Dream Enactment Workshop
Jon Lipsky
is Professor of Acting and Playwriting at Boston University’s
College of Fine Arts. He introduced Dream Enactment as part of the
curriculum of Theater School’s professional training program over
twenty years ago. He is a diplomat of the C.G. Jung Institute and
Past President of the International Association for the Study of
Dreams.
Abstract
This is an acting workshop using dreams as primary dramatic
material. By working on dreams the actor will naturally
personalize the work and drop into authentic emotional moments.
The Dreams will provide an opportunity to work with Imagery,
Narrative, Spatial Relations, Connection to Audience and Ensemble
Techniques. At the same time, this is a workshop in
re-experiencing dreams. Through the process of Dream Enactment,
the dreamer will have an opportunity to re-enter the dream space
and encounter the dream figures. At all times the focus will be on
communicating the dream experience to an audience.
You don't have to be an actor to do this workshop or have any
experience working with dreams. You DO have to be willing to work
physically and to tell your dream stories.
This is a workshop which takes dream embodiment one step further.
Using listening techniques developed by Robert Bosnak, we will
internalize the images of dreams and then put them on their feet.
At first we will simply tell the dream narratives as we would tell
a story around a campfire or at the kitchen table. But then we
will try to go further and enact the dream, using theater
techniques to shape the settings, characters, and actions of the
dreams. The dreamer will play all the parts, and in this way, view
the dream from many perspectives.
We will also enter one another's dream, assisting the dreamer in
creating the dreamscape, by playing some of the parts. By enacting
dreams, it is hoped that we will have a more visceral experience
of the images from inside rather than outside the dream. Let me
emphasize that you DON'T have to have any experience in acting to
do this workshop. You just have to be willing to tell a good
story.
