🗂️ [[Resources]] # Feelings and Actions 📰 **A resource to support becoming more specific and intentional when identifying affective states and working with actions.** ✍🏻 [[Jeremy Neideck]] ⏭️ [[Feelings and Actions#Lists of Feelings, Actions, and Anti-oppressive Contexts|Jump to resource]] ## Introduction In the search for authenticity or believability, many acting techniques in the Western tradition encourage the performer to identify targets, tactics, or actions, in order to animate the inner life, and provide some motivation to affect change in the world of the work. This is might look like settling on an action for the performer to attempt on a scene partner (e.g., to accuse, to sanctify, to conjure) or framing the action in a scene as an “as-if”(e.g., pouring this drink is “as if” I must pass the mantle to someone before dawn). No matter what vocabulary or mental logistics a particular technique requires, there will often be a process of studying the text, noticing and discussing the actor’s response to the material, and a cataloguing of ways to channel that response into performance tactics. ## The role of Critical Witnessing I have found using a process of [[Critical Witnessing]] useful in order to slow down the process of meaning making and to help performers sit in an affective or pre-expressive state before prematurely assigning judgement or making decisions. This approach includes using the following set of prompts: ![[Critical Witnessing#🙋🏻 Critical Witnessing prompts]] While it may not be appropriate to lead an actor down the entire list for every beat of a script, encouraging an actor to articulate discerning responses to their circumstances is key to the directors craft, and vital in the training of actors. ## Naming Your Feelings Lists of targets, tactics, or actions for the actor are common appendices to books on acting technique, and every teacher will have their preferred source. For some however, it can remain difficult to identify specific vocabulary that captures the truth of an experience and also sparks the imagination, invites the audience to lean in, or unsettles the actor’s habitual patterns so that transformation can be achieved. This may be due to neurodiversity, cultural and linguistic background, gendered socialisation, sub-cultural or sub-altern positioning, or general unfamiliarity with the task. In my work in the studio exploring psychophysical actor training, and as a performance maker and director, I have found it useful to have a range of taxonomies close at hand to assist in my explorations. These include Laban’s efforts, Lecoq’s tensions, Overlie’s veiwpoints (via Bogart and Landau), the character archetypes described by Barton and Sellers-Young, and Jannides BodymAPP to name a few. When it comes to feelings, there are some excellent catalogues of emotions out there, including Tiffany Watt Smith’s [[Tiffany Watt Smith - The Book of Human Emotions|The Book of Human Emotions (2015)]] and Brene Brown’s [[Brené Brown - Atlas of the Heart|Atlas of the Heart (2021)]]. For quick reference, I am also a big fan of the various ways that emotions have been mapped onto structures such as wheels and nets, with the most useful for studio work being the circumplex model offered by Robert Plutchik in [[Robert Plutchik - The Nature of Emotions|The Nature of Emotions]] (2001). I myself have been working with [[Feeling and Emotion|my own constellation]] that draws on a lot of these sources as part of my daily journalling practice: ![[Feeling and Emotion.svg]] ## Toward an Anti-oppressive Affect I am working on a resource to help myself move away from colonial or capitalist reflexes that often pathologise emotion (like seeing sadness as something to “fix,” or framing vulnerability as weakness), or do not hold space for the rich diversity of lived experience. I am finding it useful not only when working in the studio, but also as a writing tool. My suggestion when attempting this work when identifying an affective state or assigning a target or action, is to consider asking “does this tactic reproduce dominance, or does it redistribute care and agency?” However, we should be very wary of the impulse to only write virtuous characters, or only to interpret a text in a positive moral light. One of the most difficult tasks of the performer is to avoid moralising the material we are working with and to build compassion for characters who might not align with our own ethics or visions of a just world. The resulting work is likely to either be boring or not end up saying very much. This being said, when working toward anti-oppressive creative practices, I think that there are some ways we can rethink our ways of working, for example by: - normalise slow processing - frame mutual care as powerful - embrace play as legitimate work - see anger as moral clarity - hold space for longing without forced resolution In order to hold space for those whose lived experiences are not reflected in the material, it might be useful to simply acknowledge alternative contexts or readings even if this does not ultimately make its way into the interpretation. ## Feelings and Actions in Anti-oppressive Contexts ### Tenderness & Care - Feelings: - affectionate, tender, loving, protective, gentle, caring, grateful, nurturing, warm, accepting - Actions: - soothe, nurture, ease, humour, cherish, embrace, coax, encourage, amuse, beckon, elevate, support, reassure, coddle, caress, baby, tend - Reframing for anti-oppression: - mutual care, chosen family, radical softness, fierce tenderness as resistance ### Anger & Resistance - Feelings: - angry, frustrated, outraged, indignant, annoyed, resentful, hostile - Actions: - challenge, confront, provoke, thwart, ridicule oppressive ideas, lambast, condemn, rebel, galvanise, reject, disobey, disrupt, unsettle, critique - Reframing for anti-oppression: - righteous rage, refusal to conform, anger as boundary-setting, resistance to microaggressions, the inconvenience of other people (a la Berlant) ### Sadness, Loss & Grief - Feelings: - sad, grieving, melancholy, wistful, yearning, lonely, blue, disappointed, abandoned, bereft - Actions: - mourn, lament, suffer, sigh, retreat, hush, withdraw, weep, plead, confess, clutch, mask, reflect, supplicate, hold vigil, witness, falter, yearn, call out, reach, lament aloud - Reframing for anti-oppression: - grief for lost futures (a la Muñoz), disenfranchised grief (grief unrecognised by dominant cultures), mourning cultural erasure, queer dissatisfaction ### Fear & Hypervigilance - Feelings: - scared, anxious, uneasy, paranoid, intimidated, transfixed, powerless - Actions: - dodge, evade, duck, cringe, cower, shudder, retreat, whisper, flinch, mask, hush, clutch, still, suppress, sidestep, ground, cling, grasp, bargain, implore, conjure - Reframing for anti-oppression: - trauma responses, masking for safety, fear of rejection or violence, managing sensory overwhealm, desperation as trauma-driven attempt to regain agency ### Calm, Softness & Openness - Feelings: - calm, peaceful, content, open, serene, tranquil, yielding, awake, mindful, centred - Actions: - breathe, steady, smile, listen, validate, sanctify, simplify, reassure, yield, settle, soothe, meditate, ground, unfurl, meditate, observe, contemplate, witness, accept, breathe into - Reframing for anti-oppression: - resting as resistance, sensory joy, practicing ease in neurodivergent bodies, dropping hypervigilance, mindfulness as de-arming, choosing presence instead of hyper-vigilant scanning ### Confusion & Disorientation - Feelings: - confused, overwhelmed, perplexed, muddled, lost, distracted - Actions: - fumble, pause, hesitate, muddle, ponder, withdraw, stall, sidestep, ground (to regroup), clarify, decode, ask - Reframing for anti-oppression: - executive dysfunction, brain fog, overstimulation, trying to decode neurotypical norms ### Play, Curiosity & Joy - Feelings: - playful, curious, mischievous, intrigued, excited, hopeful - Actions: - tease, tickle, coax, entice, beckon, amuse, improvise, explore, marvel, experiment, delight, frolic, sparkle, dare - Reframing for anti-oppression: - reclaiming silliness, playful gender, joyful experimentation, neuroqueer exploration, queer joy, Blak/black joy, queer failure (a la Halberstam) ### Passion, Drive & Creative Urgency - Feelings: - passionate, motivated, driven, fervent, inspired, ecstatic, rapt, visionary - Actions: - pursue, propel, ignite, spark, galvanise, muster, champion, incite, fuel, advocate, conjure, build, orchestrate, charm, weave, summon, spark ritual, orchestrate change - Reframing for anti-oppression: - driven to build alternative futures, creative urgency to survive, ecstatic pursuits, ceremonial creativity to re-map futures beyond colonial logics ### Shame, Internalised Norms & Liberation - Feelings: - ashamed, guilty, embarrassed, mortified, regretful, regretful, mistaken - Actions: - unmask, confess, disclose, reclaim, laugh at norms, resist, subvert, decentre, comfort, integrate, rewrite, dignify, soften, atone, release, accept consequence - Reframing for anti-oppression: - internalised homophobia/transphobia/fatphobia, ableism, shame about ‘failing’ norms, body shame, sitting with accountability rather than rushing to absolution ### Longing & Desire - Feelings: - yearning, longing, desirous, captivated, mesmerised - Actions: - beckon, woo, allure, entice, pursue, whisper, plead, dream, envision, propose, spellbind, tender, extend - Reframing for anti-oppression: - longing for queer kinship, utopian desire, longing for neurodivergent connection, rejection sensitive dysphoria ### Power, Confidence & Self-Determination - Feelings: - confident, bold, assertive, self-assured, commanding - Actions: - affirm, declare, lead, direct, validate, galvanise, command, advocate, proclaim, secure, substantiate, champion, fortify - Reframing for anti-oppression: - standing in authentic identity, boundary-setting, owning space as act of survival, persistent desire for autonomy (a.k.a. pathalogical demand avoidance) ### Vulnerability & Intimacy - Feelings: - exposed, raw, open, tender (fragile), trusting - Actions: - confide, reveal, surrender, yield, share, trust, whisper, offer, soften, invite, unclench, stay - Reframing for anti-oppression: - being unmasked, inviting authentic relational closeness, consenting to be witnessed, subject to (male/colonial) gaze ### Acceptance, Impermanence & Mindful Witnessing - Feelings: - accepting, tranquil, impermanent-aware, liberated, spacious - Actions: - observe, note, breathe, let go, surrender, ground, honour change, integrate, “sit with” - Reframing for anti-oppression: - witnessing structural harm without dissociation, practising radical acceptance of flux to resist scarcity and perfectionism narratives ### Transformation, Death & Rebirth - Feelings: - transformed, transitional, renewed, liminal, resigned, at-peace - Actions: - release, relinquish, dissolve, reincarnate, transmute, hand-over, pass the mantle, embody change - Reframing for anti-oppression: - surrendering privilege or oppressive roles, embracing personal/collective metamorphosis as a path to liberation ### Awe, Reverence & Sacred Duty - Feelings: - reverent, humbled, awestruck, responsible, dignified - Actions: - honour, sanctify, serve, steward, bless, uphold, hold vigil, ritualise, safeguard - Reframing for anti-oppression: - cultivating accountability to land, ancestors and community, ritual practice as resistance to de-spiritualised capitalism ### Obsession, Control & Desperation - Feelings: - manic, frantic, obsessed, controlling, desperate, disoriented - Actions: - conjure, demand, seize, grasp, manipulate, bargain, cling, chase, force - Reframing for anti-oppression: - recognising the colonising impulse to control/collect, channelling desperation into collective care rather than coercion ### Devotion, Service & Compassionate Duty - Feelings: - devoted, compassionate, dutiful, purposeful, aligned - Actions: - serve, guide, accompany, liberate, bless, relinquish self, advocate quietly, offer refuge - Reframing for anti-oppression: - service as horizontal solidarity (not saviourism), mutual liberation rather than individual heroism ## Final Note This is a living resource, and I intend on updating it as I continue working with it. My impulse to capture and publish it in its present form has come from some of the creative and interpreted challenges associate with working as dramaturg on the premiere of Sage Pbbbt’s opera *O,D,E*, the text score of which is available [here](https://www.sagepbbbt.com/scores/). %% ## ⚒️ Resources ## 📝 Notes ## ⛵️ Log ## ⛲ Sources %% # <p xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" >This work is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/?ref=chooser-v1" target="_blank" rel="license noopener noreferrer" style="display:inline-block;">CC BY-NC-SA 4.0<img style="height:22px!important;margin-left:3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;" src="https://mirrors.creativecommons.org/presskit/icons/cc.svg?ref=chooser-v1" alt=""><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left:3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;" src="https://mirrors.creativecommons.org/presskit/icons/by.svg?ref=chooser-v1" alt=""><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left:3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;" src="https://mirrors.creativecommons.org/presskit/icons/nc.svg?ref=chooser-v1" alt=""><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left:3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;" src="https://mirrors.creativecommons.org/presskit/icons/sa.svg?ref=chooser-v1" alt=""></a></p> **Created**: [[2025-07-11|Friday 11 July 2025]] **Published**: [[2025-07-15|Tuesday 15 July 2025]] **Updated**: 17:33 [[2025-08-03|Sunday 03 August 2025]]