The Six Polarities

1. In your own words discuss what Johnson means by the six polarities

When Johnston talks about the six polarities, he means the different relationships or things that have two polar opposite sides to them but are somehow connected and dependant to one another (Johnston, 2005). For example in everyday life these polar opposites could be day and night, positive and negative magnets, ground and water, sad and happy, North and South and many others. In Johnston's book 'House of Games: making theatre from everyday life' he discusses the six polarities which can occur in either a workshop, rehearsal or a performance situation. These polarities are: 'the fixed and the free', 'surface and depth', 'the centre and the edge', 'the individual and the collective', 'the performer and the audience' and 'the simple and the complex' (Johnston, 2005).

2. Choosing one of the polarities name a situation where a facilitator might encounter one. In a workshop situation a facilitator may encounter some of the polarities. For example, the facilitator may encounter a situation where one of the participants may of felt upset because none of their peers feel comfortable to work with them on a mini scene. The participant may think that their peers feel uncomfortable with them due to their appearance, their disability or simply because they may think that their peers may think of them as being unintelligent. In this situation it is very important for the facilitator to create a fixed rule or statement which could be to remind the whole group that there must be equal opportunities within the group and that everyone has to be professional towards each other. From this kind of statement everyone will realise that they have freedom to choose who they would like to work with but at the same time, consider everyone equally. This type of situation can be avoided if the facilitator lays out fixed rules at the beginning of the workshop and before each activity e.g. the facilitator could say to the group "Now you need to work with people you necessarily have not worked with before", "Remember not to talk in this activity". "Remember to support one another when creating a freeze frame in silence".

If fixed rules are put into place then this will allow the group to know their boundaries and they will be able to be free to expand on their creativity skills, which results them to create beautiful pieces of work. The relationship of the group will be more stronger and the group will be more supportive of one another. Also each individual will feel safe physically and mentally during the workshop, so there will be nothing in the way of them participating in a workshop and activities within it.

 
3. Describe how Johnsons descriptions of polarities might relate back to last weeks reading?
Johnston's description of polarities relates back to the reading I read last week. For example, the 'fixed and the free' polarity can link into when a facilitator gives clear instructions and uses 'side coaching' techniques in an activity. A facilitator could say to a group on a particular activity "remember you are not allowed to talk to each other when organising yourselves in order of the date and month you were born. Remember that you need to stay stood on the chairs when organising each other. Support one another doing this." The group knows the rules of this activity but they are free to creatively get to their space one chair at a time as they like. This activity also links with the polarity 'the group and the collective' because the group closely works together as an ensemble and communicates in different ways to organise themselves in order, but at the same time not falling off the chairs.

Also in the last reading, it was mentioned about Kinaesthetic Learning and how this way of learning allows participants to explore their bodies, its limitations and the environment surrounding it (Kelly, 2014). This way of learning can link with the 'surface and depth' polarity. For example, the facilitator may ask the group to get into pairs and do the pushing and pulling activity with their hands and bodies. At first the pairs may not put much effort into this exercise because either the pairs feel that they cannot work on this activity due to not knowing each other much or they simply do not see the point in this activity. At this point, it is the facilitators job to remind the class to "explore more with the forces", "play about with it". In the end the pairs may start to think more detailed about their surroundings, each other and the story they start to develop through the pulling and pushing exercise. This exercise may start as being something pointless to the group but in the end, this exercise is thought of in a more detailed way and so it could be a start to a story or issue raised.

Each exercise or each situation has either one or multiple polarities within it so it is the facilitators job to identify these polarities and then take appropriate action to address these. There is nothing wrong with there being opposites to each kind of relationship or situation. As long as these opposites are used in a positively effective way, the group will get the maximum out of a workshop and activities within it.  


Reference List
Johnston, C. (2005) House of games: making theatre from everyday life. London: Nick Hern Books.   
Kelly, D. (2014) Laying the Foundations: A guide to youth drama. Dublin: National Association for Youth Drama.