ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a new set of exercises for coaching actors when working on productions that are non-traditionally staged in arenas, thrusts, allies, or site-specific productions. Avatar is a Hindu word that means 'the manifestation of the divine in physical form'. Currently in most Western countries it has many meanings, including the name of a popular James Cameron movie that my kids love (about humans living in alien bodies) and an excellent Nickelodeon series that our whole family loves. Like most contemporary video games, NTS theatre requires a character that is defined three-dimensionally and from every angle. One of Michael Chekhov's more popular exercises is the Imaginary Body. The imaginary body stands, as it were, between the real body and your psychology, influencing both of them with equal force. Without a serious concentration on the image of the character, the actor's interpretation of the character falters.
