Who Needs What?

By Debra Bruch

Entire Company (5 people minimum):

Person #1 -- the beater
Person #2 -- the beatee
Person #3
Rest of the company are in the audience: holding the pencils and baskets

Needed: s

Pieces of paper for the audience members
Small pencils for audience members
Collection basket

Two people are onstage. All but one of the rest of the company are sitting in the audience.

Person #1 beats Person #2 (fake it) and doesn't quit. Pretty soon, a person from the audience stands and tells Person #1 to stop it. He doesn't. Another and another and another are standing in the audience telling Person #1 to stop. Finally, Person #1 stops and stands side by side facing the audience.

Person #3 enters and tells the audience that he wants to take a survey. Which person needs to be healed? Clap your hands to indicate which person you choose needs to be healed. Person #3 crosses to Person #1 and asks the audience if he needs to be healed. Clap hands. Person #3 then crosses to Person #2 and asks the audience if he needs to be healed.

If at all possible, get the audience into a dialogue. Ask them how they would heal Person #1. Then ask them how they would heal Person #2. If this isn't possible, skip to the next part. The other two people onstage can help with this.

(Person #1 and #2 exit into the audience.)

Then ask the audience to look to the person beside them. Point out that they need to be healed.

Have each audience member write down a way they need to be healed. Collect the pieces of paper. Then pass the collection again and ask people, if they want to, to pick up someone's need.

(Company members in the audience will need to hold a bunch of pencils, get up, and ask if anyone needs a pencil for this exercise. They then need to pass the baskets.)

This takes a Person #3 who can handle a tough situation.

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