Instructions for Use: A Blog Post

Hi there, this is the blogger checking in from the Instructions for Use team. Hopefully this blog will give you an inside look on the Paprika process.

Instructions for Use, written by Aviva Philipp-Muller, is built around the character Emmanuel, who makes his living writing instruction. He, the family next door, and a door-to-door blender salesman are the cast of characters for this balanced, character-driven piece.

Here’s a snapshot of a couple of our rehearsals. In one, we focused on improv. Now, the only kind of improv I had ever done was Second City-style, so I had no idea what this was going to be like. In the character improv we did, all you have to do is try to be as natural as possible. Being funny isn’t the goal; nothing even needs to happen in your scene. It’s all about trying to get a more natural, realistic feel for your character.

Another rehearsal was our first with our mentor, Weyni. We worked on the first few scenes, and she made some simple suggestions which helped clarify those scenes. For instance, in the first scene, she suggested playing with the idea of having more distance between the two characters. With that suggestion, the relationship between the characters and the dynamic of the scene were suddenly much clearer. I’m really excited to be working with someone so experienced and knowledgeable.

Anyways, that’s all from me now. Keep checking back to this blog for more blog posts from Instructions for Use and other shows!

Sincerely,

Instructions blogger