The Encyclopedia of Interactive Performance

Discoveries bring an element of surprise to stories. The princess turns out to be his sister. The villain is revealed to be the hero’s father. Disclosure of important information is called a reveal.

Set ups for reveals

Like the punchline of a joke, reveals need a setup.

Emotions – Strong emotions are one way to set up a reveal. When characters become highly agitated or excited, secrets accidentally spill out.

Violet wants Trudy to go out drinking with her, but her best friend refuses. The conversation grows more and more heated until Trudy finally blurts out, “I can’t drink anymore. I’m pregnant!”

Questions – Another setup is any time someone asks you a question. Your answer can be important information that the spect is unaware of.

“Will anyone be joining us for dinner?” “Yes, the president of the United States.

You can backlead spects to ask set up questions by omitting information.

“I never wanted to admit the truth.” “The truth about what?” “Why I left home.” “Why did you leave home?” The truth is revealed.

Blocks – You can even set spects up to do their own reveals by blocking their offers.

“I’m glad he’s gone.” “No you’re not.” “OK, maybe I miss him a little.”

Delivering the reveal

When it’s time to spill the beans, don’t gradually build up to it. Explode, confess, or say it directly, then wait for the spect’s response. Here’s a smorgasbord of things that can be revealed.

Bad news – When revealing bad news, it plays well in contrast to positive circumstances.

The spect is celebrating the championship of her volleyball team when her coach approaches. “Lucy, your mom’s in the hospital. It doesn’t look good.”

Good news – Good news also works well with contrast. You can make good news feel like a reveal with a poke and stroke.

The spect’s dissertation advisor comes out of the conference room looking disheartened. “I’ve got bad news from the committee. We’re going to have to start calling you Doctor Ingraham from now on. Congratulations!”

Position – It’s a surprising reveal to discover that someone is higher or lower on the totem pole than they seemed to be.

The character who has appeared to be the antagonist is revealed to actually be the antagonist’s lieutenant.

Small world – Relationships become interesting when an unexpected small world is revealed.

The spect discovers that his new boss is also his girlfriend’s father.

Truth – When the end is near, reveals happen. With nothing left to lose, characters confess truths that they’ve kept hidden.

On her character’s wedding day, the spect learns that her maid of honor has always been in love with her.

Loyalty – Pivotal moments get shaken up when it’s revealed that a character is on the other side. The traitor or ally has been hiding in plain sight until the moment of the reveal.

At the height of the climax, the antagonist’s much-abused lieutenant reveals himself to be an ally of the protagonist.

Identity – Spects make assumptions about the identity of characters they haven’t met based on their names. When they come face-to-face, the true identity is revealed.

Max turns out to be a woman and Bruno is her cute little Pekinese poodle.

Point of view – You can reveal a shared perspective by dropping the mask.

Duke admires a painting, then discovers that the spect thinks it’s terrible. Duke admits, “I thought it was bad too. I was too embarrassed to say so.”

Secrets – Secrets make great reveals. Revealing something that makes your character vulnerable is especially powerful.

“That person who ran over your dog…it was me.”

Reveals boost energy, raise the stakes, and are even a good way to end a scene. When you’re ready to spice things up with a surprise, do a reveal.