“You Need To Be More Innocent.”

Today our task was to come out in pairs and do a number based on George Simenon’s Police-Novel Room 77.

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Boris and I went up together. We were listening to each other and found a nice little game repeating a sequence of stubbing out a cigarette, shooting a gun, opening a door, and ninja-rolling through it. People were laughing a bit and we were building something, but Philippe stopped us because we weren’t looking at the audience. We weren’t looking out for the King of Sweden. “Have you listened over the past five weeks?”

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Sophie and Michaela had a go and Sophie was great with her trolley full of food which she proceeded to eat on stage. The idea that she can’t play until she’s eaten is a funny one. So Michaela’s job is to try and save the show. To continue with Room 77 regardless, or to make us believe Sophie eating is part of the show. 

“Good mood! Good mood! No problem! No problem! Ha ha! Ha ha!”

“You have to pretend it’s no problem, always.”

But it’s a hard role to play and Michaela didn’t know what to do. And neither would I. We love Sophie a lot with her stupidity and lack of care or awareness for what she’s supposed to be doing, and so Michaela has to find a way to also be loved without stopping what Sophie is doing. “You can’t stop your friend when we love them.” And Michaela has to still love Sophie. She can’t get annoyed with her. “The guy that every night is in the shit with his friend...he is still his friend.”

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Yung Yung and Connor had a go but weren’t funny. Afterwards, Philippe got them to choose people they fancied to kiss them on the neck.

“When you act we don’t see the splendid pleasure that gives light on your face...We don’t see something beautiful on your face...so you are not clown.”

“You have to think: I show my soul.”

“This exercise [kissing] is good to remind you how ‘I am beautiful and people have to see how I was when I was seven.’”

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At the end of class Boris and I got up and had another go. I had been presenting as Monsieur Loyale previously so at one point in our failing number I left the stage as my clown and reentered as Monsieur Loyale. It didn’t really work, but oh well! I then entered again as my clown to try and save the show and shouted “FREEZE!” with my gun in front like a policeman. 

Philippe banged his drum. He then asked whether I did that like I had seen it done in many movies, or whether it was made up? I said it was like I’d seen it many times before. “You need to be more innocent.”  I need to invent the “Freeze!” moment in a funny way. In a way in which I don’t know what a gun is. What I did was too knowing and too normal.