Using Performance Frames to Engage and Involve
the Audience in Autobiographical Stories
of Historic African American Role Models


by Diane Howard, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2002

(includes Christine Pointer's sample scripts:
Removing Barriers,  Encountering Controversy Over Social Progress)

In performing autobiographical stories of historic African American role models, frames, modes, and voices engage and involve the audience, while providing clarification for audience responses. Frames serve to organize dramatic experience. They serve to unify scenes by setting them apart in a scenic context, as complete communication events, which clarify the roles of performer and audience. Modes establish the relationship of the characters and narrators with the audience. Voices involve the communication, verbal and non-verbal, of the performer, personae, and audience, which interact in a performance. These voices are unique in each of the frames and modes. Thus, the form of an autobiographical performance depends on the frames, modes, and voices of the scenes. Storytellers can use three basic categories of scenic frames, modes, and voices, which are lyric, dramatic, and epic.

Voice in Frames

In a scene with a lyric frame a character is alone revealing his or her thoughts aloud, as he or she thinks aloud, prays, speaks to himself or herself in a mirror, speaks aloud while writing in a journal or diary and so forth. The voice in a lyric frame is intimate or urgent. The voice of a character in this frame uses high context language. That is, he or she frequently speaks in phrases or incomplete sentences, in a kind of shorthand or fragmented way. Josephine Baker speaks in a lyric voice in the following script by Christine Pointer, when she talks to herself aloud. In the second script below Dorothy Dandridge reads the paper aloud to herself, speaks to herself aloud, and prays in a lyric voice.

The voice of a character in a scene with a dramatic frame speaks to another, very familiar person in high context language. The character in this frame speaks subtly through negotiation, manipulation, or implication with someone he or she imagines on the stage, speaks to offstage, or speaks to as a character in the audience. The performer as character can share a conversation with another imagined character. This can be done on a telephone or with an imagined character in an empty chair and so forth. In Ms. Pointer's script below Josephine Baker speaks in a dramatic voice to the offstage voice and later to her manager over the telephone. Dorothy Dandridge in the following script speaks in a dramatic voice over the telephone to Anthony Quinn.

The voice of the performer in a scene with an epic frame is objective as he or she speaks directly to the audience, as himself or herself, as a narrator, or as a character. The voice within an epic frame is that of the storyteller or narrator. The voice in a scene with this frame uses low context language in clear, complete sentences. In the script below Josephine Baker use an epic voice as she speaks to the soldiers in her audience. As lyric, dramatic, and epic frames establish voice, they also establish modes, which involve the performer’s relationship to the audience.

Modes in Frames

One-person performance of autobiography can incorporate some interesting relationships and interactions with the audience. The reflective, lyric frame provides the most private, vulnerable mode for the performer as character; but it closes off the performer as character from a relationship with the audience. For example, in a scene in a lyric frame Josephine Baker struggles alone with discrimination. The audience views that lyric scene through the imaginary fourth wall. If the performer as Josephine were to move through a group of people deep in her own thoughts, she could still perform a lyric scene, even though she was physically close to the audience.

In a scene in a dramatic mode the performer as character interacts with a specific other, in a relationship which is closed to the audience as a whole. For example, when Josephine talks on the telephone, she is speaks in a dramatic mode. When the performer as Josephine speaks to a specific member of the audience as a character, she using a dramatic mode, even though the audience member as a character is seated in the audience. The performer as Josephine could even move through the audience as she interacts with the audience member who has been designated as a character. The performer as dramatic character can speak to or with an imagined character. Josephine could speak to an imagined character in dramatic mode. It should be noted that such techniques come across as contrivances in the work of performers whose imagination is not strong. Generally, if the performer as character intensely believes the imagined other character is there in the scene, the audience will also believe it.

When the performer as Josephine speaks directly to the audience as if they were soldiers enjoying her performance, she is in an epic frame using an epic mode. The presentational epic frame and mode is most open in the relationship of the performers, as themselves, as characters, or as narrators with the audience. In the epic frame and mode, the performer can speak as himself or herself, can speak as a character directly to the audience (as characters do in soliloquies), or can speak as a narrator. The epic narrator can move close to the audience. The audience can become a group of characters. The audience can become people in a scene, in which the performer as character finds himself/herself in a social situation.

In the epic mode, the audience can be made characters, which enables interesting interactions for the audience with the performer. Making the audience characters in a social setting, with the performer as character, can serve to define the character in a social context. The epic frame or scene and epic mode commonly are the most engaging for an audience. In performing for audiences with limited attention spans and with limited commitment to the performance, the performer in epic frame and mode probably has the best potential for captivating them.

Frames and modes, which unify scenes and establish relationships between performer as character and the audience, serve to keep the character and the audience in the same place and time, and thus facilitate the imagination and appropriate response of the audience. Unrealistic and unbelievable time and place contrivances of context are not effectual for the relationship of the performer and audience. For example, a character speaking to a present audience from the after-life is not effective.   

Conclusion

Given the multiplicity of forms, styles, and structures in which autobiographical stories can be told, the technique of scenic frames is especially helpful to audiences to enable them to follow, understand, and interact appropriately. Scenic frames provide contextual clarity. Modes also provide clarity, by providing parameters in the relationship of the performer with the audience in different scenes. Voice ranges from subjective to objective in lyric, dramatic, and epic frames and modes. The technique of scenic frames and modes, with their unique voices, enables the storyteller to present different facets and dimensions of the character. Scenic frames, modes, and voices serve to keep the audience and performer together in the world of imagination and artistry.

Removing Barriers



by Christine Pointer
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

                                                                              Sample Lyric Scene

SETTING:                                                            We are in a dressing room just before Josephine        
                                                                              Baker goes out to perform in a show for the
                                                                               front-line soldiers. The stage is set with a vanity,
                                                                               chair, mirror, coat rack, telephone and rug.

AT RISE:                                                              Josephine Baker enters stage right dressed in a
                                                                               long, red, satin robe. She approaches the vanity.

                                                                             OFF STAGE VOICE             
Josephine! You’re on!      

JOSEPHINE BAKER

(To the offstage voice) Just a minute, I’m almost ready. I’ll be right out. I’m putting on the finishing touches. A lady has to look her best you know. (To herself) Why am I here? I volunteered and joined the resistance in France. Most of these soldiers were drafted. I stayed when Hitler was there. I smuggled people and information across the border to safety. When things got tough, I was ordered to Africa. Why am I here? I’m here for the same reason I stayed in France. I want to give something back.

(FADE TO BLACK)


Sample Epic Scene 
          

SETTING:                                                             Josephine is on a stage to perform for soldiers on
                                                                               the front lines.

AT RISE:                                                              The performer as Josephine Baker is wearing a
                                                                              stunning gown and stands center stage as she jokes around
                                                                              and greets the soldiers.                                                                       

                                                                              OFF STAGE VOICE:
Let’s give a warm welcome to Josephine Baker!
 

                                                                              JOSEPHINE BAKER
Hello everyone! That’s what I like. I love to see you smile. Hey, you over there young man! Why are you in the back? Come on down to the front. Josephine won’t bite you. I just might if you don’t get down here, so I can see you. Don’t you want to see Josie? All of you black soldiers in the back and along the sides…Do you want to be in the back all of your life where you can’t see or hear? Soldier! You have room beside you. When you’re in a heavy battle and need a helping hand, are you going to stop to ask what color it is? Before I begin, we’ll just have to mix it up a little. You know what I mean, black and white all together. It’s not going to hurt as much as you think. Move quickly now! Good. You made Josie so happy. (Josephine sings the ending of song: Faite Lui Mes Aveux.)

(FADE TO BLACK)     

Sample Dramatic Scene

SETTING:                                                          We are in Josephine's dressing room.

AT RISE:                                                            The performer as Josephine is in the dressing room
                                                                            wearing a long, red, satin robe. She is sitting at the
                                                                            vanity table speaking with her manager.                                                                         
                                                                          

                                                                           JOSEPHINE BAKER
You did what? The only way that I’ll continue to do these tours are if they are integrated, otherwise the deal is off! (Angrily, she hangs up the telephone.)

(FADE TO BLACK)    

Encountering Controversy Over Social Progress
by Christine Pointer
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

                                                                           Sample Dramatic Scene

SETTING:                                                         We are in a studio office at the Actors Lab
                                                                           (an acting school) in Hollywood. The stage is set with a
                                                                           table, chair, telephone, rug, newspaper, writing
                                                                           tablet, pen, and radio, wig and coat rack.

AT RISE:                                                           The performer as Dorothy Dandridge is holding the
                                                                           telephone to her ear and speaking with Anthony
                                                                           Quinn about the Exuberanza Social sponsored by
                                                                            the acting school the night before.

                                                                           DOROTHY DANDRIDGE
Hello, Mr. Quinn. I had a wonderful time at the social last night. By the way, you’re A wonderful dancer. Did I what? The paper! There’s one right here. I came to the school early this morning. I didn’t have a chance to. Are you coming today? Okay, okay, I will read it! As soon as I hang up the phone, I promise. Goodbye, Mr. Quinn. (Dorothy Dandridge picks up newspaper.)

Sample Lyric Scene      

(Dorothy reads the paper aloud) …Out of character. The Actors Lab made no friends when they gave an open-air barbecue. This included dancing between Whites and Negroes. All could see them dancing in the lot on Sunset Blvd. This group’s idea of being liberal will lead them into trouble. Every man in the world is as good as he is in his heart, regardless of race, creed or color; but that doesn’t mean they have to intermix. Right or wrong, the great balance of the community was shocked at this display by the Actors Lab. That sort of thing leads to race riots. (Dorothy speaks aloud.) No! This is the sort of thing that leads to race riots! (Dorothy throws the newspaper in anger.)
              
                                                                           (FADE TO BLACK) 

                                                                            Sample Lyric Scene  


AT RISE:                                                           The performer as Dorothy Dandridge angrily paces
                                                                            back and forth from center stage in her mint green trench coat.
                                                                         

        
                                                                            DOROTHY DANDRIDGE
(Dorothy prays.) Lord, how long do I have to put up with such ignorance and discrimination? Hollywood boasts of me being the first black movie star and the Lab prides itself on being fully integrated, but I say that they all have a long, long way to go. Racial codes are still a big issue. I won a role that normally would’ve been played by a white woman. The school was afraid that the public would not accept a black woman as the lead in a cast of white actors. They made Anthony Quinn bring the horrible news to me that the role was no longer mine, just before the play was to be performed. I’ll never forget the rejection, humiliation and the frustration. African American performers are treated badly in Hollywood. I can’t deny it and I will never forget it. (Dorothy Dandridge stands center stage angry and depressed.)
    
                                                                             (FADE TO BLACK)

                                                                             Sample Lyric Scene

AT RISE:                                                             The performer as Dorothy Dandridge is sitting at a desk.
                                                                             She picks up a pen and paper to write her response to
                                                                             the newspaper column.                                                              

                                                                             DOROTHY DANDRIDGE
I must take action! I can write a letter to the paper as well. (Dorothy writes.) Jim Henaghan's slanderous statements are outrageous. As an actress and student at the Lab, I would like to know if Mr. Henaghan has considered the democratic policy of the Actors Lab, which states that students are selected on the basis of ability, rather than on the color of their skin. The policy he advocates is inherently un-American and subversive. It is ideas like his, which fan the flames of race hatred. I was recently received in Europe with cordiality and respect, professionally and socially. In answering questions about the Negro artist in America, I was ashamed to admit to the humiliation to which we are subjected. Europeans are suspicious of pious Americans who advocate Democracy for other countries, when right here in America, they continue the most abominable discriminatory practices and ideas, such as those suggested in the Hollywood Reporter column. Very Sincerely, Dorothy Dandridge. (Dorothy Dandridge rises from the table and stands down stage in the spotlight. She sings Still I Rise.)

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