Emotional Recall

I'm starting a monologue unit with my beginning drama classes this semester. We've done a lot of work on physical characterization and know I want to add emotional character concepts to the mix. I'm using some Stanislaski methods to help them access character emotions. Part of that includes emotional recall.

I was really put off emotional recall when I was student teaching. My cooperating teacher was really into emotional recall and would push her students to access really painful memorizes to help them create characters. She had students in tears as she pushed them to relive really difficult times in their lives. It enraged me; these students were suffering and she was forcing them to suffer for the sake of a part. I'm a theatre person and love it with all my hear, but no play and not part is worth damaging a student physically or mentally, especially when they are young and don't have the ability to deal with the fall out. We are teacher and directors, not psychologists. Ever since seeing her teach like that I have been loathe to teach emotional recall.

I've decided to do a bit of emotional recall work with my students because it can be helpful in helping students access the character. But I'm leaving a lot of it in my students' hands. I don't want to be the one choosing the memories they access because I don't know what they can handle. I also try to put them back into a positive place after we do emotional recall work. I'm also going to give them other options for students to access the character's emotional life.

I hope that I'm making the right decision and that I'm handling it well. I really don't want to do the same thing my cooperating teacher did.