Based upon more than 25 years as a director of ensembles of performative research, I provide example of improvisational approaches that I have taken to explore a range of social interactions including the teacher/student relationship, subtle differences among need/want/desire, practicum politics, trust, reading power in gender, judging strangers, locus of control, homelessness, and aging parents. Techniques have included image theater, hot-seating, manipulation of objects, trust falls, music, and metaphorical roles. Theoretical discussions include an unpacking of truth claims in imaginative endeavors that explore the plausible, the false separation of truth and fiction, re-examining what makes research empirical, ways of generating information other than the traditional questionnaire, and/or interview and dialogic audience participation. In addition to justifying this approach for performative research practitioners, it provides a variety of possibilities for those who seek other means to critically and imaginatively examine the human condition.
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