Multiple Hotseating

Abstract

Most people working with drama pedagogy will be familiar with the hotseating activity: In this activity, the details of a fictional character are collaboratively constructed. One person takes the hot seat in the middle of the room as a particular character (usually from a text, but it can also be an image, a film clip, etc), and the other participants sit in a circle around this person and ask him/her questions. This is not a hidden test (“let’s see how much do you remember”) but serves to broaden the collective imagination. Questions asked should not be obvious but necessitate spontaneous invention. As an example: “What animal have you turned into?” seems pointless when it comes to Gregor in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, and “Lola,what color is your hair?” is equally without function after Tom Tykwer’s film Lola rennt has been shown. More appropiate are open questions like “How are you feeling now, Gregor?” or “Lola, why did you fall in love with Manni?” The person on the hot seat has to answer in role, i.e. as if s/he were this character, and make decisions on the spot about this very character. These decisions, in turn, are shaped by the very nature ...