Language — Sparse, Resonant

The DT:FC standard for spoken and written language: every word earns its place (Sparse) and every line lands with clear meaning and imagery (Resonant). Less is more.

Less Is More

The words “once upon a time” signal an auditory experience, and the listener pays attention as the who, what, when, where, how, and why come through the ears into the brain.

The language of stories recorded from traditional storytellers is sparse and resonant. Before and in Shakespeare’s time, most people did not read — including many of the actors who memorized their parts by listening to someone else say or read the words aloud.

Sparse

Sparse means there are no “filler” phrases. Each word, each line clear in meaning.

“Once upon a time there was a kingdom who had no queen.”

“We have come to a lake. We cannot see across it. We cannot see around it. How then will we get across?”

Pause. Short pauses following key information allow listeners time to create the desired image. Their imagination is at work in the silence.

Resonant

The storyteller and playwright ease the processes of visualization and memorization with rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. Working within oral tradition, they imagine the scene and hear it.

No translation of Shakespeare is necessary when read aloud. The language itself takes very few moments of speaking and hearing for our brains to make a transition from watching to listening, from visual to oral pathways.

Vocal expression and clear pronunciation aid the listener in creating images. Beginning Players can learn voice projection, diction, and how to communicate meaning — using Theatre Games makes it fun.

DT:FC Language Rules

Developmental Theatre: Fearless Creativity strives for language that helps any listener conceptualize (“see”) what is happening:

is not discursive or narrative in style
is precise: each word, each line clear in meaning
information around key plot developments is repeated
important concepts and ideas are repeated
no descriptions of actions (“I am going over there to him.”) — the Players’ task is to perform what is happening, not explain it

If the language is sparse and resonant there is no mistaking the plot, characters, or action.

The Mimed-Tree Example

In Shakespeare, storytelling, and DT:FC plays, dialogue lines are often interspersed with Players who use mimed action to illustrate meaning:

“We cannot go forward. Look. An old tree fell and its trunk is across our path.”

“It’s a very thick tree. Big roots that way. Lots of branches that way. There is no way around it.”

“We will climb over the trunk.” (Players mime their version of climbing over this tree.)

Sparse: there are no filler phrases. Resonant: each line is clear in diction and meaning.

Repetition

One of the Four R’s of Oral Tradition — and a cornerstone of DT:FC scripts. Repetition of incidents, words and phrases, and concepts is not a mistake; it is a memory and meaning-making tool.
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— Repetition is not a mistake. It is essential for young, non-reading, or reading-challenged people to repeat key plot elements and concepts.
Language — Oral Tradition

The non-written ancestral inheritance of story and knowledge passed down through the Four R’s: Rhythm, Rhyme, Resonance, and Repetition. Theatre and storytelling live inside this tradition.
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— our non-written, across-centuries ancestral inheritance
Competency

A combination of knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors, and experience that enable someone to be authentic and effective. Broader than skill — it includes knowing when and how to apply ability in real situations.
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— Theatre Games: Vocal Expression competency, particularly Articulation