INTRODUCTION TO BLOCKING

Blocking 

What is blocking? 

Blocking is the intentional use of movement, positioning, and physical orientation on stage to communicate character, relationships, and shifts in scene or emotion in a performance. Simply put, it’s how you use your body and space in your piece. 

Why is blocking important? 

In interpretation, blocking is so important. Because performers can’t rely on props, costumes, or set pieces, they must use only their body and voice to tell the story. As a result, every movement on stage is intentional and plays a crucial role in clearly conveying the characters, relationships, and narrative shifts to the judge. 

What is blocking used for?

• Depicting different characters  

• Emphasizing emotions and moments

• Building an environment 

• Adding characterization

• Transitions between scenes 

Characters and Actions

On its most basic level, blocking is used to depict characters, emotions, and actions. In terms of character differentiation, blocking most often involves different postures and mannerisms, unique to each character. For instance, maybe one character always shuffles their feet when they walk, or maybe another wears glasses, which can then be incorporated into the piece (such as pushing them up one’s nose, pulling them off dramatically, etc.). These all fall under the larger umbrella of blocking.

Blocking also conveys emotions. Beyond facial expressions and vocal tone/delivery, body language goes a long way toward making emotions and reactions feel more realistic. When adding blocking to your script, make sure you consider your characters' current emotional state and how this will affect what they do and how exactly they do it. Will they stomp? Are they tense? Jumpy? Relaxed?

In terms of actions, blocking generally falls into two categories: blocking that is “built-in” and blocking that you come up with. Built-in blocking is found directly in the script in some form, like stage directions or dialogue (like if your script says “he picked up the cup” or a character says “hand me that screwdriver”), and is the easiest because it tells you exactly what to do. Most of your blocking will not be built in, however. There will inevitably be times when your script gives you nothing more than a big chunk of dialogue. In moments like this, it is up to you as a performer to be creative and build your own blocking. This not only makes the scene more interesting to watch but also allows for more nuanced storytelling.

Consider: where is your character? What are they doing at this moment, or what would it make sense for them to do? How are they feeling? For instance, if you have a monologue about a teacher, maybe they are writing on the whiteboard or cleaning up their classroom as they speak. 

Environment

Since you do not have a set, you will rely on blocking to depict the setting. First and foremost, imagine the setting for yourself and how the space looks. Drawing a small diagram may be helpful. Once you know where you want everything to be, factor that in when blocking a scene. When moving, walk around rather than over or through obstacles like walls and furniture. Interact with objects to add technical complexity, and communicate where you are. For instance,  interacting with appliances like blenders and ovens can show your audience that you are in a kitchen.  

Transitions

A transition is a form of blocking that signifies a shift from one scene to the next.

In HI, Duo, and POI, it generally incorporates both sound and blocking and remains constant throughout the piece; that is, if you have multiple shifts between scenes, you will use the same transition. For the sound, competitors often use a relevant sound or phrase, but any sound can be used. Transition sounds I’ve seen people use include (but are not limited to) a line in their script summarizing their message, either a pre-existing or original melody, or sound effects.

The blocking portion of the transition often consists of an action or series of actions that fits the sound, but it can also be as simple as morphing (a more gradual transformation into another character or scene—think of it as a slower pop) into whatever position/stance starts your next scene. People have danced, mimed clocks, or simply adopted a pose, but once again, you can do just about anything with your blocking.

In POI, on top of action and sound, competitors often turn a page in the manuscript to signify a change in character or selection.

In DI, shifts from one scene to another are often shown through the words in the monologue or through morphing and thus require less elaborate actions than other events.

Really, the only requirements for transitions are that they be distinct from the scenes of your piece and consistent, so the audience understands they signal a shift from one scene to the next.

Differences

This guide covers the basics of blocking that apply across interp events. This being said, do keep in mind that each event has its own slightly different style of blocking, which you’ll pick up on as you compete more and see more pieces. Generally speaking, HI tends to be more exaggerated and absurd; DI tends to lean heavily into realism; Duo allows for added complexity in character-character and character-environment interactions, thanks to the second person, and is thus more theatrical; and POI also tends to be more theatrical, with the manuscript allowing for more options in interacting with objects and the environment.

Good luck!