Improvisational Toolbox

By: Andrea K. Hammer, For The Bulletin (REPRINTED with PERMISSION)
08/18/2008

At the Philadelphia Center for Human Development (PCHD) in Center City, improvisation is a catalyst for growth, change and interconnection in a more humane world.

Founder Jennifer Bullock, who received master's degrees in counseling psychology from Temple University and law and social policy from Bryn Mawr College, has worked in the mental health and child welfare fields for 20 years.

As the director of PCHD, she has a social therapy practice and facilitates workshops, drawing on her extensive theater work as the founder and director of the all-volunteer Philadelphia Committee for Independent Culture (PCIC). And she is a producer of the All-Stars Philadelphia youth development program, a nationally renowned supplemental-education and anti-violence project for inner-city youth. "Right now, the work I'm doing is primarily building this center as a hub of activities and events, where people can grow emotionally," she said, referring to PCHD's workshops, open-mic nights, discussion groups and forums.

"We strongly believe and are committed to helping people see that living creatively is critically important to our emotional health and building community. We've been interested in and committed to helping people see basically that we are all performers," she said. "We're not all talented actors, but we're all performers. That's not just semantics; it can help us get a job during an interview."

Ms. Bullock added that performance helps us to develop more humane relationships and lives. "Our creative work has never been solely an interest in aesthetics, even when were so involved in doing our theater projects. It wasn't to get the Barrymore Award but more to help people see that we can create a play together."

During her previous work with PCIC, Ms. Bullock focused on mixing experienced and inexperienced actors. Although the approach felt "risky" and required courage for some, the process involved relying collectively on others to produce plays, which were frequently part of the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

"The primary goal was to help us see that, as humans, we don't have to know how to do something at first; we can tap into our creative capacities to build something together," she said, noting her passion for making these connections in both theater and therapy.

Ms. Bullock said that, for example, creativity can spark a play or poetry and rap by young children during open-mic nights. Similarly, an innovative approach allows couples constantly having the same fight to get out of a rut and build a different relationship.

"All of that, to me, is about tapping into that creative capacity to perform and relate to life as more of improv than a scientific theory," said Ms. Bullock, recalling a deliberate decision during college to become a political activist and give to others.

After completing her schooling, Ms. Bullock discovered a network of social therapists who were interested in the therapy room as well as the larger world.

"As part of a national movement, these activists could see that it helps people to get out of their heads and more into the world. They were involved in all of these projects: theater and politics and youth performance and education and a progressive therapy called social therapy," she said, noting the appeal of a grassroots program using improvisation and theater.

Ms. Bullock trained in New York and decided to open a center, based on the same principles, in
Philadelphia. For 10 years, she focused on community building through PCIC. Now, PCHD holds a series of events and open houses for people to play music and read some of their creative writing.

"The work we're doing now involves workshops to help people see themselves as performers. I'll do one called 'Creating a New Family Play' for being more creative in your everyday life with family. And I'll literally do improv and help people have the same tools as seasoned improv performers to live in a freer, more joyful, creative and healthy way," she said.

In addition, Ms. Bullock leads a workshop for organizations titled "Stress: Who Needs It?" During the
introduction, she describes her own road rage while stuck in traffic. To practice what she preaches, she
decided to do "something more humane and creative," she said. "So I smiled and waved."

Although Ms. Bullock realized that some might consider this type of "acting" fake, she changed the dynamic in a potentially dangerous situation. A few other drivers in the jam actually returned her smile.

"Who said we have to be married to our emotion in that moment, especially if it's toxic to us and the world?" Ms. Bullock noted that, for those who are stressed and enraged, one alternative is dancing together - a reminder of other aspects of ourselves and that there's more to life. She added that the simple act of dancing together also promotes the possibility of engaging in a positive conversation later.

"We are stressed out, but we are other than our stress. We can also feel and experience love and joy and
are in a much better capacity to build something that is helpful when we're loving," she said.

"The skilled actor can learn to give in some new ways to the wet-behind-the-ears person. That's critical to living life well," she said, noting that unlike plays, "life is not a script given to us. That actor with skills has to learn to work with all kinds of people."

Ms. Bullock noted that the inexperienced person is empowered by realizing that he or she is "a creator of my life," which can spill over into other areas. She added that that new experiences simply have intrinsic value.

"So if you're interested in experiencing and seeing the value of culture in our lives in the community,
relationally and individually, that's why you would want to come to a workshop or open-mic night."
On Sept. 26 at 6 p.m., the center will hold a free community meeting, incorporating improvisation, on
"Families and Relationships." On Oct. 2 to 5, the center will also participate in "Performing the World," an annual conference displaying the ways performance and culture advance the work of people in education and psychology.

For additional information about PCHD, located at 245 S. 16th Street, and a satellite office in Doylestown, call 215 957-5073. Learn more at www.letsdevelopphilly.com and www.performingtheworld.org.

Andrea K. Hammer is the founder and director of Artsphoria: Celebrating Arts Euphoria
(www.artsphoria.com).