Innocence Imagination Obsession - Heavenly Creatures
Hotseating Characters

Groups are allocated one character each about whom they are to become expert. The character questions  are provided to  guide their research into their  character. Each group should:

1.	Try to reach a consensus about the conflicts and motivation of each character. 
2.	Be able to substantiate their point of view through the use of quotes or paraphrasing of incidents and stage directions from the play. 

When groups have a defensible knowledge of their character, an individual is chosen to take on the role of the character in a hot seating exercise. Alternatively, the whole group could be hotseated. 

This involves:

1.	The student attempting to portray the beliefs, conflicts, motivation, speech and mannerisms of the character as... 

2.	they answer questions provided by other members of the class, the teacher and other members of their group. These questions will take the form of:

"Why did you...?"
"What did you mean by...?"
"How did you feel when...?"
"Isn't it true that...?"
"When did you...?"
"Are you proud of...?"
"How did you react to...?"

3.	Students should remain in role during the entire time they are in the hotseat. They may find it useful to prepare a prop or a piece of costuming to help them into the role. 

4.	Teachers will need to lead and model the questioning initially at least. 

© Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand (First published 1998)