The subtle difference between a role and a relationship
How you know each other in a scene can seem like it's a relationship but they're not
The core of all stories is characters and their relationships to one another. It’s hard to get invested in characters who don’t know each other, as there’s no reason for them to be open about their thoughts and feelings.
Instead, you have transactional scenes where the people interacting only focus on the thing they’re there for, which is just as exciting in real life as it is in a scene.
In improv, a common direction given to performers is to know each other, as this allows both performers to share information about themselves and the other person.
The logic is sound. You can’t tell a stranger anything deep about themselves, but you certainly know enough about a friend to offer information like their hobbies, likes and dislikes.
But knowing each other is not the same as a relationship, and it’s where things get a little murky.
If you’re asked how you know each other, you might say something like, we’re co-workers, or it’s a physio and client and so on. This is good information, but it’s not a relationship.
Instead, what was described above are roles that are quite different from relationships. In short:
Roles are manufactured.
Relationships are personal.
Let’s say the roles are CEO and intern. The scope for both roles is already quite limited, as they are defined by work responsibilities.
There’s not much to talk about here, and the crux of the scene can feel glib. The performers and audience are unlikely to be invested in what’s happening in the company or any related events.
But if you add that they’re siblings, then you have an entirely different dynamic, and suddenly, everything about the roles becomes juicer.
The company could reflect one sibling trying to prove they’re a success, but the Christmas party could be more fraught as it’s a family business, and it means the whole family is brought together. What the company does could directly respond to something that happened to the siblings when they were growing up.
That’s just scratching the surface, and there are many other directions you can take when you combine a role and a relationship.
So next time you’re in a scene and giving a teacher and student role, add a relationship to it and see the possibilities it opens up.