Figure 8: Dialectic of Interacting

<1> In the dialectic of interacting model, I have associated acting awareness that centers on the self with an out-of-character mode. By out-of-character, I mean that the individual is perceived by her/himself or others as not presenting or representing a particular character; in other words, the individual fails to portray what's identifiable as a character to a personal or external audience. The individuals or players believe they are not "acting" when awareness is centered on the self. So I contrast a heightened sense of awareness of self (one extreme of the triangle), with both a heightened awareness that one is acting (another extreme), and a consciousness of oneself presenting or representing a character (a third extreme). Benedikt's conception of chatting, as communication between people who are not playing roles, would be aligned on the self extreme of this dialectic of interacting.

<2> I locate an awareness of oneself as acting on the actor extreme of the dialectic of interacting triangle. People "interacting" in this mode have a heightened awareness of playing a part. They may focus on achieving a particular gestural stance with the position of their body as in Kabuki, or they may concentrate on the need to enact stage business such as pouring drinks, smoking cigarettes, or crossing their legs after sitting down in a typical domestic drama in a realistic production. Seen within the context of heavy roleplaying, a person has an increased awareness of acting a part when their feelings do not jive with the character they are presenting. In the context of environmental roleplaying, people have a more pervasive sense of acting overall since they are open to the influence of the environment in determining their actions and feelings (rather than these being determined from within). So in environmental roleplaying, the player immersed in a textual carnival scene, for instance, might write that she or he needs to line up to get tickets for the ferris wheel, and in so doing would be assuming the need to play a part that emanates from the textual context. Even players engaged in chatting may develop an acute awareness of acting if their underlying emotions are out of synch with the discussion they are engaged in.

<3> Further, I identify a heightened consciousness of oneself as character on the third extreme of the dialectic of interacting. The player is aware of being in-character, but precisely what the relation of the character is to the self may be unknown to the audience. In heavy roleplaying, the relation between the actual feelings of the person and those of the character portrayed is unclear; the emotions of the person and the character may be consistent or not. In classic roleplaying though, the emotional make-up of the person feeds into the representation of character; as in Stanislavski's method acting, one expects a person to channel real-life emotions and experiential memories into the character she or he presents.

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