ABSTRACT
“The Birthday Pencil” took its root from the generated statements “finders keepers, loser’s weepers” and “majority rules” and was originally scripted as a series of beats, allowing the actors to improvise the dialogue. Again, the scene had an empirical source, but its actual content was a plausible generation. Beat versions have the advantage of focusing on the essential elements, permitting the actors to take ownership of the scenes by using their own words. The scenes change as they are made personal. For the video, shooting the scene was semiscripted, and the closing line, “majority rules,” was forgotten by the actor/researcher/teacher. Literature on conflict resolution and bullying also informed the discussions, scene composition, and audience participation. The audience members rewrite the scene in search for the win/win result. Small theatrical details convey a lot of information, and their use keep the drama flowing.
