Superhero

In the long form Superhero, the central character is an ordinary person who, under particular conditions, gains superhuman powers and abilities and uses them to fight "evil".

Prompts

First the audience picks which player will be the superhero, what special ability they will have, which object triggers the superhero state and the special ability, and what conflict-laden event the story will revolve around. Optionally the audience can also pick another player to be the superhero's opponent.

Flow

The piece begins with a few everyday routines that show the superhero as a normal human in their familiar setting — at home, at work. Then a scene introduces the opponent, and another scene has the superhero discover the special abilities they gain when in contact with the trigger object. The transformation into the superhero can — and should — be played in an exaggerated, fully physical way: the body grows bigger and stronger, the gait gets more powerful, expression and voice change, and so on. The usual sequence of scenes follows, with conflicts, encounters between characters, and — when needed — the occasional transformation into the superhero with a use of the special ability. Finally comes the showdown, the final confrontation with the superhero's evil opponent.

Notes and tips

• What matters in this form is physicality and action, but authentic characters and moving scenes are equally possible.
• A conflict-laden event might be: a planned mass redundancy of workers (a nasty boss), the construction of an airport (a nasty developer or politician), and so on.
• Anyone can play several characters; only the central figures — particularly the players of the superhero and their opponent — should stick to their main role.
• The superhero can and should transform back into a normal human after each use of their abilities.
• The "trigger object" can be a real object provided by the audience, e.g. a wristwatch.
• Special abilities could be: the opponent becomes fat and stupid, someone becomes invisible, the person loses their sight, and so on.

See also

• The Hero's Journey

Origin

The format was developed by the Berlin group "Die Unverhofften".

Further links

• Group website: dieunverhofften.de
• Podcast by Claudia Hoppe with Marc (Die Unverhofften): claudiahoppe.com/2013/09/22/podcast-nr-6-marc-von-unverhofften-gast-im-interview/