ABSTRACT
The exercise that solves the problem of how to hear the key components of a situation without the pitfalls of interpretation is called breaking the back of a text. The exercise that solves the problem of how to hear the key components of a situation without the pitfalls of interpretation is called breaking the back of a text. It is named this way for two reasons. The first reason comes from its design, which is that this is an exercise for fresh, or first, readings of text and so embodies the idea of breaking new ground. The second reason is more telling: it relates to the performative habits both actors and non-actors bring to a scene when they start work on it, attempting to represent the lives on the page in an artificial, literary, and abstract way with their own analysis and creative designs.
