The Encyclopedia of Interactive Performance

Trust must be earned, and it usually takes a while to happen. This serves us well in life, but not in interactive performance. As an inter-actor, you’re expected to play with total strangers in ways that are intimate, aggressive, bold, and vulnerable, with barely any time for trust to be earned. This is why entrusting is an essential skill for all inter-actors. Entrusting is the conscious act of giving trust before it has been earned.

Before you start playing with spects, you can build your ability to entrust while training with other inter-actors. Although training offers time over which trust can be earned, it’s also an opportunity for you to practice entrusting your fellow players before you know them well. When you can entrust during the training process, you grow more quickly as an inter-actor.

How do you give trust to people who haven’t earned it? It’s through what you do. Do things you would do if you trusted them. It could be falling into their arms, being vulnerable, or risking doing something poorly. Entrusting is demonstrated by what you do.

You can often entrust others more than you might expect. The fact is, when you place trust in others, most people feel a sense of responsibility and step up their game as a result. Even if they don’t, what’s the worst that might happen? You feel a little embarrassed. They feel a little awkward. You land on the floor a little more forcefully than you might wish. The actual consequences are seldom as big as we might imagine.

That said, don’t be stupid. It’s also good to trust your gut. Sometimes placing trust in others isn’t warranted. There’s a story about Del Close who was leading an improv class. He was demonstrating trust falls and fell backwards from a significant height into the arms of his students. They dropped him to the floor and broke his arm. Not one to be deterred, Del got up and did the trust fall once again, and this time the students managed to drop him a second time.

The point is this: You’re the only person who knows how much you’re ready to entrust others. Do it because it’s your choice, not because someone else says you should. You’re the one who’s taking the risk, so it’s up to you how much trust to give before it’s been earned.

When you’ve practiced entrusting fellow players, entrusting spects becomes easier. Spects place a lot of trust in you. It’s only fair that you do the same for them.

There may be times when spects’ behaviors make them seem untrustworthy. Seldom are these behaviors done out of malicious intent. Frequently it’s the result of impaired judgment or a lack of clarity about how to engage in the experience. If you take personal offence, you make it more difficult to handle the situation. Trust that spects are playing the best they know how, and you’ll have an easier time of playing with difficult spects.

There are many ways to entrust spects. Trust that they want to play. Trust that they’re playing the best they know how. Trust that they can handle what you’re ready to bring. The more you entrust spects, the better they’re likely to play.