eyes and make a sketch of your heart. If there are things that are difficult to draw, you may use words to label the drawing.
Look up when you are done.
Close your eyes again.
In your mind’s eye, imagine a time when you were younger, perhaps younger than 10, when your heart was racing. When you can see this moment clearly in your mind’s eye, describe this moment in words or draw a picture of it.
When you are done, please look up, so I know you are finished.
Now close your eyes again and let one of your characters appear to you. Imagine that your character’s heart is also racing. What is making your character’s heart race? Is their heartache physical, or is it emotional heartbreak?
Observe the details of where this character is. Look at the clothes they are wearing. The temperature of their skin. What is the quality of light on this character’s face?
Look for what there is about this character that is a drain or “defect” that led to their racing heart, which may prevent them from functioning or moving forward. Is there a person from their past or a memory that is keeping them from moving forward? Does someone else appear? What is this new character wearing? What is the light like on this character’s skin? What are this character’s actions or intentions toward your first character? When this becomes clear, open your eyes and begin a scene between these two characters using the following elements.
Lines: “Who did you tell?” “I feel stupid.”
Object: notebook or sketchbook.
Action: There is a listening to someone’s heart or a taking of someone’s pulse.
Write…
Continue with the following or begin a new scene with the following.
Lines: “Your fingers are cold.” “I like waiting.” “Did you see this?”
Action: One person does something and the other person does exactly the same thing.
Object: a threaded needle.
Write…
Continue with the following or begin a new scene with the following.
Lines: “Sorry, I was late.” “It’s getting dark.”
Action: There is an element of crawling or humiliation, a begging for something.
Object: a child’s toy.
Write…
Continue with the following or begin a new scene with the following.
Line: “Did you go to the hospital with her?”
Object: something made of steel or metal.
Action: There is a situation of good luck that relieves some state of pain or discomfort.
Write…
Continue with the following.
Lines: “It doesn’t always hurt.” “I can’t breathe.” “I like your shoes.”
“A story’s like a map.”
Object: a lamp or sunlight.
Sound: a tapping or scratching on a window or glass.
Action: to heal a wound.
Write…
At around the three-hour mark, put pens down. Sustain the sacred circle by discussing the exercise and sharing your work aloud.
If you’d like to continue the exercise on your own: Think about the sounds in your play. Rewrite one scene using just stage directions and silence. Listen for the heartbeat of one of your characters and imagine the shape of their heart.
