Group Performance Tomato Fun!

Up to this point the in class exercise I have enjoyed most is the tomato exercise. I am sure this is everyone's favorite. Upon entering class we were to quickly write a paragraph about how the senses are activated when thinking of eating a tomato. As a tomato lover I was thrilled to write about my first and true love, tomato eating! Once the paragraph was written Kelly asked us to split into groups, handed us various tomato tales and asked us to select one and then stage it using point of view, chorus, tableaux, etc. Given the fact that tomatoes are juicy, ripe, firm yet soft, and delicious our group naturally took a more sensual route.
When we discussed staging the tomato love poem none of the group members appeared to be concerned about whether our assumptions or expectations would be met or if the results of the exercise would match our expectations. We knew we could all sell sexy humor. It appeared that we all assumed humor was the obvious route and the campier the better. It was our task to incorporate the idea of chorus into this piece and since we had already decided to play with the sexual tones in the paragraph it only made sense to turn up the camp. Our assumptions that humor was the best choice for this exercise appeared to be correct as the majority of the class laughed when the chorus shouted yahoo! or when Jenna placed inflection on specific words such as firm or juicy. So the notion of sexy humor aided in our performance as well as the connection of assumptions and results.
The unexpected events and circumstances taught me to play harder. Don't be afraid to use cliche vices such as the angel and devil that we used. I tend to shy away from cliches opting to convey the point of the story in a different way but on occasion cliches can be effective. You have to consider your audience as well as the story itself and in the tomato love story sex appeared to be the metaphor. Therefore, using cliches was apt as well as just plain fun. If I were to advise another director on the use of this exercise I would encourage them to use it and allow the performers to play and have fun with it but I would also warn them that this exercise can quickly turn into a sexual (though still humorous) performance. I would advise the director to encourage his/her performers to visit all other possible alleys in order to stage this exercise.
YAHOO!