The Encyclopedia of Interactive Performance

Characters become interesting when they change. One of the most potent changes is a status shift—one character’s status goes up causing another character’s status to go down, or vice versa. It’s like being on a teeter totter. If your partner assumes higher status, lower yours. If they go lower, you go higher.

This shift is easy to do with fellow inter-actors who make strong choices. With spects, you need to watch for more subtle changes in their behavior. If spects show a little bit higher status, lower yours. It reinforces their confidence and encourages them to go even higher. If spects lower their status, see if they’re playing. If they are, raising your status is part of the game. However, if their low status is how they really feel, don’t dominate. Spects need to feel strong in order to play.

A status shift is shown through physical elements like eye contact and how the body fills space. It doesn’t alter characters’ positional status.

When the surgeon becomes uncertain, the nurse takes charge. They keep their positions, but their physical status changes.

A status shift can also be triggered when a character of higher or lower position enters the scene.

The ruthless drug lord, “El Ratón,” is cruelly berating his men for their recent failure. When his 5-year-old granddaughter enters, he becomes a silly, eye-blinking, baby-talking, grandpa.

Status shifts also are a good way to energize scenes when they feel flat, or change the dynamics between characters at the end of a scene. When using status shifts in these ways, you don’t have to know why. Do it first, figure out why after.

When you need the dynamics of a relationship to change, a status shift is a clear and reliable way to make it happen.