ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the brain is thought to work when confronted with the variety of subjects often thought of as ‘intimate’ in performance. Centering Stanislavsky's practices of emotion, imagination, and action with the cognitive processes of each, I argue that not only do intimacy protocols help protect actors from experiencing new traumas in the rehearsal room, but they also allow for a more immediate, focused, and more creative performance. It includes a discussion of the typical body's reaction to past experiences including traumas, how Staged Sexual Intimacy protocols can give actors and directors tools to better handle current experiences, and ways to avoid creating new trauma in our rehearsal and performances spaces.
