I just completed a three day Conflict Resolution course at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (I know, I was also expecting to be greeted by spandex-clad superheroes when I entered the lobby–it even looks like a superhero headquarters) and the course requires a certain amount of roleplay (the third day is devoted entirely to it), with you taking on both the role of person causing conflict and person trying to resolve it. We had bonus roleplay when we divided into groups to demonstrate the different styles of conflict resolution. My group opted for a live demo of the right and wrong ways rather than go with flow charts and bullet lists.
I attended with two co-workers and both of them commented on my apparently convincing acting when playing conflict-creating people. One had me playing an indifferent IT guy who couldn’t understand why anyone would be confused by IT’s avalanche of changes accompanied by an avalanche of email, while the other was even better–I was a co-worker who openly bad-mouthed others in the office to the point of making a fellow co-worker and friend decide I was a poophead.
It was fun. I am normally quiet and polite to the point of being deferential, so playing against type is always a good time. That I can allegedly do it so well makes me yearn a little for the old days when I actually pursued an acting career (the last time I acted was in a 1988 Fringe Festival show. Think about it–that’s pre-Internet. There are adults out there who do not realize such dark times even existed). Interestingly, with the advent of the same Internet and more affordable consumer technology (eg. phones that shoot video) I could actually pursue acting again, post my efforts to YouTube and watch my efforts go viral. In this case “go viral” means getting four or five views, depending on whether I tell four or five people to watch the video.
But that’s what acting is all about, the impossible dreams.
