August

2002
Summer Drama Course
Handbook

In Co-Operation with
EDAR
The British Council &
Peace Corps

Table of Contents
Games and Activities

Short Activities

Warm-Ups

18

Concentration Games

30

Situation Games

31

Creating Drama With Poetry

50

Play Production in the Classroom

54

Improvisational Games

66

Lesson Plans

88

The Contents of this Handbook have been compiled from various

sites on the World Wide Web and documented here-in. this is a test
-Patricia D. Jordan
Peace Corps Volunteer, 12
ROMANIA

GAMES AND ACTIVITIES

The Following Information can be Found at:

http://kinderart.com/drama/

PANTOMIME
What You Do
The actors will work in groups of 4 - 6 and are instructed to pantomime a single
general activity (examples: Playing different sports at school, performing with an
orchestra, circus acts, hospital work, etc.)
To communicate the idea of a GENERAL activity, each actor must pantomime a
SPECIFIC one.
For example: "Office work".
One actor mimes being a typist, another delivers the mail, another is a
"boss" at a desk (perhaps on the phone), a client visits the office to see the
boss, etc.
The audience then guesses the general activity and then talks about the
specific ones.
Make sure the actors understand they cannot SPEAK - only work with
their bodies, facial expressions, etc.

BEAN BAG
What You Do
This exercise demonstrates to the children how important it is to project their
voices.
Place three bean bags in front of a row of children. One about 10 feet away from
them - the second about 20 feet away, the third about 35-40 feet away (this can
obviously be changed to suit the physical environment of the class).

Ask each child to look directly at the first bean bag, say their name and the
name of their favorite animal.
Instruct him to say the exact same things to the second bean bag.
Would he speak with the same volume? Of course not - the "person" is
further away.
When asked to address the third bean bag, he obviously should be
projecting his voice as loud as he can.
After all the class has addressed the bean bags, let them know they were
really acting in a play just then - reaching the first three rows, the middle
rows, and the back rows of the theatre!

MIRROR EXERCISE
What You Do
Everyone should remember the old "I Love Lucy" series; a favorite of most folks
is the episode when Lucy meets Harpo Marx. In one scene, Lucy has dressed
exactly like Harpo; as the latter crosses a room, Lucy crosses it the same way.
Harpo looks at his "reflection" and proceeds to physicalize these crazy
movements with arms, hands, legs, etc. Lucy matches him, move for move. A
very funny scene - and exceptionally well done. This is exactly the same premise
for "The Mirror Exercise".
There are two players. "A" is the follower (mirror) and "B" starts all the
action. "A" reflects all B's movements and facial expressions.
Simple activities for B to initiate are washing her face, getting dressed,
brushing teeth - etc.
This exercise promotes inventiveness, clowning, and timing - the children
should be encouraged to be as specific as they can with each movement.

PRIMARY THEATRE
Grade: K-2
Age: 4-6
Submitted by Penny Lewis, a teacher at Carrollton Primary Theatre in
Carrollton, Georgia.
Objectives

Encourage reading, self confidence, working with others.

What You Need:
Small props and set pieces no taller than the students
What You Do:
From Penny ... I have taught Primary Theatre for 8 years in
Carrollton, GA. The mini musicals that we produce are
approximately 15 minutes in length, including songs. Our program
receives rave reviews from the viewing public. Most of our shows
sell out ( I usually do two or three camps back to back) and I have a
waiting list of children ages 4 to 6 for each camp. These plays are
appropriate for 7 to 9 year olds, as well. My co worker and I write
all of the plays and I write almost all of the song lyrics. (We
occasionally use songs that are in the public domain.) My plays are
written for 10 children, but they are easily adaptable for any
number. All of my songs are sing songy and can be done with or
without accompaniment.
I have a few pointers that I would like to share with you on
directing plays for small children:
I have a total of ten 1 hour rehearsals, including dress rehearsal.
I use stuffed animals as an "audience" for our rehearsals. Each animal has
a personality. For example, Whisper, the dog, is very quiet and sometimes
goes home with the children so that they can "help" him talk louder. We
have Baaabera the sheep who brings treats. And we have Bubba and Bud
who play with the props and set and cause all kinds of mischief. Anything
that goes wrong is their fault, never the children's.
I make changes throughout rehearsal as I adapt to the talents and wishes
of the children. They always have wonderful ideas and I try to use them
where I can. I had the eagle tap dance in Bringing the Rain to Kapaiti
Plain, because she could.
During the show, I sit on the front row and point at each child whose turn
it is to say a line. This helps overcome stage fright, which you might not
see at all during rehearsal. I can also whisper any forgotten lines. In 35 +
plays that I have directed, we have never had a child refuse to do their
part and many were very shy when we began.
I try to make all parts even. No body is ever a tree. Every child should feel
that their part is special.

I keep costuming simple. I like the children to look like themselves, after
all that's who grandma is coming to see. So, I don't do furry forest
animals. For example, my standard Rabbit costume is overall shorts or
pinafore dress, ears and a tail. We do a little makeup because the children
love it, but I make sure that they are not overly disguised.
Keep sets simple and scaled to the size of the children. My cardboard trees
are usually about three feet tall. I will send detailed, but simple, set
instructions with the plays (* See Note from Penny Lewis below).
Always make it fun.

HANSEL AND GRETEL

Play Written by Penny Lewis; Copyright 1999
Characters:
Hansel
Gretel
Witch
Candy
Cane
Lolly
Pop
Hershey
Kiss
Franky ( A greedy boy)
Scene: Stage Right - Forest Stage Left - Candy house . Hansel and Gretel are in
forest picking berries. Witch is on stage left by house. Candy characters are part
of house.*
Franky approaches forest.
Franky - Hi there. Who are you?
Hansel - I'm Hansel.
Gretel - I'm Gretel and we are picking berries for our dear sweet mother.
Hansel - She's gonna make a cobbler. Want to help us.
Gretel - We'll give you half of the berries.
Franky - Naaa! Berries are borrrring!
Gretel - They are quite nutritious!
Franky - Well I hear that there is a whole house made out of candy up ahead and
I mean to have it all for myself. I'm not in to this sharing thing.
Hansel - Aren't you afraid of tooth decay?
Franky - Naaa! My mother doesn't have any teeth and she does okay.

SHORT ACTIVITIES
The Following Information can be Found at:
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/3765/lessons.html

Story, Story
This game is based on a similar one called "Story Story Die" that one of my
students brought in. It sounded like fun, but it struck me that it wasn't really a
drama game, so I made some changes and accidentally invented a really fun new
game. It is pretty simple, but the results are often anything but, and it can get as
zany or as serious as you choose to let it.

How to Play
Group sits in a semi-circle around the acting area. (Any space will do--it needn't
be very big.) Establish an order of play, as in a board game, so everyone will
know whose "turn" it is.
The first player takes her place in the acting area. The second player begins to tell
a story. The first player must act out the story as fully as possible, in whatever
seems the best way. This can involve playing more than one character, using
props--whatever she thinks will work best and with whatever limits the leader
may choose to impose.
When this has gone on for a minute or so, the leader rings a bell. (Actually, I
usually just yell "ding!") The first person sits down. The second person enters the
acting space. The third person continues the story exactly where the second
person left off, and the second person must now act it out.
After a minute or so, another bell, and another rotation. Continue until the story
concludes or seems to peter out, or until everyone has had several turns as
storyteller and as actor.

The beauty of the order of play is that each person must be the "actor"
immediately after being the "narrator." This tends to prevent people from
deliberately inserting difficult or embarrassing details to trip up the actor, since
they know they will soon be on the receiving end.
My Middle School students love this game, and frequently request it.

Variations
You can put any sort of limits or guidelines on any part of the game. For
example, I sometimes insist that the story "make sense" or that it be "serious."
(Other times I let it get as silly as it wants to.) Sometimes I allow the use of a set
store of props and costumes, while other times I require that everything be
pantomimed. You can really go wherever you want with it.
With my playwriting students I play a version of this game in which they write
instead of speaking. Each person begins a play, and when the bell rings (usually
after three or four minutes) everyone passes her paper to the right, reads the new
play and continues where it leaves off. After about three or four passes, I tell
them to find a way to bring the play to a close. Then we share the results. Lots of
fun, and it helps reinforce the idea that sometimes it is helpful and fun to write
even if you are not "inspired."

Job Interview
A colleague taught me this game. I don't know where he learned it. It's a lot of
wacky fun for older (middle school and up) actors, and requires them to be both
focused--so they don't break character--and creativeso they can think on their
feet.

How to Play
Three chairs are placed in the performance space. Three players sit in them. The
one in the middle is the "boss," who turns and begins to "interview" one of the
others for a job. The idea is that the two on the outside are rivals for one opening.
The boss makes up the job, and the qualifications, and the "interviewee"
improvises answers to the questions.
Meanwhile, the remaining candidate (who is now essentially behind the boss,
who can't see him) tries to distract his rival (who CAN see him) any way
possible. This can involve making faces, climbing on the chair, doing a little
dance--anything that does not make a noise or otherwise attract the attention of
the "boss." (This is a little like the "staring contests" Conan O'Brien used to have
8

with his sidekick, in which, behind Conan's head where only Andy could see
them, all sorts of surprising or disgusting things would happen to throw Andy
off.)
The candidate being interviewed must try to keep a straight face. If she breaks,
the boss can demand to know what's so funny. If the interviewee cannot answer
convincingly (without ratting out her competitor) then the interview is over and
that candidate is "fired"--she is "out." The remaining people move over one seat
(so that the other "candidate" is now the "boss"), a new person takes the
remaining seat, and the game continues with a new job and qualifications.
However, if the interviewee CAN give a convincing answer on the spur of the
moment when challenged, then the interview can continue, perhaps with the
admonition, "well, try to stay focused." (For instance, someone being interviewed
for a job in a medical office might say when asked to explain why she is
laughing, "I'm sorry, but you mentioned that the job would require patience, and
I thought you meant it as a pun for "patients"),
Another (and more frequent) way for someone to be "fired" is as follows. If in the
course of the "interview the "distractor" makes a noise, or the boss catches a
glimpse of him--or indeed every so often for no particular reason at all--the
"boss" may suddenly turn and demand, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" The person
is generally caught in an incriminating position, such as standing on one foot on
the chair, or writhing on the floor. (I once saw a player caught in the act of
pretending to "groom" the boss, and popping little bugs in his mouth as he
extracted them.) As above, if the guilty candidate cannot give a convincing
explanation for the position in which he is caught, or for a noise he made, he is
"fired," and "out." But if he can explain himself ("I thought the light bulb was
about to burn out, so I was going to change it for you." "SorryI sometimes have
seizures.") then the play continues, with the "boss" now interviewing that person
and the other one trying to distract him. It is up to the boss to decide whether an
explanation passes muster.

Pointers
There should be some kind of challenge at least every minute or two, so even if
the "boss" does not actually detect any movement behind him, he should arrange
to catch the "distractor" out every so often anyway. Similarly, no matter how
noisy the "distractor" is, it is better not to challenge immediately. For the
"audience"--which consists of all those not currently in play--the fun of the game
is in the crazy antics of the "distractor" and the wacky job descriptions and
qualifications invented by the boss and the interviewee, as much as in the
creativity of the responses when someone is challenged. So it is best to let these

things develop a bit before challenging. Most groups figure this out for
themselves pretty quick.
With my Middle School students especially, I find it best to qualify the
instructions a little. It is dangerous to say things like "Do whatever you can think
of to distract the other person." I always add, "As long as it is appropriate for
school (and you KNOW what I mean by that), as long as you use your common
sense, and as long as you follow the general rules of the classroom."
Sometimes it is necessary for the leader to "cook" the results a little so that the
same people dont end up in the game too long. (According to a strict
interpretation of the rules, this can happen if the "boss" fires the person on the
left, then the new "boss" fires the person on the right, so that the original "boss" is
"boss" again, etc.) Usually I do this by just declaring that person a "retiring
champion" and putting in someone new.

Circle of Characters
This is a complicated but really fun game I invented with my advanced 7th & 8th
grade class. It works with older kids and adults as well, but I wouldn't try it with
much younger. It probably also wouldn't work very well with groups of more
than eight or ten, unless you split them up and had one group play while the
other was "audience." What makes it difficult is that players must maintain a
character in an improvisational setting while at the same time carefully
observing others' characters.

How to Play
Each person is given an index card (or any little slip of paper will do, as long as
they are all pretty much the same) on which he or she writes the name of a
famous person. (Alternatively, you could have them write the name of a literary
figure, or the description of a made-up character--you can set any kind of limits
or guidelines you like. I generally make them show me before passing each
name--not because I think they'll write something "inappropriate," but because I
think they'll name someone who won't be recognizable to the whole class. For
instance, I have one student who seems to have spent all of his first ten years or
so in front of the television, and is always naming obscure TV actors or MTV
stars no one else knows.).
The leader collects the cards and redistributes them, so that no one receives his
own. (Actually, to make the game work smoothly, it is necessary to do the
distribution very carefully, but not to give away the method to the participants.
I'll discuss that at the end.)
10

Each person reads the card given her and thinks about how to "become" that
character.
The leader then names a scenario. For example: "A bunch of people are gathered
together at a dinner party in honor of someone's birthday. They mingle for a
while, and eventually all sit down to dine around this table here, which has
precisely the right number of chairs." Or: The world is about to end, and these
eight people are the only ones left alive. They have a spaceship which will carry
them to another galaxy, but there is no guarantee that they will find a habitable
planet there. They argue and go back and forth, but eventually decide to get in
this rocket ship here, which has precisely the right number of seats, arranged in a
circle, since it is a flying saucer." You can make up any scenario you want, but it
must end with everyone sitting or standing in a circle. It works best if there is a
prescribed physical place in the acting space for this circle, as in the examples
above.
The object of the game is this: As the actors begin playing out the prescribed
scenario improvisationally, each is also searching for the person who is playing
the character he or she named. The idea is to end up sitting in a circle so that each
person is sitting directly behind (or directly to the right of) the person who is
doing that person's character. (This is why the cards must be distributed
carefully.) The game is over once everyone is seated, and if the order is wrong at
that point, then the team loses, so an actor who thinks someone else has made a
mistake and is sitting in the wrong place must resist sitting herself until the
problem has been resolvedbut she must resist in character, and appropriately
to the situation.
Once everyone is seated, everyone reveals their characters and it is clear whether
the group has won or lost.

Pointers
Distributing the cards: Clearly this must be done carefully, or you may end up
with several small circles instead of one big one. I suppose you could create a
scenario that would allow this, but as the circles might be as small as two people
(what if Bob gets Betty's character and Betty gets Bob's?) it is probably easier just
to cook the distribution so that you ensure one single circle. There are lots of
ways to do this. Since I know everyone's handwriting, I can recognize whose
card is whose, and I just make sure that whoever gets the first card, it is that
person's card I hand out second, and whoever gets that card, I hand their card
out third, etc. This works, but of course it won't work if I TELL the class I'm
doing it, because then everyone will be able to figure out by watching me who
gets their card--it's the person I come to right after them! Probably a better way

11

would be to arrange the order ahead of time and make a listsomething like
"Bob get's Betty's, Betty gets Allen's, Allen gets Marigold's, Marigold gets
Eunice's, Eunice gets Arvide's, Arvide gets Bob's." If you are working from such
a list (and you should make a new one for each time you play the game) you can
hand the cards out in random order and still be ensured of a circle. It doesn't
really matter HOW you do it--the point is to make sure you don't get any closed
loops inside the circle. I mention the above two methods of ensuring this for
those who (like me) tend to be math-impaired.
Scenarios: Below are some suggested scenarios, in addition to the two above.
You will think of others.
A group of people are at an amusement park, chatting while they
wait for the carousel to stop. When it does, they each select an
animal to ride and get on.
A group of people has just discovered a huge treasure chest filled
with gold. They may quarrel over it. As it grows dark, they decide
they must guard it against theft, and the only sure way is to sleep
in a circle around the chest.
A group of people are on a jury together. They have just been sent
into the jury room to deliberate. They discuss the case in a
haphazard way until the foreman persuades them that they should
all sit down at the table.

Variations
As mentioned above, you can set any guidelines you like on the characters
people may choose to write down. For example, in an English class you could
have everyone write down a character from the current reading. In a History
class you could have them choose historical figures you have been studying. An
advanced acting class might be asked to write a single adjective or adverb-demented, loudly, frequently, etc.--which might generate some very interesting
results, as well as pointing out how vague such words really are.
If you can trust your group not to be unnecessarily cruel, try this one: Have
everyone write THEIR OWN NAME on their card. This way, you're looking for
the person who is you! This can be extremely telling and fun for a group with the
maturity to handle it!

12

Hanged Man
Play the Game
Someonefirst time around it should be the teacherthinks of a word or phrase
and writes the appropriate number of little spaces on the board, leaving extra
space between words, just as in "Hangman"or "Wheel of Fortune." The way we
play, the leader also writes the category, as in "Charades"Movie Title, Book
Title, Song Title, Play Title, or whatever. There is no gallows, but there is a box
for "wrong" letters. (I have fun making up silly names for this box, such as "Letter
Rubishery."
In turn, the other players try guessing letters, but heres the catch: They dont just
call out a letter. Instead, they must ACT OUT the letter. (For example, if the letter
the player wishes to guess is "B," she might pretend to be a bear, or a basketball
player, or evenclever!a bee.) The other players, including the leader, call out
letter guesses as in "Charades," and the guessing player can encourage them on
the right track also as in "Charades." When the correct letterthat is, the letter
the player wishes to guesshas been called out, the leader either enters it in its
appropriate place or places in the phrase, or, if it does not occur in the phrase,
enters it in the "rubbishery."
If the letter IS in the phrase, then the person who guessed and acted out the letter
is given the opportunity to guess the phrase. (Naturally during the beginning
they will probably not have any idea, but as more letters are entered, they may.
Part of the fun comes from the fact that a player may KNOW the word, but be
unable to guess it because it is not his turn.) Again, if the player wishes to guess,
she must now act out the whole phrase. (For example, if the phrase turned out to
be "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court"which is a pretty hard one,
by the waythe player might act out Babe Ruths famous home run, and then
act out a king and knights.)
If the letter guessed is not in the word, nothing bad happens to the person who
guessed it, except that she is not given a chance to guess the phrase, and the next
player gets a turn to guess a letter. This means that eventually SOMEONE will
guess the phrase, if only because there are no more letters left to guess except the
last one missing from the phrase. (In this way the game is more like "Wheel of
Fortune" than "Hangman."
If you want to play the game for a long time, rather than just as a time-filler, you
can keep score. A player gets one point for correctly guessing a phrase. (There is
an element of chance here, because one can only guess when it is ones turn.)
Players can take turns being the leader, or the teacher can remain in this role. (I
13

have found that when I hand over the leader role to students I generally have to
disqualify myself from play, because for some reason I always seem to know the
phrase almost before any letters have been guessed. I think I just instinctively
know the kinds of things each student is likely to come up with.)
A rule: If you play the game more than oncethat is, with more than one
phraseplayers are not allowed to act out any letter the same way twice. In
other words, if on the first phrase someone guessed "F" by becoming a frog, the
next person who wants to guess "F" must find a different waysay, pretending
to be in a thick fog.
Tip: The more completely you can divorce the guessing of the charadesof the
individual letters being acted out, or of the whole phrase being acted outfrom
the guessing of the phrase itself, the better the game will work. Try not to jump
to conclusions. If youre pretty sure the player is acting out a frog, for the letter
"F," dont call out "P!" for prince just because you think or know that there IS a
"P" in the word. And when it comes to the acting out of the whole phrase the
same thing goes.

Concept Charades
Introduction:
This is a pretty complicated game. I created it with my advanced middle school
group, who did well with it, but it worked less well with my less advanced
students, even those who were older. Central to the game is the idea of "concept"
or "category." These are large over-arching ideas such as "Love" or "Fate," as well
as disciplines like "Mathematics" or "Science" and spheres of life such as "Politics"
or "Religion." I've included a list below, but you will think of others to add. It is
very important that the participants understand the kinds of ideas that will make
the list. (Indeed, sometimes when I play I read the whole list out before we start.)
This game works best with a group of no more than five or six. If there are more,
you may want to adjust the rules so that not every player participates in each
round. You could create a rotation.

Preparation:
Before playing the game, make a set of index cards, each with a different concept
or idea. (See list below.) Depending on the sophistication of the participants, you
14

may want to read out these cards before beginning, but if you do, be sure to
shuffle them afterwards.

Play the Game:

Players take turns, and it is important that everyone remembers where she or he
appears in the order.
First player takes a card, looks at it, and returns it to the bottom of the pile.
First player must now act out, without words (you can decide whether to allow
sound effects) the concept or idea on the card. Player should choose one basic
approach or idea to pantomime, rather than trying to approach the problem from
as many different ways as possible. (For example, if the card said, "Politics," the
person might pretend to be giving a campaign speech. Alternatively, she might
pretend to be using a voting booth, or to be watching political ads on television.
But she would NOT do all three of these things. She would choose one
approach.)
There is no guessing out loud at this point!
Once the first player feels she has finished, the second person (who has NOT
seen the card) must try to act out the SAME CONCEPT, but in a different way.
(To go back to the same example, if the first player had acted out giving a
campaign speech, the second person might say to himself, "Aha! The word is
'Politics!'" and act out voting in a voting booth.)
Of course, the second person may not have successfully guessed the word, but
that's part of the fun. It gets to be a little like the child's game, "Telephone," in
which a message is transferred from person to person, deteriorating and
changing as it goes.
As you have no doubt by this time guessed, when the second player is done, the
third player must act out the concept in yet another way, and so on until
everyone has acted. Then the word is revealed and everyone enjoys dissecting
their mistakes and critiquing each others' acting and ingenuity.
Obviously, while guessing the concept may grow easier with each player's turn,
coming up with something to act out becomes more and more difficult.
Therefore, when a second round is played, the SECOND player begins, and so
on, so that everyone has a chance to be first, and everyone has to deal with the
dregs.

15

(Actually, it is the tail end of the round that I find the most fun. Trying to come
up with a new way of enacting the concept after all of the obvious ideas have
been taken really stirs up the creativity. One student in my class enacted
"Politics" by sitting at a table holding imaginary ballots up to the light and
looking for "dimpled chads.")

Concepts:
Here are some, You'll think of others.
Love
Hate
War
Peace
Life
Death
Fate
Science
Mathematics
History
Politics
Romance
Cuisine
Civilization
Religion

What Would You Do?

Introduction:
This is a fun game to play all by itself, but it can also be very useful for helping
young actors learn to more fully inhabit their characters. It's incredibly simple on
the surface, but it's not easy to do well.

Play the Game:

One actor plays at a time. The others can take turns "narrating."

16

The player chooses a character. This can be the character he is playing in a

current production, or a character from literature or life. (Be careful though-don't let students choose characters they will be tempted to lampoon.)
The "narrator" (it should be the instructor at least at first) begins to narrate in
second person simple events in a person's daily life. Start simple. "You get up in
the morning, and it's a beautiful day. You make breakfast."
The player simply follows the instructions, but he reacts in character.
The "narrator" may begin to add some surprises. "You're walking down the street
when a man bumps into you."
The player must react to whatever happens IN CHARACTER. In most situations
Hamlet would react very differently than, say, Benjamin Franklin.
Narrator continues the story, adding more and more extreme details. "You come
upon a dead body. It's your mother." "It's floating in midair."
Play stops when the instructor feels it has gone as far as it can or should.

Discussion:
I find this game a great jumping-off point for a discussion of the difference
between acting and "indicating." I am frequently asked, when explaining the
game, "So, I'm supposed to figure out what my character would do in each
situation, and then do it?" I reply, "Not exactly. I don't want you to HAVE to
figure anything out. If you are truly inhabiting your character, you will simply
react."
It's also a good way of looking at the concept of "playwriting" while acting or
improvising. I'm sorry the term "playwriting" is used here, because as a
playwright I object to the word's use in a pejorative sense, but in this case
"playwriting" is a bad thing. It occurs when an actor consciously tries to push a
story in a particular direction that is unnatural, rather than reacting naturally in
character. Obviously in many improvisation settings, such as improv comedy,
this can be a good thing, but for an actor in role it is dishonest. Because improv
games are fun, I often have to remind people not to "try" to be funny when the
point is to learn about character.

17

Variations:
Obviously when this game is played as a way of helping actors inhabit characters
as whom they have been cast, this won't work, but when the game is played "for
fun" you can make it into a guessing game. The player who is performing doesn't
tell the others what character he has chosen. (You could even have them pull the
characters out of a hat.) Then the "narrators" use their narrating as a way of
evaluating the character, sort of like the game "20 Questions." They can put the
character into specific situations to see how he'll react, and use the answers to
gradually zoom in on the character, until they can guess. I like to have them
phrase their guess as just another piece of narration, but one that make it
absolutely clear that they now know who the person is. (For example, if the
"narrator" is pretty sure the player is Hamlet, she could say, "And then your
girlfriend comes in, and she's throwing flowers all over the place.")

18

Warm-ups
The Following Information can be Found at:
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/3765/warmups.html

This is a small collection of improvisation games and warm-up games that can be
used to sharpen up your cast if you're a director, or to add energy and originality
to your students' acting if you are an acting teacher. All can be done with no
materials in any reasonably sized space. As well as being great practice in
themselves, they are great for refocusing a group that has become scattered, or
for waking up one that has become jaded.
None of these games are my own inventions, although I've made some
modifications on some of them. I've written very few improvisation or warm-up
games for actors, largely because a.) There are already lots of good ones out
there, including the ones below, and b.) In my current job I mostly work in
creative drama, not theatre, so I don't really use formal acting games much.
When I started this site I didn't intend to include any lessons unless I'd written
them myself or received them from someone who had sent them in specifically.
But I get lots of e-mail from folks requesting improvisation games and warm-ups
for actors, so I've tried to collect together all the ones I could think of. I use all of
these games either in my classes or in my rehearsal process. In most cases I don't
know who invented these games, nor have I made any particular effort to find
out. If you think you are the inventor of one of these games, and you don't want
it on my site, let me know. (Although I don't know why anyone would mind.)
I will be adding games as they occur to me or as I learn new ones. Check back
periodically.
Also check out Edwena's Games, a page of improv and concentration games sent
to me by a friend.

19

Freeze and Justify

The Granddaddy of 'em all. Just about everyone who has ever had an acting
class knows this one, so I'll be brief.
The group sits or stands around the acting space.
Two people enter the space and begin to improvise a scene, with dialogue and as
much physical action as possible.
At any moment, anyone else in the group may shout, "FREEZE!"
The actors freeze instantly and exactly.
The person who stopped the scene taps one of the actors on the shoulder. The
actor sits down and the new person takes his or her position exactly.
The new person must now initiate a new and DIFFERENT scene. The scene must
flow naturally from the positions of the two bodies, and it is the new person's
responsibility to communicate to his or her partner and to the audience what the
new scene is about.
At any moment another person may shout, "FREEZE!" and it begins again.

Pointers
With some groups it is necessary to make a rule that no one may freeze a scene
until the situation has been clearly established and both actors have contributed.
With groups of kids I sometimes have them take turns saying, "Freeze!" In other
words, as a scene goes on, only one person is allowed to freeze it. Then when he
does, the next person is allowed to freeze it, and so on.
If you have a reticent student, you can shout "Freeze!" for him and then coach
him as necessary.

20

The Martha Game

I have no idea who Martha is or how this game got its name. Works best with a
group of 8 - 12. With a larger group, divide them into two teams.
Group stands outside a designated performance space.
One person runs into the space, forms her body into a statue and announces
what she is, as in "I'm a tree."
Instantly the next person runs on and forms something else in the same picture.
"I'm a bench under the tree."
The next person further adds to the picture. "I'm a bum on the bench."
"I'm a dog peeing on the tree."
"I'm the newspaper the bum is sleeping under."
Etc., until the whole group is part of the picture.
Start again. And again. Etc.
Coach this to go very, very fast. There is no time to think--just go!
If there are two teams, they alternate.

Pointers
Fast, Fast, Fast!
Make sure a different person starts each picture.

Variations
After a while, you might say, "Okay. . .on a count of three this becomes a moving
picture!"
Or even, "A moving, talking picture!"

21

What Are You Doing?

Lots of zany fun.
Group gets in a line at the edge of the playing space. The first person enters the
space and begins to pantomime a simple activity--for example, brushing his
teeth.
The second person runs on and says, "What are you doing?"
The first person may answer anything EXCEPT what he is actually doing. In our
example he might say, "I'm washing the car."
The moment the second person hears the answer, she must begin to pantomime
the mentioned activity.
The first person goes to the end of the line and the third person runs on and says,
"What are you doing?"

Pointers
The person acting MUST NOT STOP until he or she has answered the question.
Side coach to make sure.
The new person MUST START IMMEDIATELY when the answer is heard.
The answer MUST NOT be what the person is doing, but, for convenience, it
should also NOT be something that LOOKS LIKE what the person is actually
doing.

Variations
After a while, add to the original formula, "I'm _________." It can become, "I'm
_________ with a ________." Eventually it can become, "I'm _________ with a
__________ while ___________." (For example, "I'm painting the barn with a
codfish while snorkeling." It doesn't have to make sense.) The second person
must begin to act as soon as she hears even PART of the answer. (In the
example, we should see her painting the barn even before she hears that she's
using a codfish. When she hears about the snorkeling she'll have to adjust.) Side
coach to make sure they get all three details into their pantomiming.

22

You can play this as a tournament if you want. Two people bounce the question
back and forth until one of them "fouls" by repeating himself, stopping the action
before answering the question, not starting the acting in time, or answering the
truth. A new challenger steps in, and so on until all but one person have been
eliminated.

Everyone Who. . .
More of a warm-up game than an improvisation game. A little like musical
chairs.
Everyone sits in a circle. There should be one fewer chairs than people.
The person who is left in the middle ("IT") says something like, "Everyone
wearing red." or, "Everyone who has a brother," or "Everyone who is lefthanded." Any description that is likely to describe some and unlikely to describe
all will do.
Everyone who fits the description must move to a different chair.
"IT" is also trying for a seat.
Usually a different person will be left standing, and become "IT."
In addition to being fast-paced and very physical (especially when played with
highly competitive, creative adults), this game helps a cast to get to know each
other, and it calls for strategy that depends in part on how well "IT" knows the
others. Great fun.

Pinocchio
This is a really great way to start a rehearsal on a physical high. It is a physical
warm-up/stretching exercise with dramatic content to keep it focused. It is
named after the wooden puppet. (Sometimes at Christmas I do this with my
young students and call it The Nutcracker. I suppose Pygmalion would work
too.) It consists basically of a narrative pantomime of the wooden puppet
SLOWLY coming to life. What follows is approximately what I say. (This one I
did create.)
Right now you're made completely of wood. Your arms and legs are carved
from a single piece of wood. You can't move any part of yourself at all.

23

Now the magic spell has begun. It begins at the top of your head. The spell
moves down slowly until your head down to your eyebrows is flesh and blood.
Try and move your eyebrows.
The spell keeps moving down. Now you can move your eyes! All your life
you've been staring straight ahead, and now you can look to the sides.
The spell gets to your ears and your nose. See if you can wiggle them.
The spell gets to your mouth. You can smile. It feels strange at first, and
probably looks pretty strange too, but you grow more comfortable with it. Try
some other facial expressions as well.
Slowly you discover that you can turn your head. Careful! You can look up and
down carefully as well. Look! You have feet! This is the first time you were ever
sure.
The spell reaches your shoulders. But remember, your arms and hands are still
attached to your torso, since you are carved from a single piece of wood, so you
can move ONLY your shoulders. Try some circles. Do you feel a tingle up and
down your spine? That's the magic working.
The spell reaches your chest. You can puff it out like a soldier.
Your elbows can move now, but still not your hands. As the spell goes lower,
see if you can pull your left hand away from your body. Ooofff! You did it.
Bring your hand up to your face and study it. See if you can move the fingers.
Wow! You've never seen anything so beautiful!
See if you can get your right hand free as well. Does it move too?
The spell has reached your waist. Carefully bend forward, to the side. See if you
bend backwards. See if you can make a circle.
The spell reaches your hips, but your knees are still locked together and your feet
are still attached to your pedestal.
The spell gets to your knees. See if they bend!
Reach down and see if you can pull your left foot free. Ooofff! Point the toe.
Flex the foot. Make little circles.
Now see if you can get your right foot free.
24

You're all real now! See how you can move. Careful at first--these are your first
steps! Let's find all the ways our new bodies move!

Murder Mystery
This one's complicated, but it can be really fun for an advanced group. I don't do
this with my elementary students, but when I get a chance to play it with the
folks in the performing troupe to which I belong, I just love it. It's a little like a
cross between the board game "Clue," the kids' game "Whisper Down the Lane,"
and the parlor game "Charades." Central to the game is the idea that there has
been a murder, and the task is to discover Who was murdered, Where they were
murdered, and How they were killed. (Think, "A noun is a person, place, or
thing.") The order is important, as you will see.
The group divides into two teams. Team A leaves the room, and Team B
brainstorms a person, place and thing. (For example, Shirley Temple, in Burger
King, with a butter churn.)
The first person from Team A enters, and Team B tells her the three things.
The second person from Team A enters.
The first person must communicate all three items without speaking. The twist
is that the second person can't speak either, so there is no way for the first person
to be sure she has communicated successfully. The second person may indicate
through sounds, humming or gestures that he does or does not understand--he
may even try to "restate" an item in a different way to be sure he has it, but no
language of any kind is permitted.
When the second person thinks he has all three items, the next person enters, and
the message is passed on in the same way.
When the last person in Group A thinks she has figured out the three items, she
announces her conclusion--which is almost never identical to the original
information.
The teams switch roles and the process is repeated.

Pointers
It is a good idea to establish at least a little bit of "Charades Code" to start with.
For example, holding up one, two, or three fingers can indicate which of the
25

items--person, place or thing--is being performed at a given time. Usually the

three items are enacted one at a time. It is not necessary to act out the actual
crime. (In the example, you might hum "The Good Ship Lollipop" and mime
curly hair for Shirley Temple, eat a pretend hamburger after indicating a crown
for Burger King, and then mime churning butter. It is not necessary to mime
clubbing poor Shirley with the churn--and in fact it will probably confuse the
issue by making the "churn" look less like a churn.)
Music (hummed but not, of course, sung) can be extremely useful here. I once
saw a person act "Tinkerbell" by three bars of the opening music from The
Wonderful World of Disney and tapping an imaginary wand. The person
receiving understood instantly. Commercial themes, television show themes,
pop music--all are easily recognized and convey much.
If a group is good at the game, they will start deliberately choosing combinations
of items that will be hard to guess, but at first a leader might want to veto items
that are too obscure. (Of course, half the fun of the game is that people get off on
the wrong track, and since half of the group is always "audience" they are able to
watch as the train comes derailed.)
It is very difficult for players familiar with charades to understand that not only
the "giver" but the "receiver" as well must not speak. Be sure to stress this. You
cannot, as in charades, verbalize your guesses so as to help the actor know how
he's doing.

Hitchhiker
This game combines improvisation with careful observation, and so makes a
great rehearsal tool for serious improv performers who need to be able to see and
imitate easily. Plus it's lots of fun.
Set up four chairs to resemble the front and back seats of a car.
The first three people get in the car, leaving the rear passenger-side seat empty.
The three people in the car invent a scenario to explain their traveling together,
and mime driving along, improvising a conversation, etc.
The next person in line enters the scene as a hitchhiker. The hitchhiker must
have a fairly clearly defined character.

26

The people in the car must stop to pick up the hitchhiker, but they improvise
how politely they do it, etc., based on their characters.
Once the hitchhiker is in the car and a four-way conversation begun, everyone in
the car begins to pick up the hitchhiker's personality and mannerisms. (For
instance, if the hitchhiker is paranoid, soon everyone is paranoid. If the
hitchhiker is drunk, soon everyone is drunk. If the hitchhiker is excessively
cheerful, soon everyone is, etc.)
Once everyone has fully taken on the new personality, the driver leaves the scene
and everyone moves over one seat, so that the front passenger becomes the
driver, the driver's-side rear passenger becomes the front passenger, etc.
Repeat with a new hitchhiker, who has a different personality. (Until they have
picked up the new person, the three in the car continue to play the first
hitchhiker's personality.)

Pointers
If you feel the game has gone on long enough, just enter the scene yourself as a
hitchhiker who is blind, or a small child, or something else guaranteed to cause a
fatal accident once the driver catches it.

Look Up (Dude!)
I call this game "Dude!" but most people call it "Look Up" or some other less
exciting name. It is an excellent focusing exercise, and is useful both for getting a
cast to function as a unit and for evaluating how well an ensemble is working.
Stand in a circle. Everyone look at the floor.
When the leader calls out, "Look up!" everyone must look directly into the face of
someone else in the circle.
Most people will find they are looking at someone who is not looking back at
them, but a few people will probably find that they are staring directly into
someone else's eyes.
When this happens, these two people are "out," and must exclaim to each other,
"Dude!" as they leave the circle.

27

Continue in this fashion until only one (or, if there's an even number in the
group, two) are left.
At first this won't take very long, but after a while a group will get to the point
where they can go for a long time without anyone being knocked out. It takes a
real psychic bond--essential also for real ensemble work.

Variations
If this is being used as a warm-up and you don't want an elimination game (as I
often don't) you can play so that any two who find themselves facing each other
must shout, "Dude!" and change places as fast as possible.
Obviously the "Dude!" part is not required. I just think it makes it more fun.

Pointers
With young performers, watch carefully so that they don't "cheat." They may fall
into a pattern, which will of course prevent anyone from going out, but it defeats
the purpose of the game. Stress that patterns are not allowed, and enforce it.
More mature actors should not need this push.

The Shakes
I learned this game from a colleague. I don't know where he learned it. It's lots
of zany fun.
Everyone stands in a circle. One person begins to develop "the shakes" in one
particular, localized part of his body. (For instance, his foot might begin to shake
violently.) After the shakes are fully developed, that person "throws" the
affliction across the circle to another person. Eye contact is important here, so
that it is clear who is being "thrown" to. The new person "catches" the shakes in
the same body part. Gradually the shakes move to a different body part. (For
instance, the tremor might travel up the leg until it eventually comes to rest in a
hand.) Once the affliction is firmly established in its new location, the victim
"throws" it to another person, etc. Try not to repeat any body part exactly. (It
may be necessary, of course, to repeat "foot," but maybe the shakes themselves
are different, or it locates in a particular toe or something the second time.)
Continue to play until everyone is running out of ideas.

Pointers
28

It is okay, and in fact encouraged, to get creative. I once had a whole group in
hysterics when I "shook" my brain.

Mr. Hit
I learned this lesson from a colleague in an improv troupe. It is supposed to be a
way of learning the names of a group, and it works, but it is also great (and
exceedingly difficult) with a group whose names are already familiar to each
other.
Stand in a circle. One person announces, "I am Mr. Hit!" Mr. Hit begins walking
directly (but slowly, at first) towards another person in the circle, with his hands
out in front of him like a zombie. If he touches (hits) the person, they are "out"
and must leave the circle. The only way the intended victim can stop Mr. Hit is
to call out the name of another person in the circle before any contact is made.
No fair running away.
Once a name is called out, that person instantly becomes Mr. Hit and begins
advancing on a victim. (He doesn't have to announce that he is Mr. Hit after the
first time.) Again, the only way the victim can save himself is by calling out a
name.
Continue play until all but two people have been eliminated. It gets harder and
harder, because as people are "out" the fund of names grows smaller. You can't
say the name of a person who is out--it must be someone who is still in the
circle. It sounds easy, but it isn't. It is very difficult to think with Mr. Hit bearing
down on you.
This is great, if frustrating, fun, and although, as I've said, I think it is great for
any group, it is also hands down the most effective "name game" I know.
Something about the sheer panic you feel when Mr. Hit is coming at you and you
can't think of a name to say really makes those names stick in your head. Doesn't
work with little kids.

Pointers
Gradually move faster, but never really fast. It's quite scary enough without that.
Some groups find that they have to change the name of the game to "Mr. Tap" to
avoid injury. You know your group best. There's really no reason to do more
than lightly touch the victim.

29

Whole Zoo Duck, Duck Goose

This is a wacky game I made up one day when it was too hot to stay indoors and
we'd finished the days lesson. It's silly and fun.
Everyone sits in a big circle. One person is "it" and begins to walk around the
circle, tapping each person on the shoulder. But instead of saying "duck" each
time, he or she must name a different animal each time.
Just as in regular "Duck Duck Goose," when "it" says "goose" the person tapped
must chase him or her around the circle. If "it" can run around and sit where the
"goose" was sitting, there is a new "it." If the "goose" catches "it," then he or she
must stay "it." All this is just as in regular "Duck Duck Goose." The difference is
that both runners must run as whatever animal was mentioned just before
"goose." (For example, if "it" had said, "cow, pig, dinosaur, owl, slug, goose,"
you'd see two slugs slowly chasing each other around the circle.
Anyone hesitating while naming animals is out. Also, anyone not being the
correct animal is out.

Variations
Sometimes I just play regular "Duck Duck Goose," but with different animals
instead of just ducks. It really is harder than the regular way because hearing all
the different animals can make you miss the goose.

Pointers
Even though it is fun when the teacher plays along, I usually stay out of the
game so I can act as a judge. This avoids disputes about how much hesitation is
too much and whether people adequately become their animals. (It's not fair if
"it" is caught because she is really being a slug and the "goose" isn't.)
Often I have the new person be "it" each time, whether the old "it" is caught or
not. That way everyone gets to play. My students understand that the real point
is the animal pretending.

30

Concentration Games

The Following Information can be Found at:

http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/3765/lessons.html

Telling It
The class divides into pairs.
Each has to think of a story to tell the other--for example, the plot of a
recent TV play or film they have seen.
At a signal from the teacher, they both start telling each other the story at
the same time.
They must look at each other in the eye without looking away, and they
must keep talking without a break and without laughing.
If either breaks down, the other has "won."

Telling the Group

One person tells the rest of the group a story, or gives them a talk on a set
subject.
The others interrupt him by asking totally unrelated questions.
The speaker must answer the questions and then continue with the story
or talk without hesitation, and from exactly the point where he left off.

Truth and Lies

The class divides into pairs. In each pair, one is the questioner and the
other the answerer.
The questioner asks questions in rapid succession.
The answerer must answer the questions, alternating between true
answers and lies. He must not hesitate or laugh, and he must keep strictly
to the alternation.
If the answerer hesitates or laughs, or if he fails to alternate between truth
and lies, he is "out" and the partners reverse roles.
31

Situation and Acting Games

The Following Information can be Found at:
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/3765/lessons.html

Making Enquiries
This rather complicated game is particularly useful with a new class who
do not know each other very well.
The class divides into pairs and each pair decides who is 'A' and who is
'B'.
To begin with, A has to find out as much as he can about B in 2 minutes.
At the end of that time, the As stay where they are and the Bs change
partners.
The class are then told that B is a policeman who is suspicious of A and
intends to question him.
A has to pretend that he is the B he has just questioned. He has to
remember all the details that he can from that conversation so that when
the new B starts questioning him - about his name, address, and so on - he
can answer with detailed information, in role as his former partner.
(When he can't remember, he is at liberty to invent.)
Repeat the game with new partners (and with As becoming Bs).

All Change - Conversations

The class divides into pairs and decide on who is 'A' and who is 'B'.
The teacher then gives the class a simple and straightforward topic for
conversation, or a situation (e.g.: A is a local in the town and B is a
stranger. B is asking the way to the station.)
They converse for a minute or two and then the teacher interrupts with
fresh instructions that alter the situation partially but not completely (e.g.:
Now A is old and deaf; or, now B is a rich and famous person).
Teacher continues to make changes, with increasing swiftness and
strangeness, as the game progresses.

32

Join in
The class sits in a circle and the teacher asks for a volunteer to start the
game.
The volunteer thinks of a mime--either a task or an activity--that involves
a lot of people doing different things (e.g.: building a house; shopping at a
supermarket).
The volunteer begins the mime he has thought of.
The teacher then indicates different members of the class who must join
in, either assisting the first person or using the location he has chosen.
The teacher's aim is to get as many people in the class involved as he can,
and in as short as time as possible.

Gibberish Sentences
I invented this game when my Fourth Graders were studying immigrants. It is
designed to get the students thinking about what it must be like for someone
who is suddenly thrust into a world in which he or she doesn't speak the
language or understand the culture. It's extremely simple, but it shows how
even simple drama activities can be constructed to directly support other
curriculum.

Preparation
Before class, prepare some index cards--at least twice as many as there are
students in your group--each with one simple sentence written on it. These
should be sentences that are fairly elementary and important--basic
communications. A complete list of the sentences in one of my decks of cards is
at the bottom of this lesson.

Play the Game

Students sit in a semi-circle. One student volunteers to go to the front, and
glances at the top card in the pile. (Sometimes I manipulate the deck so that the
most advanced students get the hardest sentences.) The student's job is to
communicate the precise meaning of the sentence as efficiently as possible
without the use of spoken language. (Sometimes I say without making any
sound, but usually I allow sounds as long as they are not words. The title of the
game comes from the fact that I sometimes allow the students to speak
"gibberish" as they gesture.) The student must imagine that he or she is a
stranger in a new country and does not speak a word of the language.

33

Students raise their hands and try to guess the meaning of the sentence. I do not,
of course, insist on exact words, but I am fairly picky about precise shades of
meaning. (For example, if the card says, "I like your new haircut," I do not allow
"Is that a new haircut?" but I do allow "Nice haircut!") Depending on the success
of the class and the sophistication of the particular sentence, I may coach and
hint--"you're close!" etc. After a minute or two if no one has guessed the student
tells the class what his sentence was. If this happens I always ask the class for
suggestions for how the student could have made the meaning clear.
I play the game until everyone has had a turn, or until time up.

Discussion
I don't ordinarily set aside time at the end of class for discussion, but I am
constantly alert for the opportunity for analysis, discussion and critical thinking
during the game. If a student is successful only after a long time, or with a lot of
elaborate pantomiming, I open up a discussion about what might have been a
more efficient way to convey the meaning. When someone comes up with a
gesture that is a cliche--like the "check mark" in the air for "check, please!"--I
applaud its efficiency but then discuss the way that gestures

Sentences
Below are all the sentences from my deck of sentence cards (in no particular
order):
I have a toothache.
I like your new haircut.
Where is the exit?
That is a very beautiful hat.
I've missed my bus.
Please don't shout.
Are you my mother?
Is this your hat?
Who's in charge here?
May I take your order?
My feet hurt.
I can't find my shoes.
Does the train stop here?
Stop, in the name of the law.
I'm thirsty.
It looks like rain.
What a beautiful day!
We're going to be late.
This food is spoiled.
Get off my lawn!

34

My head hurts.
Where is the telephone?
Do you have a pen?
Leave me alone!
I'm cold.
I'm hungry.
My leg is broken.
Have you seen my dog?
You mustn't smoke in here!

Social Roles Game

I created this game for use with my Fifth Graders, who use a world history
survey in their Social Studies classes. We play the game several times during the
year, but with greater sophistication each time, and with different social roles at
its center, reflecting the students' growing sense of the complexity of social
politics.

Preparation
Before class, prepare a set of index cards, each with a different "social role"
written on it. These should be mostly social roles that exist cross culturally--such
as priest or farmer--but may also include a few that are specific to a culture-pharaoh, for example. My cards include the following roles: Farmer, Gatherer,
Hunter, Caregiver, Shaman, Priest, King, Slave, Laborer, Child, Teacher, Student,
Parent, Scribe, Artist, Thinker. Many others are possible. Note that in most
societies a person might occupy several roles--for instance, parent, teacher and
caregiver, or child, student and laborer. If the lesson is intended to support a
specific Social Studies curriculum, I make sure the prominent social roles of that
society are represented, and that I am aware of those roles which will be
especially difficult to conceptualize. (For example, ancient Egypt had slaves,
kings, teachers, priests, farmers, scribes, etc., and these are roles that are easy to
think about in relation to ancient Egypt, but roles like Shaman are less likely to
make sense to students in terms of ancient Egypt, and roles like caregivers,
parents, children and students will be challenging because most textbooks,
including the one my students use, seem mostly unaware of the obvious fact that
such people must have existed in Egypt. I don't necessarily take those cards out
of the deck, but I try to be aware of the extra challenges they present.

35

Pre-Game Discussion
I begin the lesson by discussing the concept of social roles with my students. We
talk about the ways that cultures have evolved a division of labor, and about the
increasing specialization of roles as cultures mature. Just in the three or four
centuries since Europeans first began to settle in what is now the United States,
our culture has moved from on in which most everyone personally did most of
the work related to individual survival--hunted, farmed, built homes, educated
their children, etc.--to one in which most people have an extremely specific task
in the larger fabric of society, and wouldn't have the first idea how to perform
someone else's role. In addition to specialization, societies also tend to develop
classes and disparities in wealth and position. We discuss the phenomenon
generally and as it relates specifically to the cultures the students are currently
studying. Then I lead the discussion toward the commonalties between social
roles in different cultures. Many very different cultures have had Shamans,
whether they were called by that name or not, and even though on the surface
these holy men and women may have been quite different, it is easy to see that
all occupied or occupy a similar place in their respective worlds. The same can
be said about kings, whether called King, Emperor, Pharaoh, whatever. Do we
not have a subgroup in our own culture that can be compared to the serfs in
Medieval Europe? Or to the folks who built the Pyramids? Since I usually do
this lesson with Fifth Graders, the discussion can get pretty involved, and I try
not to rush it.

Playing the Game

The rules of the game are pretty simple once the prep work has been done. The
group sits in a circle. One volunteer goes to the center of the circle and glances at
the top card in the deck. (The honest truth is that I often manipulate the deck so
that I control who gets what card--that way I can keep everyone challenged
without frustrating anyone unduly.) Once the student has seen which "social
role" he is to occupy, he begins to pantomime an activity that we might expect
such a person to engage in. (For example, if the card said "Teacher" the student
might pantomime writing on a blackboard, or lecturing an unruly child.) The
rest of the group is trying to guess the social role, but they do not call out their
guesses. Rather, as they think they know the social role, other students join the
first one in the circle, to pantomime a different activity that illustrates the same
social role. (If one student pantomimes writing on the board, the next might
pantomime reading aloud to the class.) More students join the circle, until most
of the class is on its feet. Then the leader stops the play and asks someone (not
the one who started it all) what he thinks the social role is. Often this student
will have been doing the wrong role, but usually by going around the room you
can find some who had it right. I am always careful not to make it seem like the

36

first student's failure if no one got it, but I also have to guard against the
tendency in some students to try to make it difficult. The goal, I tell my students,
is for everyone to get it right. But it's a team effort. We repeat the game with
new social roles as time allows.

Post-Game Processing
This game leads naturally into quite a bit of discussion. We talk about what
made certain social roles easier to guess than others. If there were any rounds of
the game that went spectacularly badly--no one guessed the right answer, or
almost everyone guessed the same wrong answer--we discuss what happened. I
often find that this is a great opportunity to talk about rumor and stereotyping.
What frequently happens is that one of the first people to join the initiator in the
circle guesses wrong, and begins to pantomime an activity appropriate to a
different social role. Subsequent participants are influenced by this guess, and so
more and more people start off on this wrong tack. I try to get the students to see
the parallel between this and what happens in their own school society (for
example) when a rumor is started. The person who starts the rumor may not
mean any harm--he may just be incorrect, but pretty soon the rumor takes on a
life of its own and even if the original person realizes his mistake, it is too late. I
try to let the discussion go where it wants to go.

The Jeffrey Game

I wrote this lesson after a third-grade student, Jeffrey, suggested the idea to me.
It is basically a mirroring game. If carefully taught and supervised it can help
students learn to isolate movements and to really look. Jeffrey's class enjoyed it,
and I hope yours will too. Although the game was originally designed for Third
Grade, I think it would work well with older, or even adult actors as an
improvisation game.

Preparation
Some work is necessary before the game can be played. I do most of this work
anyway with my Drama classes, but if you don't you will need to prepare your
students for the game. Students must practice moving in a very self-aware way.
They need to be able to analyze their movement so that they know precisely
what they are doing. The work of Rudolf Laban is helpful here, but not
necessary. A basic concept I use is that a movement--any movement--can be
changed in a number of specific ways. Among them:

37

Change the size of the movement. A movement can be made

wider or narrower, higher or lower, deeper or shallower. (I
demonstrate these three concepts by walking--and having the
students walk. One can make the walk wider or narrower by
widening or narrowing the stance and swinging the arms further
away or closer to the body. Once can make the walk higher or
lower by walking on tiptoe or slouching. One can make the walk
deeper by taking larger steps or swinging the arms further forward
and back.)
Change the time of the movement. A movement can be made
slower or faster. (When my students are sophisticated enough to
grasp it, I include time in the size category--as the "fourth"
dimension.)
Change the weight of the movement. This is pure Laban. I
demonstrate by walking how a movement can be light or heavy.
(An angry schoolteacher may walk heavily; a ballet dancer may
move lightly.)
Change the direction of the movement. Also from Laban. A
movement can be direct--moving to a specific point without
veering off the path--or indirect--wandering aimlessly.
Change the tension of the movement. The muscles can be loose
and relaxed or tense and constricted.
Change the focus of the movement. I made up this category, but it
is easy for my students to understand and really helps with
emotional work. Focus is basically the direction of the gaze, with
usually a corresponding curve of the body. (Think of the difference
between a downcast person walking about staring at the floor and
a proud, happy person striding about with his chin up.)
Change the shape of the movement (or change the kind of
movement). This is the most basic and the most grand kind of
change. It consists of actually changing to a different movement--a
walk become a run or a crawl; reaching out a hand becomes
reaching out a foot--or completely changing a component part of
the movement--stop swinging arms while walking; reach out with
a closed fist rather than with an open hand. This is really pretty
easy for children to understand, despite its complexity. It is

38

important to remember, however, to focus on one movement at a

time.
(The above is taken from another lesson, "Emotion Walk." Check it
out for more into.)
Once I have explained and demonstrated, with volunteers, these ways of
changing a movement, I have the students walk about in the space, while I take
them through each element in turn. "Keep everything else the same, but change
the tension of your muscles." "Keep everything else the same, but change the
speed of the movement." I continue this work until I believe the students have
grasped the idea of isolating and changing elements one at a time.
Usually I do a whole period of work on this, ending with a discussion of the way
that changing one element can change the whole feeling or emotion of the
movement. For a more detailed description of this work, see "Emotion Walk." If
the goal is just to play the Jeffrey Game, it need not take a whole period.

Play the Game

To begin with, one student (or the teacher, if this will eliminate conflict) invents a
short movement sequence. For example, he might walk four steps, bend and tie
his shoe. The whole class practices this movement sequence until they can
imitate it pretty accurately.
Once the movement is familiar, someone volunteers to change it. That student
must repeat the movement exactly, but making one change. He may only change
one element of one movement. (In our example, he might walk faster, or he
might bend deeper, or he might massage his ankle instead of tying his shoe.)
This continues, with each new volunteer making exactly one change. (In our
example, eventually someone will change the bend. If that happens before the
shoe-tying has been changed, clearly he will not be able to tie his shoe if he hasn't
bent. But he can still pretend to tie it, thus not actually changing the movement of
tying.)
The movement sequence will grow less and less like the original. The teacher
must side-coach to keep the sequence clearly defined, and to keep each student
to one change. This is not a guessing game--it is fine (and usually a good idea)
for the teacher to say out loud what each change is. As the game progresses,
particularly if the group is pretty sophisticated, the sequence will evolve into
something else with a clear meaning. (For example, after ten or fifteen changes

39

the example sequence might have become crawling four steps, picking up a toy,
and putting it in the mouth.)

Finally, the hard part. (For advanced groups only.)

See how few people it takes to change the movement back to the original
sequence. Side coach carefully to avoid "cheating" by changing more than one
element at a time. This is a real exercise in teamwork, because the each person's
change depends on the previous change. With older groups, try it with the
whole group consulting on each change, so that the transformation can be
accomplished in the fewest steps.

Variation
Try it with more than one person moving at a time. This can be part of a contact
improv exercise, for example.

Mirror, Mirror
This is not really one lesson, but several activities all stemming from the idea of
mirroring. I introduce mirrors with my very youngest students, as a control
device--see "Mirrors!" below--and by the second grade we are doing fairly
elaborate activities and games with mirrors--see "Who Began?" or "Mirror
Canon" below. Yet I continue to use even the "Basic Mirrors" exercise with older
children and even adults. Mirroring is a way of developing concentration skills,
and of honing those skills. It can be used to help cast members bond, and
develop that instant communication so necessary for really fine theatre. It
teaches careful observation skills, which serve students well not only in the
Theatre, where it helps them to develop accurate and believable
characterizations, but in all aspects of their increasingly complex life. Plus, it is a
lot of fun! Try the ideas below, or make up your own. Good luck!

Basic Mirrors
You are probably familiar with this activity. I certainly didn't invent it.
Everyone takes a partner. (If there is an odd number, the teacher pairs with
someone.) Partners stand facing each other, about three feet apart. One is the
leader, the other, the "mirror." Moving only from the waist up, the leader begins
to make simple gestures or movements. The "mirror" duplicates the leader's
movments exactly--just as a mirror would. (Some students have trouble with the

40

right-left shift. If the leader raises his right hand, the "mirror" should raise his
left, just as the figure in a real mirror would. When they fail to do this, I tell
students they are being a "video" instead of a mirror.)
Most students will want to make this harder than they should. The goal is to
mirror the partner perfectly. I tell my students that if they are doing a good job, I
will not be able to tell who is the leader and who is the "mirror." I coach them to
use smooth, continuous movements, because abrupt movements almost always
catch the "mirror" lagging. I coach them to look into each others' eyes, rather
than at their hands, because this facitates more precise communication. I try to
keep them from using their lower bodies until they have really mastered the
arms-and-face mirroring.
I challenge my students to really focus on the process. I point out that it is the
leader's job, as much as the "mirror's" to see that the exercise works. The leader
does not try to trick his partner--on the contrary, he works very hard not to trick
him. It is the leader's responsibilty to perform movements that the "mirror" can
follow precisely. I remind the leaders that they should be looking right at their
partners, because their partners must look at them, and therefore the only way
the mirror illusion can be perfect is if the leader also looks at the partner. (If the
leader looks away, and the "mirror" duplicates this movement, the "mirror" can
no longer see the leader to mirror him.)
Once you've got all the students concentrating on mirroring, have them switch
leaders a few times. At first, every time they switch leaders they'll have to start
over, but they should reach the point where they can switch leaders in midstream, without interrupting the smooth folow of movement. If the group is
older and advanced enough, see if they can switch leaders without
communicating ahead of time. (When the "mirror" feels it is time to take over, he
simply takes over, and the original leader is sensitive enough to perceive it and
become the "mirror.")
Eventually this exercise can grow to involve the whole body, and even
movement in space (locomotion), but be wary of beginning this too soon. I
usually don't do it at all except with my older students. It is too difficult. I use
the metaphor of model building. Some people buy the biggest, most elaborate
model kit they can find, and take pleasure in building something really
complicated. But others take their pleasure out of making a simpler model
absolutely perfect in every detail. The second attitude is the one it is

41

Mirrors!
This is my principle control device with my younger students. An instructor of
mine had a tambourine he carried with him. The sound of the tamborine was a
signal for everyone to freeze and be silent. Others use a hand signal, a whistle
(ugh) or switching off the lights. In Drama class you really need some such
device, because you are frequently setting the students loose to process all at
once, and you need a way to bring everyone back to earth. I use mirrors. All of
my students, from pre-kindergarten up, learn that whenever the teacher calls
out, "Mirrors!" they are to drop what they're doing and become mirrors of the
teacher. We discuss the fact that mirrors do not talk, but move just like the
person looking in the mirror. This is an extremely effective control device
because it takes real concentration to mirror accurately, so the students not only
stop, but stay stopped. We practice this in the first few classes every year
("Okay, let's all get a little crazy. . .Mirrors!"). It works. And since I nearly
always begin my movements with a characteristic gesture, it works even when
the noise in the room has grown too loud for me to be heard.

Circle Mirror
This is really only a way of practicing for the game, "Who Began?" The class
stands in a circle, about arms' length apart. (The easiest way to make such a
circle is to join hands, extend the circle out as far as it will stretch, then drop
arms.) The leader performs simple arm movements, and everyone in the circle
"mirrors." Immediately the problem of left/right rears its head. Those opposite
the leader in the circle will instinctively reverse them, like a mirror, but those
next to or nearly next to the leader in the circle will want to do same-side
movments. Those half way in between will be torn. Usually I tell my students
that for this exercise, left and right don't matter. Plus I usually do movments
with both arms together. This is a good way of working with a class whose
members are having difficulty focusing in pairs. Since the teacher's eye is on
everyone--circles are nice that way--sometimes such students are better able to
concentrate.

Who Began?
This is a game I have seen under a number of different names. It is a natural
outgrowth of the "Circle Mirror," and can be used as a motivational tool for
getting students to take mirrors more seriously. (My students live in an
extremely sports-centered world, and any kind of competition is instantly
attractive to them.)

42

Begin with a circle just like in "Circle Mirror." Practice making very smooth,
rhythmic movements. The best kind of movements for this game are ones that
repeat in rhythm, and gradually change. (A true pattern won't work--it is
essential that changes happen.) Once the group is good at this kind of
movement, someone is chosen to be "it." That person then leaves the room or
turns his back, and the teacher chooses someone in the circle to be the leader.
The leader begins to move, and the rest of the class to mirror. "It" is invited back
into the circle, and must try to guess who the leader is. The more perfect the
mirroring, the more difficult this will be, until, theoretically, it becomes
impossible. I usually give "it" three guesses before I declare the thing a draw. A
new "it" is chosen and the game is repeated. As the game is played, I coach the
leader as necessary to vary the movement, or to make it more smooth, or
whatever, but always addressing him as "leader," and never looking at him.
I usually don't introduce stratetgy until we have played a few times. I like the
students to come up with the strategies, rather than having them handed to
them. But there are some basic strategies that make the game harder for "it" to
win:
Don't all look at the leader. At first this seems like a contradiction,
but the students eventually realize that as long as some people-probably the ones opposite the leader in the circle--are looking at
the leader, the rest can look at those people. usually the best thing
is for everyone to "mirror" someone opposite them in the circle.
This means "it" cannot pick the leader by following everyone's eyes.
Leader look at someone. The leader is the only person in the circle
who is not compelled to look at someone else. If he allows his eyes
to wander, "it" can easily pick him out this way.
Don't make noise. Any movement--such as clapping, snapping or
slapping--that makes a sound will give the leader away, since he
will probably be slightly ahead of everyone else.
Again, rather than telling my students these "rules" I coach them to
figure them out for themselves.

Mirror Canon
This can be very beautiful when it works. It can also be used as a tie-in with a
music curriculum, because the canon form is very important in music.
Everyone stands in a circle. Everyone turns to the left (or right, as long as
everyone turns the same way) so that they are looking at the back of the next
person. One person is chosen to be the leader, and begins to make simple
43

movements. (The leader must be careful not to bring his arms fully in front of
him.) The person behind the leader mirrors him, but with a "delay" of about a
second. The third person mirrors the second, again with a one-second delay, and
so on around the circle. Eventually the leader will see his own movements
recreated in the person in front of him--but delayed by many seconds. The effect
for someone standing in the middle of the circle is of a "wave" of movement
making its way around the circle. For the leader, the reward is seeing that
movement come back to him.
I recommend that the teacher not participate in this exercise, but rather watch
closely to make sure it is working. All it takes is one student not paying attention
to put a stop to the "wave," and you need to be there to light a fire under any
such students. You also might like to pull a few students out of the group at a
time and let them watch from inside the circle, because it is so cool.

Variation 1: Once the canon is working in the circle, you can spread the people
about the room randomly. Each person must remember who he is mirroring,
and make sure he can see that person, but other than that they can be anywhere
in the room. This is much more difficult, because there is usually at least one
person closer than the one we're supposed to be mirroring, and we have to
concentrate on the person we're supposed to mirror while ignoring the others.
But when it works the students feel a great sense of acomplishment.

Variation 2: For advanced students. Find an actual musical canon--something

simple!--and listen to it a few times. Two-part is probably best. Work in pairs.
The leader imporvises movements in time with the music (the first part of the
canon). The partner mirrors the movements in time with the second voice of the
canon, so that music and movement work together.

Movement Telephone
I learned this from a member of the National Theatre of the Deaf. Basically it is
movement version of the child's game we used to call "Telephone" when I was a
kid. The kids in PA call it "Whisper Down the Lane." I'm talking about the game
in which children sit in a circle and whisper a message from person to person.
By the time the message gets back to its original source, it has invariably
changed, usually with humorous results. I usually play "Telephone" with my
students before introducing "Movement Telephone."
Students stand in a straight line, facing the back of the room. The teacher stands
at the back of the line and taps the last person on the shoulder. That person turns
around to face the teacher. The teacher performs a very simple series of hand
movements. Only the last person in line can see this, because the rest of the class
44

are facing the other way. Then that person taps the next person in line, and
passes the movement on. Eventually the movement series makes its way all the
way to the front of the line. Then the teacher shows the whole class what the
original movement looked like, and everyone marvels at how much it has
changed.
Often when I teach this activity, I use it as a jumping-off point to talk about the
way that rumors and innuendo can get started. If even in a class in which
everyone is doing his best to get things exactly right, an idea can change so much
in transit, is it any wonder that half-truths and even utter falsehoods can arise
from honest if catty gossip? The resulting discussions are often illuminating.

Fun House Mirrors

Everyone has seen those mirrors in fun houses that make you look taller or
shorter, etc. They are the metaphor behind the following mirroring variations.

Magnifying Mirrors
Work in pairs. The leader tries to keep his movements "small," but
the "mirror" makes all the movements "bigger." This is lots of fun,
and calls for imagination, because it is not always obvious how to
make a movement "bigger."

Shrinking Mirrors
Like "Magnifying Mirrors," but in reverse.

Opposite, or Video Mirrors

The "mirror" does not reverse left and right. This allows for some
very interesting effects, because unlike regular mirrors, it allows
the partners to enter each other's space. In regular mirrors the
partners can touch, but can go no further because the point of
contact becomes the imaginary glass of the mirror. But in
"Opposite Mirrors" the partners can even move around each other
and change places.

Emotion Mirrors
You can do this in pairs, or with the whole class mirroring the teacher. In
unison, the leader and the "mirror"(s) speak some familiar speech. (This could be
something like the Pledge of Allegiance or the lyrics to a familiar song, or it
could even be reciting the alphabet or counting.) The leader tries to change his
emotional affect frequently during the speech, and the "mirror"(s) try to
45

duplicate the leader's emotions exactly. No attempt is made to mirror the

leader's physicality--the point is to mirror his emotions. This is a great acting
exercise for experienced and beginning actors.
Try out these variations, too!

Enlarging or Shrinking Emotion Mirrors

Mirror the emotions of the leader, but make them "bigger" (If the
leader is mildly put out, the "mirror" is furious.) or "smaller."

Opposite Emotion Mirrors

You figure it out.

Use Emotion Mirrors in a Scene

This is an interesting exercise to try with a cast who is having
trouble connecting to a script. Run through a scene, but with all the
actors "mirroring" one actor's emotions. Then try it again,
"mirroring" a different actor. Interesting discoveries here!

Sculpture Gallery
I learned this activity, with modifications, from Sharon Grady at the University
of Texas. I use it with first, second and third grade classes and my Summer
mixed groups. It helps students become comfortable with their bodies, learn to
express ideas and emotions kinesthetically, and learn to trust each other. It gives
every child a chance to shine and be the star in two very different ways. My
students also really enjoy it.
First Part: Creating the Sculptures
Divide the class into pairs. In each pair, one student is the
"sculptor" and one the "clay."
The sculptor "sculpts" his or her partner's body into a statue of his
or her choosing. The sculptor may do this by physically moving the
partner's body into position, or by showing the "clay" how to stand.
The sculptor pays close attention to even small details like facial
expression or the position of a finger. When the "sculpture" is
finished, she or he freezes. (It the position is difficult or impossible
to hold, the "sculpture" may memorized it and then relax until her
or his turn in the "tour" arrives.

46

Second Part: Gallery Tour

Once all of the artists have finished their masterpieces, I call them
together in the center of the room. The "sculptures" remain in place
around the room. In role as a museum guide, I conduct a tour of the
"gallery." When we reach each work, the artist who made it steps
forward and explains his or her work to the group. In this way we
make a complete tour, giving each artist a chance to show off and
describe his or her work. (Once a "sculpture" has been viewed, she
or he may relax and join the group on the rest of the tour.
Once the "tour" is finished, the partners switch roles and the
process is repeated.
In our discussions afterwards I always ask the students, "How
many artists created each statue?" At first they usually answer,
"one," but I coach them to see that the "clay" is an artist too, since
each one is different, and no matter how carefully he tried, an artist
could not make exactly the same statue with a different partner.
Being human and not clay, the "sculpture" makes real contribution
to the work of art. This is a good introduction to the relationship
between playwright, director, and actor-the actor makes a real
contribution even if she does exactly what the director says every
time, just as even the most slavishly literal director makes a
contribution in addition to that of the playwright.

The Following Information can be Found at:

http://www.aspa.asn.au/Projects/english/dgwup.htm

Fruit Bowl/Anyone Who

Class in a circle.
Each child sits on a chair.
Teacher is in the middle and explains the rules of the game.
Students think of four things (eg. anyone who had breakfast, anyone
who likes rap music, anyone who has a watch on, anyone who watches
a particular TV program).
When the person in the middle calls out something you have on, have
done, have seen etc, you must leave your chair and move to another
47

one, BUT YOU MUST NOT SIT ON A CHAIR ON EITHER SIDE OF

THE CHAIR YOU ARE PRESENTLY SITTING ON.
The person left without a chair (the teacher is participating) becomes
the person in the middle, calling out the next criteria for moving. The
person in the middle must speak quickly and clearly.
VARIATIONS: Students crawl, moonwalk, walk backwards (start with
hands on chairs), run, twist, skip, jump to chairs.

Murder Winks
Students sit cross-legged in a circle.
They close their eyes and the teacher goes around the room silently
and gently taps four students on the head - these are the murderers.
The murderers kill by winking at people.
All students are told to open their eyes and they MUST keep looking at
all of the class members. If they are winked at they must die (there can
be a few minutes' delay).
Each victim chooses a way of dying, eg. shot, strangled, poisoned, and
must enact this method of dying with style while falling FLAT ONTO
THEIR STOMACHS facing towards the center of the circle. They are
NOW SILENT UNTIL THE END OF THE GAME.
If a murderer winks at someone and they don't die, he/she says
nothing as the other person may be another murderer and
MURDERERS DO NOT KILL OTHER MURDERERS.
The people who are not murderers are detectives. At any stage they
can guess aloud (via raising their hand and asking the teacher) if
another student is a murderer. If they are correct the murderer dies,
but if the detective is wrong he/she dies.
The game ends when either all of the murderers or all of the detectives
are dead.

Magician's Power
The teacher takes on the role of the almighty powerful Magician who
holds in his/her hands the most potent power of the universe (the
Magician's hands and arms begin to shake with the awesome power
and he/she begins to hum, slowly making it louder and louder).
Meanwhile the students who have been seated in a circle begin to hum
also.
The Magician explains hat he/she is going to send the power to other
magicians, but warns that those magicians seated either side of the one
holding the POWER will be shrivelled if they don't protect themselves

48

by raising the hand and placing it on the cheek nearest to the person
holding the POWER.
The POWER is passed by throwing it with great force to another whilst
calling out their name
Noises accompany the passing of the power, such as room ro shhooom.
Every time someone is shrivelled, he/she leaves the circle.
The winners are the last two magicians.

TRUST GAMES
The purpose of trust exercises is to have students define and consider the
importance of the concept of trust and the safety and responsibility, elements
involved in relying and supporting one another. Trust between students is
critical to the success of role plays and Readers Theatre.

Trust Run
Students are in pairs
Students line up like a race, one partner behind the other, facing the
finish line which the teacher has marked out.
The person behind closes his/her eyes and holds onto the hands of the
person in front.
The teacher says "Go!" and the students race off. Once they reach the
line they swap places and race back. The most difficult thing is to keep
your eyes closed.

Dead Body
Students lie on the floor, two lines with heads touching, feet pointing
in opposite directions, shoulders touching and the bodies interlock by
one person's head fitting snugly into the space between the neck and
shoulder of the person next to them. There should be no gaps.
The DEAD BODY is the lightest person to begin with, they stand and
lie straight and stiff, with head thrown back. If the body becomes limp,
then it is hard to pass.
The stiff body is lowered onto the upraised arms, elbows bent, palms
flat of a group of students at one end and pushed along until it is lifted
off the other end.

49

Trust Train
Students form a straight line, hands on the waist of the person in front
and close their eyes, except for the reader, who is called the engine
driver.
Starting slowly the Driver begins to walk, tooting occasionally.
The driver picks up speed and begins detouring, going around
imaginary curves etc. The aim is for the train to stay attached.

50

Creating Drama with Poetry

The Following Information can be Found at:
http://www.cal.org/ericcll/digest/gaspar01.html

Creating drama with poetry is an exciting language learning experience.

The technique employs a multi-sensory approach to language acquisition
by involving second language learners physically, emotionally, and
cognitively in the language learning process. The use of poetry as drama
in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom enables the students
to explore the linguistic and conceptual aspects of the written text without
concentrating on the mechanics of language. Students are able to develop
a sense of awareness of self in the mainstream culture through the
dramatic interpretations of the poems.
Second language acquisition becomes internalized as a direct result of
placing the learners in situations that seem real. The students use the
target language for the specific purpose of communication. They
experiment with non-verbal communicative aspects of language (body
language, gestures, and facial expressions), as well as verbal aspects
(intonation, rhythm, stress, slang, and idiomatic expressions), while
interpreting the poems. The students begin to feel the language and gain
the confidence to interact outside the classroom using the target language.
Some poems are mini-dramas, often written in dialogue form, and are
suitable for dramatization because they are short and usually have one
simple, but strong emotional theme. "Poems which express strong
emotions, attitudes, feelings, opinions, or ideas are usually more
'productive' than those which are gentle, descriptive, or neutral"
(Tomlinson, p. 36, 1986). Students become engaged in free flowing
extemporaneous conversations as they interact with one another prior to
the dramatizations and during the improvisations. The students compare
and contrast cultural behaviors and attitudes, analyze and explore the
linguistic and conceptual differences between the written and spoken
word, and interact cooperatively to orchestrate the dramatizations and
improvisations.

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The Role of the Teacher

In this technique, students have more responsibility for their own
learning. However, this does not diminish the importance of the teacher in
the instructional process. It is the responsibility of the teacher to guide the
language learning process by:
modeling pronunciation, intonation, stress, rhythm, and oral
expression;
facilitating comprehension of vocabulary, idioms, cultural aspects,
and plot;
stimulating interest and conversation, and interacting with the
students;
establishing an acting workshop atmosphere;
creating a student-participatory language learning experience.

Implementing this Technique in the Classroom

In this approach, the teacher provides students with the background to
the poem and introduces difficult or unusual vocabulary. The teacher then
reads the poem aloud to the students. After the poem is read aloud, the
class discusses it together. Students then listen again as the teacher rereads the poem. In the next step, the students read the poem chorally and
then take turns reading it aloud individually.
The students then prepare to dramatize the poem by selecting character
roles and discussing scenery, props, lighting, and costumes. Students
rehearse the dramatization of the poem and then do an improvisation
based on the poem. After experimenting with character interactions and
dialogues, the class discusses the improvisation.

Examples of Poems that Have Been Used Successfully in the

ESL Classroom
One dramatization of a poem that has been used successfully and is
recommended for high intermediate or advanced adult ESL learners is
John Wakeman's Love in Brooklyn. Students portray characters in a love
relationship and compare and contrast cultural views [..."I love you,
Horowitz," he said, and blew his nose. She splashed her drink..."]. They
can experiment with colloquialisms, epithets, and slang and learn to use
language appropriate for different interpersonal situations [..."The hell
you say," he said.] [..."You wanna bet?" he asked.]. Dramatization also
allows students the opportunity to interpret and practice using body

52

language as a means of non-verbal communication [..."She took his hand

in hers and pressed it hard. And his plump fingers trembled in her lap."].
Why Did the Children Put Beans in Their Ears? by Carl Sandburg is one
poem that is recommended for beginning and low intermediate
adolescent and adult ESL learners. Students portray a husband and wife
who ask two rhetorical questions about why children do things that they
are expressly told not to do ["Why did the children put beans in their
ears..."] [..."Why did the children pour molasses on the cat..."]. Through
the convey the frustrated interchange between the disgruntled and
bewildered characters [..."when the one thing we told the children they
must not do was..."].
Woodpecker in Disguise, by Grace Taber Hallock is recommended for
advanced beginner and low intermediate level young children. Students
take turns being the narrator ["Woodpecker taps at the apple tree."]
["...says he."] ["Little bug says..."] ["Woodpecker says..."]. Students
portraying the woodpecker practice using body gestures ["Woodpecker
taps at the door."] and asking questions ["...Who is it, sir?"].dramatization,
students can utilize intonation, rhythm, stress, body language, facial
expressions, and gestures to
Read This with Gestures, by John Ciardi, is recommended for advanced
beginner and low intermediate level young children. During the
dramatization, one student speaks to one or more people ["It isn't proper, I
guess you know,..."] In the improvisation, students may cooperatively
dialogue the four actions; the students read, dramatize, and improvise the
poem with gestures as indicated by the poem's title ["...dip your hands-like this--in the snow..."] ["...make a snowball..."] ["...look for a hat..."]
["...try to knock it off--like that!"].

Suggestions For The Teacher

The ESL teacher needs to create a poetry file by carefully selecting and
categorizing a substantial variety of poems. In selecting poems, special
consideration must be given to appropriateness of the following:
students' language level skills
students' ages
students' interests

53

Categorizing poems makes them easy to reference and integrate into other
instructional disciplines (i.e., science, health, math, and citizenship) and
themes (i.e., holidays and seasons).
To further facilitate the communicative approach to second language
acquisition, the ESL teacher can record the dramatizations and
improvisations. A great deal of conversation will be stimulated when the
students relive their experiences through tape recordings, video
recordings, and still photography.
The teacher should plan follow-up activities about the dramatizations and
improvisations that allow for individual expression of the cooperative
experience. The students can illustrate and write about the activity or
poem. Future lessons can also include the dramatization and
improvisation of short stories, fables, and plays. The same techniques and
follow-up activities should be employed.

Conclusion
The use of poetry in the ESL classroom enables students to explore the
linguistic and conceptual aspects of the written text without concentrating
on the mechanics of language. The dramatization of poetry is a powerful
tool in stimulating learning while acquiring a second language because
the learners become intellectually, emotionally, and physically involved in
the target language within the framework of the new culture.
Poetry rich in dialogue provides students with a dramatic script. Drama
places the learners in situations that seem real. Learners use the target
language for specific purposes, language is more easily internalized and,
therefore, language is remembered.

54

Play Production in the Classroom

The Following Information can be Found at:
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1980/3/80.03.07.x.html

Sample Activities:

Warm ups
There are literally thousands of warm up exercises already written up and
thousands of variations still to be discovered. Any activity that unatiffens both
physically and mentally is a warm up. It also drastically alters the learning
environment; students are doing something with their bodies at all times. This
should be done every time you begin a drama session.
Objectives:
To heighten awareness of all parts of the body. To encourage physical rather than
verbal description.
Sample Warm Ups:

Whatever the Weather

Explanation
The students become a forest of trees under your direction.
Procedure: Plant students in many patterns (circles, lines, etc.) but with lots of
room to move. Remind them that their feet are roots; bodies are trunks; arms are
major branches; hands, fingers, head, even hair are smaller twigs and leaves.
Assign different types of trees to different people (or let them describe
themselves as particular trees in a writing assignment prior to this warm up).
Now, the teacher-director (making appropriate sounds, of course, sets the forest
in motion by changing the weather: a hurricane, a breeze, an early morning calm,
a drenching rain, a sunshower.

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This exercise may take several minutes at first. Shorter warm ups, involving only
a couple of minutes, can be used after several sessions. Flexibility and relaxation
are essential if more complicated activities are to succeed. Here are two such
exercises:

Shake Out
Procedure:
Students are directed to shake each part of their bodies, including toes, noses,
elbows, eyebrows, until they feel completely shaken out.

The Fat About the Thin

Procedure:
Procedure: Students must make parts of their bodies as thin as possible while
making other parts wide and fat.
Then, they must use their entire bodies to become a fat thing or a thin thing.

Theatre Games
Once the juices are flowing, your students are ready to join forces. You dont
want to rush them into thinking too hard. Dialogue interfere at such an early
stage because they are still battling with their bodies. You want them to enjoy
experimenting with ways to discipline their movements. Coupled with warm
ups, the games should be used in the first two or three classes. They can be reintroduced whenever the students need to discover some new movement or to
simply relax during a tense session.
Sample Games:

Tug-O-War
Using an imaginary rope and a real floor boundary, divide the group into two
lines at each end of the rope. As they begin to pull, the teacher-director
announces which side has the advantage, which is growing in strength, losing
ground, and so on. The group must follow both directions and the feeling the
line shares.

Masks
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Procedure:
Beginning with pairs of students, have partners each create a facial expression
that matches a feeling (e.g. frustration). Sweeping both hands across the face,
each clears his/hers face of the old expression and a mask of a new feeling
appears as the hands are removed. The pairs discuss whether or not they
successfully portrayed the chosen feelings. Suggestions and comparisons aid in
establishing a usable repertoire of expressions for more complicated activities.

Role Playing
Logically, the combination of the games (very physical) and personal
observations leads to this next step: creating characterizations. Role play allows
students to use imitation as a learning tool. They also begin to feel related to the
characters they are attempting to make believable. Role playing should start
when the teacher-director senses that the students are beginning to establish
character types in their games. Step three should continue until many characters
types have been tried by all. These exercises easily overlap into the realm o
improvisation when they are expanded to include some kind of change during
the scene.
Sample Role Plays:

Exact Change
Procedure:
A student has an imaginary basket of groceries. Objects must be placed on the
conveyor belt (different sizes weights, and so on). The cash register is watched
with trepidation. As each item is rung up, the student becomes more concerned
with the final cost. Money is counted and recounted.
The final resolution is up to the actor. Suggestions include: stopping the checker
for subtotals; trying to add items still on the belt; removing specific items after
the total is reached; discovering with relief that there is enough money.

At the Library
Procedure:
The student must find the shelf that contains the titles on his/her list. Two or
three volumes must be identified.

Improvisation

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Explanation:
I have isolated Steps four and five on paper where, in practice, they work
together. Every improv that one student begins, others may join. At first,
however, the teacher-director will want to take time to see if each member of the
group can, after working through a warm up, begin to piece together an activity.
Here, the link to role-play is very clear. Exact Change can easily become a
group improv if any other participants and/or dialogue are added. Dialogue
does become the major new element. Language (except for sounds) has, to this
point, become secondary to movement. It is now time to reintegrate the two most
obvious real activitiestalking and movingthat our students do all the time.
The truth of the improvisation comes from the link between their real world
and their created ones.
Improvisation should follow warm ups. Use the technique by itself or as a
prelude to specific cuttings.

The Phone Call

Procedure:
A student starts a particular activity (washing dishes, polishing nails, scrubbing
counters, whatever). The phone rings. The conversation overlaps with the
continued activity. The student must show in what ways each part influences the
other.

Packing
Procedure:
The student is packing a suit case in the privacy of his/her room. He or she is
also talking aloud about the reason for the trip. Whatever feeling the monologue
generates must also be expressed in the way the clothes are handled, packed, etc.
Note: Writing can help here. Allow some time after the improv for the student to
recall his or her own similar (or dissimilar) experience and to describe the
elements that were useful in the presentation.

Group Improvisation
Explanation:
Now the real worlds must begin to mesh with the imaginary ones. Group
improvisation is a practiced dramatic art. Although an improvisation by
definition, occurs only once in a particular way, timing, concentration,
expression, reaction, in fact, all dramatic techniques can be improved. Group
improvisations also test the strength of your ensemble. Students have been

58

both participants and critics. Now they must put it all together without the
structure (or the limitation) of a set script. This is a most useful technique if you
have a specific cutting in mind and if you wish to set up aspects of conflict or
characterization before the students get a taste of the material. Two or three
sessions may be a good beginning, however, improvs should continue well into
actual reading of the plays.

Samples Activities:

Dilemmas
Note: Here are two improvisations that follow the same pattern. A group of
characters are faced with a conflict (a problem) that has two or more possible
solutions. The job of the group is to narrow the choices to only one. Clearly, the
teacher-director must be careful not to overload groups (if there are more than
one) with too many over-powering deciders. Try to balance the groups in the
early stages.
A. Preparation: Students are themselves but the scene has changed.
They all awaken from a deep sleep to discover that they are in a
totally unfamiliar place. They simply cannot recall how they got
there.
Dilemma: Does the group try to adjust or to escape?
B. Preparation: All the characters except one are deaf, or blind, or in
some way handicapped (how convenient for introducing Lauras
limp:)
Dilemma: Does the group accept the normal one as its leaderor slave?
Is he/she masteror outcast?
Note: Try to direct the decision making process into rather than apart from the
action of the improvisation. Unconsciously, the students will be incorporating
their own values, perhaps even their fears, in their decisions. A writing
assignment discussing how they felt about their part in (or alienation from) the
process should be very revealing.

Cutting
Explanation:
Here, back-to-back cuttings are chosen because of the similar postures of the
parents. Both Will and Beatrice are reacting to the loss of happier days. Their
children become symbols of their present immobility, and therefore become
targets for hostility. Students can work up both scenes in separate groups. They

59

can change and rearrange lines as well as block action. They can then compare
what similarities and differences they found in both motivation and presentation.

ON THE ROAD TO PRODUCTIONS

Explanation:
Here is a series of independent activities follow the complete six-step sequence of
the unit. Each exercise has been designed to lead up to the various conflicts
expressed in or actions necessary to a particular cutting. (If we really know a
play, we can reverse the steps in order to devise a logical order for the material.),

Warm Ups
Reach Up-Reach In
Objective:
To get every muscle flexing and moving.
Preparation:
Move all furniture to the far corners of the room.
Procedure:
1. Form a line with at least a foot between each student.
2. Direct students to reach to the sky (e.g. You are a TALL OAK,
reaching for the sunlight.)
3. After a moment, have them shrink down and fold into
themselves (e.g. You are a frightened turtle.)
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 several times.
5. Stop and allow students to write about analogous emotional
situations.
Results:
Conditioned bodies; awareness of space; a link between feelings and
physicalization.

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Theatre Games
Magnets
Objectives:
To establish a group process where strengths, weaknesses and differences are
identified and incorporated into an ensemble structure.
To develop concentration skills in order to mke students conscious of a need for
believability.
Preparation:
Clear the room. Remind yourself and your students that you are working on
concentration skills:
Procedure:
1. Two students face each other from a distance of four feet. They
are magnets, their outstretched arms are the poles
2. The leader (at) first, the teacher-director) vocally directs them to
move inward, reminding them that, with each step, their forces of
attraction and repulsion begin to work. The leader keeps them from
getting too close.
3. After several attraction/repulsion near-misses, the magnets lock,
symbolized by entwined fingers.
4. Variations:
a. Make one magnet stronger, pulling on its partner who can
only partially resist.
b. Introduce 1 or 2 people to pull on equal-strength magnets.
c. Introduce 1 or more students to act as metallic enticements
that lure the magnets from their main forces.
d. Designate 1 student as a non-metallic object (but do not
tell the magnets) and have them try to attract it.
Results:
1. Students will use similar movements to both attract and repel.
Have them discuss how they felt about things they could or could
not control.
2. Learn from what they do. Give them time to recall and write
about an experience where they felt pulled toward or repelled by
someone or something at one in the same time.

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GLASS HOUSES
Objective:
To delineate invisible barriers that represent emotional limits that are difficult to
define.
Preparation:
An open space.
Draw two 3 squares on the floor. The squares share one side.
Procedure:
1. Two students, standing in separate squares, are informed that
walls of glass rise from the floor to the ceiling along the perimeter
of each square.
2. Silently they investigate the three outer walls as if they did in fact
exist.
3. Arriving at the shared wall, they must silently find ways to
reach each other without crossing (and therefore breaking) the
glass barrier.
4. Variations:.
a. One student becomes a tease.
b. One student becomes ill, perhaps signalling for help.
c. One student becomes belligerent.
d. Dialogue begins (screamed or whispered) that revolves
around touching or joining.
Results:
Through their experimentation, students can learn to express feelings of
confinement and security. Again, what they bring to a particular setting or
situation determines the interpretation.

Role-Playing
Solo: All Who Enter Here
Objective:
To physicalize various emotions while performing a repeated action.
Note: This leads directly to Amandas entrance in the cutting.
Preparation:
A classroom door with a clear sightline for the entire group.
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Procedure:
1. One person must prepare to open the door and enter the class.
His state of mind must be physicalized in his movements.
2. The person closes the door, sustaining the mood as he
approaches the group.
3. A simple line (e.g. I have arrived at last.) is incorporated and
must, through its delivery, fit into the emotional climate.
4. Discussion: What did the student have to decide about his mood?
What specific techniques did he/she use to express that mood in
movement? How did the size or weight or sound of the door
become a tool?
5. Variation
a. This can become a 2 character exercise by making a group
member the focus of the mood. He/she must sense the feeling and
answer the initial comment with a suitable response.
Results:
Here, the student begins to realize that his body movements and whatever his
body touched send out messages to observers. He will learn to concentrate on
what he is feeling in order to determine is that is indeed, what his actions reveal.

Oh, Yes You Will!

Objectives:
To develop observation and concentration skills that lead to consistent
characterizations. To explore motivations behind 2 characters in conflict by
assuming both roles.
Preparation:
An open work space.
A list of suggested conflicts (e.g. dropping out of school; having a baby (parent
or child), getting a part-time job (parent or child), smoking pot). Brief written
descriptions of characters.
Procedure:
1. Each pair receives descriptions of a pair of characters (parent vs.
child) that are discussing their conflict.
2. Students choose roles, knowing they will do the reverse later.

63

3. The pair decides on an action that will continue during the

discussion; they also choose to resolve the question or to leave it
open.
4. The scene begins. Students move from an opening with planned
dialogue into a spontaneous one (the beginning of an
improvisation). They must remain in character, both physically and
verbally.
5. Students exchange roles and begin a new dialogue.
Results:
Students actors practice types that will aid in preparation for cold readings of
plays. They will develop an ease in role-switching. Also, students can explore
personal conflicts by tailoring roles they must play to parallel people they know
well in their personal lives.
Note: Learn about what they feel. Allow time for a short narrative about why
they felt the parents they created were or were not like their real parents. They
can also explore what it felt like to defend their parents positions once they were
forced into their roles.

Improvisation
Broken Treasures / Broken Dreams
Objective:
To allow students to experience pleasure over and love for a treasured object and
then experience the pain over the loss of that object.
Preparation:
Have an unbreakable dish or cup in the room.
Clear some space.
Procedure:
1. One student remembers a lost special object.
2. Handling the unbreakable piece provided by the director, the
student must talk through a description while feeling the
possession.
3. At some point, the command, Drop It: is announced.
4. The object drops (as a book is slammed down behind the
student).
5. Finally, the student must try to show his loss.

64

6. Variation
a. Include others in the process by allowing them to share
the joy/or sorrow.
7. Writing assignment: Each student must compare an emotional
(intangible) loss to the loss of a possession.
Result:
Rapid mood shifts help point up the need for quick reactions.

Group Improvisation
Mother, Get Off My Back!
Explanation:
This is a highly demanding improv. Base a variation of Jack Preston Helds
Shadow Conscience1 the exercise involves an excellent sense of timing coupled
with careful listening skills. Physically, it is demanding as well; the proximity of
the students involves control and trust.
Objective:
To understand how our actions are affected by the hidden voices of conscience
or super-ego (the voice of the parent).
Preparation:
Clear a space. Rehearse whispering that is clear but very quiet. Allow students to
lean into each other until flinching stops.
Procedure:
1. Place students in groups of four.
2. Direct 2 students to start a dialogue over breaking some rule (e.g.
cutting class together, shoplifting as a team, making excuses so
both can go out and stay out).
3. Place these students, seated and facing one another, in the
middle of the space.
4. Direct the remaining two to stand behind each seated figure.
They are invisible mothers (or fathers) whose presences are still
strong. These parents lean into the seated figures in order to
whisper freely without being seen or heard by the opposite pair.
5. As the dialogue begins, the voices whisper arguments in support
of or against the comments of their children. The voices endeavor

65

to change the behavior of their seated partners. Remember the

voices are only heard by the partners. Not even the audience
participates.
6. Meanwhile, the seated figures must be listening to both sources
of commentary. He/she may react to both. It gets frustrating.
7. The dialogue continues until one of the seated members gives in
to a voice or makes a decision for the pair.
8. The parents and children switch roles.

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Improvizational Games
The Following Information can be Found at:
http://www.theatrgroup.com/methodC/

Play Book
How it Works
Ok, this is harder to explain than it is to play. This game is a repetition of 4
movements:
1 : touch your head with both hands
2 : touch your shoulders with both hands
3 : touch your hips with both hands
4 : slap right foot with right hand
We repeat this 10 times, as follows:
just say 1,2,3,4 - no movements, do this twice
touch your head (on '1' but don't say '1') and say 2,3,4. Repeat twice.
touch head (on '1') touch shoulders (on '2', but don't say '1' or '2'). Follow
by 3,4, spoken. Repeat twice
touch head, touch shoulders, touch hips (on the rhythm on 1,2,3, but don't
say 1,2,3). Say '4'. Repeat twice
touch head, shoulders, hips, slap foot. Don't say anything but stay in the
rhythm and repeat twice
Then just start all over again by saying 1,2,3,4 twice.
Increase tempo as you go along.

67

Whats My Line?
How it Works
This one is played by 2 players, one of which gets their lines on paper (like a
script). The other player should justify whatever the scripted player says.
Notes
You can use existing plays for this, but also lines from comics.
Whoever gets the script should not forget to play/act - only her lines are defined,
not what she does, or how she does the lines.

Actor Switch
How it Works
A scene is started, played by 2 to 4 players. Mid-scene the MC interrupts, and all
characters are replaced by new players. The new players should take over the
original characters, and stick to the story that was being developed.

Statue
How it Works
3 players. One is a lump of clay - behind her is a second player who is a model.
Model takes a pose, which the 'clay' is not supposed to see. The third player
becomes the artist, who will model the clay after the model. The artist is not
supposed to touch the clay, can't speak and it not allowed to show the clay what
to do or to become.
When done, let the model inspect the artwork and see if details fit.
Variations
Limit the time the artist has to build to statue.

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And Then
How it Works
One player in the middle, the others sit aside. Any person can give the middle
player a task, which she performs, and then she asks 'What happens next' ? Any
player may suggest what needs to happen next, but the idea is for the group to
construct a coherent story.
Notes
The player in the middle should only and strictly be doing what she's told; it is
up to the players at the side to construct the story.

Replay
How it Works
Ask 2 players to play a short scene. One could limit the scene to 8 lines of dialog
per player. Then ask the players to replay the scene, based on some audience
suggestions for:
a particular emotion.
an era.
a different location
a film / TV / literature style.
in Gibberish
backwards
Variations
You can time the scene to 1 minute, and then replay in 30 seconds, 15 seconds, 7
seconds and 3 seconds. Other variations:
have the scene replayed by 2 other players
insist that the dialog remains exactly the same

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Red Button
How it Works
This one is played by 2 players. One holds a (mimed) black box, which has 3
buttons, one of which is red. These buttons control a player; one button might be
the 'jerk your leg' button. The exact functions of each button are not defined.
The other player enters and asks if he can play with the box. Player 1 agrees, but
adds something like "Whatever you do, don't push the red button".
Player 2 begins to play with the buttons, controlling player 2. Then, we slowly
work up to the use of the dreaded red button, which will make player 2 do
something not-so-obvious. This can be anything, but it should not be
preconceived. The red button might become a Mood swing button, a Start
Screaming, Start Giggling, Sing Opera, or Switch-to- Gibberish button.

Haunted House
How it Works
A number of players stand in the middle of the room, eyes closed the others
stand by the walls. One of the middle players is tapped on the shoulder, she
become the 'killer' or the 'vampire'. The trainer give a go-sign, and all 'blinded'
players start milling around the room. When the killer bumps into someone, she
squeezes that persons forearm to 'kill' him. When a victim dies, he utters a
scream, opens his eyes and is 'out'.
Game is over when all potential victims are dead.
Audience by the walls make sure that blind players don't bump into stuff or hurt
themselves.
Variations
When a 'vampire' runs into a victim, the victim becomes a vampire too
When 2 vampires bump into one anther, they become normal mortal souls
again

70

King of The Castle

How it Works
Excellent Status game.
4 players. Ask an audience member to pick 4 cards out of a deck, and attach a
card to each player's forehead, so that players can see each other's card, but not
their own. Use a rubber band or a piece of string for that.
The idea is to play a scene, in which the status order of the characters is defined
by the cards. Evidently, players don't know their own status, so the other players
will have to endow them.
Notes
Set up a location where status is important. Examples would be a Royal Palace or
a highly organized bureaucracy (the White House ?).

Rhythm Nation
How it Works
Place all players in a circle and number them sequentially, starting with a
random player. The players then establish a rhythm, for example by swinging
their left hands up and down. Have player 1 start; when her arm is up she
shouts/throws a number. The player with that number needs to throw another
number at the next beat.
Players that fail (if they did not recognize their own number) or that break the
rhythm become the last player in the circle, and that changes the numbers for a
bunch of players. Restart with player one.

Rhythm Circle
How it Works
Here's how to do the rhythm: each beat consists of 4 phases:
Slap both hands on your thighs
Clap your hands
Snap your left hand fingers
Snap your right hand fingers
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With every right hand snap, a word should be thrown to your neighbor. Once
the rhythm is established, you can leave out the snaps - that'll make things more
understandable.
Notes
If you do this with 2 circles, you will probably find that the rhythms for both
circles synchronize.

Copy-Cat
How it Works
Copy-Cat goes like a verbal Freeze Tag . A scene is started. At any time, a player
at the side can step forward (the playing players hold off for a moment) and
repeats a line that was said in the scene. Whoever originally said that line, steps
aside, and the remaining players start a new scene starting with the line that was
repeated.
Variations
Feel free to actually continue the ongoing scene rather than to start a completely
new one. Feel free to replace all the players instead of just the player who said
the last line.
Rather than just stepping in and repeating a line, you might want to call 'FLIP'
(or freeze).

Blind Date
How it Works
This is played like a Blind Date show. One player leaves the stage, and the
audience provides endowments for the 3 others. Examples might be No. 1 is
stupid, No. 2 is a serial killer and No. 3 thinks he's a macho.
4th player gets to ask 3 questions, and each of the others answers it. After the
questions player 4 should guess what the endowments were.

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Scorpion
How it Works
Everyone eyes closed, one player becomes the killer (tap him on the shoulder)
and another one becomes the retriever. The retriever gets a towel of a scarf
around her neck.
Dead players scream when they are killed, keep their eyes closed and stand still.
When the retriever bumps into someone that does not move (a dead body) she
can revive the dead by rubbing them with the towel.
When the retriever gets killed, she screams and stops moving. When another
living person bumps into the retriever (recognized by the scarf), the retriever is
revived, and the one that revived the retriever becomes the new retriever.
Play till everyone is dead or bored.

Evil Twins
How it Works
4 players. 2 will play a scene. The other players are the other's evil twins. At any
point, the 'twins' can shout 'freeze' after which they tag out their twin, and
continue the scene and do something evil. After that, they move out again, and
the original twin brother needs to justify the evil, correct or repair the damage
done and continue the scene.
Notes
Great setups for this game are things like first dates, or meeting your in-laws for
the very first time.

Subtitles
How it Works
2 players play a story in Gibberish , 2 others translate. The idea is to build the
story together: the 'actors' give elements to the translators, and the translators can
help steer the action for the 'actors'.

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Word Ball
How it Works
Everyone in a circle and we establish a rhythm, by swinging a hand. Once a
rhythm is established, one player starts by tossing a word to his neighbor, who
associates on the word and tosses another word to his neighbor.
It's important to stay in the rhythm. Tell the players to just say 'banana' if they
feel they can't think of a word, as long as the rhythms does not get broken.

First Thought
How it Works
This is the classic association exercise.
The Basics
In a free association we will ask players to say the first thing they think about
when hearing (or seeing, feeling, smelling or tasting) anything another player
provides.
It should be stressed that anything is valid, as long as it is not preconceived: the
association should be based on what the previous player has offered.

Word Toss
How it Works
Yet another way to play association games. Place all players on 2 lines, facing
each other. One player starts walking to another player in the other line. Just
before he gets to that other player, he throws her a word. The receiver starts
crossing the line towards someone else, and the first player takes her place in the
line. The receiver now becomes the thrower, throwing the first word she can
think of to another player, who then starts walking, and so on.
Variations
Try with 2 or more walkers at the same time.

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Freeze
How it Works
2 actors start a scene. At any point in time another player can call Freeze. This
player then tags out one of the 2 actors, and takes his place. Both players then
start a new scene, justifying their positions.
Notes
The way this game is played quite often goes a bit against good improv, as many
groups hardly take the time to develop a story line. If played this way, it's more a
game of wit, and you would probably use it early in a show as an audience (and
player) warm-up.
Alternatively, you can take your time and play every scene for several minutes,
see what develops, and only at the end of each scene tag into another scene.

Gibberish Dictionary
How it Works
This is best played with an odd number of players. Everyone in a circle. The first
player gives a gibberish word to her right neighbor, who translates the word.
The next player provides the next gibberish word, and so on.
Variations
The receiver can provide both the translation, and a new gibberish word.
You may want to add the origin of the language along with the translation.
Notes
Any gibberish word might be translated as 'banana' of course, but that is not the
idea of the exercise. For your translation, use the first thing that comes to mind.
You may be inspired by the whole sound of the word (it might sound like
something 'known'), or parts of the word (only the vowels, or only the
consonants), or by the intonation of the 'giver', or even by her expression or body
language.

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Gibberish Class
How it Works
One player is an expert on a subject, often provided by the audience.
Furthermore, he's from a foreign country (perhaps also supplied by the
audience). The expert gives a lecture in Gibberish and a second player translates.
Variations
Have the expert tell a story, instead of giving a lecture.

Mysterious Host
How it Works
In this game we play in scene in which one player is a guest, somewhere. We do
not know who he is, or why he is visiting, or what his relation might be with the
characters at the location. All other characters in the scene behave strangely or
suspiciously, as if they have a secret. The idea is that by the end of the scene we
understand their secret.
For example, a player might ring a doorbell at a house, ready to pick up his date.
We never get to see the date, and all characters in the scene slowly provide hints
as to what might have happened to the date. The game is over when e.g. we (the
audience) discover that all occupants of the house have been hauling garbage
bags out of the house, all containing body parts of the date... It need not always
be gruesome, though...

Group Mirror
How it Works
Players per 2, facing each other. They can move (arms, legs, eyebrows) slowly,
and the other player will mirror them. This is a game of give and take - no-one
should be (continuously) leading. Keep movements slow.
Variations
Do this with the whole group: everyone in a big circle, and everybody mirrors
everybody else.

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Mr. Nice Guy

How it Works
Excellent game to show how Endowment works. 2 players; each player will state
the action the other player must perform, followed by his own line.
Example:
1: "I want a divorce"
2: "She said, while grabbing a knife from the kitchen table." At this point
player 1 needs to take a knife. Player 2 continues with his own line. "Sure
Honey"
1: "He said, while turning to the sports page of the paper". Now, it's quite
clear that player 2 should be paying more attention to the paper than to
his wife. Player 1 continues with her own line. "You're not listening to me"
and so on.
Players refer to each other as 'he' and 'she', and endow each other with the next
action to take. This can be quite funny, if you endow your partner to do crazy or
not-so-nice things to you (or to themselves, but it would not be Mr. Nice Guy).
Variations
Can be done with 4 players: 2 provide the lines, and the 2 others provide the
'directions' - each director provides the action for one of the 2 talkers.
Can also be one with 3 players: one provides directions and both other players
do their own dialogs.
Notes
Keep the action do-able and active. Making someone else 'think about something'
is hard to play, and not very active.

Rebel Without a Clue

How it Works
Excellent game to train listening skills.

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4 players, one leaves the room. Pick a means of transportation, and an object. The
idea is that player number 4 needs to guess the means of transportation, and then
use the object to hijack the others. Finally pick a goal for the hijacker to achieve.
The players need to provide hints to the hijacker, but they cannot explicitly tell
the hijacker what to do, with what or why.
Notes
Works best is players take risks. If they to the 'wrong' thing or use the wrong
object the audience will probably just laugh, and that should be enough to signal
the player he's going the wrong way.

Sing A-Long
How it Works
All players in a circle. One player steps into the circle and starts singing a known
song. As soon as this player shows any signs of stopping (because she doesn't
know the lines any more, gets tired or embarrassed) another player needs to step
in and take over (singing a different song).
Notes
This exercise is not about improvising songs, but more of a group thing. Players
need to know that the group will support them when they're out of breath. The
idea is to keep singing.

Story Train
How it Works
Excellent game to train narrative skills, but a bit controversial.
Play in pairs: start with a location (e.g. a beach). One player give the suggestions
(e.g. let's find a talking crab). The other player either accepts the offer, and both
play accordingly, or refuses the offer. When an offer is refused the first player
needs to make a better offer.

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Notes
This is a bit controversial in the sense that players may object to refusing offers;
after all, we teach players to accept offers. Explain that the goal of this exercise is
two-fold:
teach players to drop their own ideas and happily change course in their
story
teach players which offers are 'fun' and which ones are not. The player
accepting or refusing the offers should accept any offer that 'feels good' or
that advances the story, and only reject offers that don't sound like fun or
don't seem to offer any potential for an interesting story.

Actors Nightmare
How it Works
One player plays a scene. The other player(s) play the voice(s) of objects in the
environment in which the first player plays.
Anything can have a voice. Examples:
a player walks in a forest and an ant starts talking to him
a player is in the bathroom and his toothbrush starts talking
Variations
You can script the text of the little voice, and have the player justify anything that
is said.
Notes
Make sure players immediately make clear what exactly is doing the talking.
Either the voice makes this clear, or the other player:
Oh my god, a talking duck with a machine gun!
Bet you've never seen a talking couch, have you?

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Servitude
How it Works
2 players, one is the master, the other is the servant. The master will ask the
servant for something simple. The servant always blocks the question, and
explains why this should not be possible. The master always accepts this, and
asks for something else (which turns out to be impossible as well). Every time the
servant has to explain why this should not be possible, the situation gets worse,
until the whole thing turns out to be a disaster.
An example:
Perkins, get me a glass of brandy.
Yes sir. Oh, sir, that won't be possible sir, we're out of brandy.
Well, get me a glas of whisky, then.
Yes sir. Ah, sir, um, we're out of whisky too, sir.
Oh? Well get my any kind of alcohol, then.
Ah sir, we're out of alcohol sir.
Perkins, have you been drinking again?
Well, the staff had a little party last night, sir.
I see. Well get me a glass of water from the kitchen then.
Yes sir. Ah, sir, the water pipes are bust sir, sorry.
Well, get me some water from the pond then.
Ah, yes, sir, uh, sorry sir, the pond is dry, sir.
And so on, until it turns out that the staff had a little party, accidentily set the
kitchen on fire, used the water from the pond to fight the fire, and so on.
Eventually, the only room still standing is the master's study, the rest of the
castle has burnt down and all staff are dead. And all this for a perfectly logical
explanation.
The idea is for the servant to connect all elements the master brings up, into one
and the same disaster.

Movie Interview
How it Works
4-10 players. Ask the audience for a movie title. 2 players will do an interview:
one will be the reviewer. As the movie is discussed, other players play parts of
the movie.

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Whats the Name?

How it Works
This game flexes your mind. Have the players walk about in the room, point to
any object, and give it another name.
Notes
You can use this game for players that have difficulty with association: it shows
that association is natural, and that it is actually difficult not to associate.

Questions
How it Works
A scene is played, in which any sentence used by the players must be a question.
Players that use statements instead of questions are boo-ed out by the audience
(audience yells 'Die') and are replaced by other players. New players need to take
over the character of the players they replace.
Notes
Although questions are quite often frowned upon in improv, in this game the
idea is to build a story. That implies that any question should be giving
information, and should be (implicitly) advancing on the information already
available. Evidently, the next player should implicitly accept any information
that was given in the previous question(s).

Oracle
How it Works
3 players: one is the interviewer, and the other 2 are an expert on a subject chosen
by the audience. The expert is really one person, with 2 heads, and answers to
the interviewer's question are provided word by word, one word at a time per
player.
You can use an ancient Greek oracle instead of an expert, and have the audience
ask the oracle questions about life & love.

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Variations
The interviewer can raise the stakes, e.g. by pimping the expert into a word-at-atime-song.

The Giving Ball

How it Works
Everyone starts milling about the room, miming a particular kind of ball. It can
be light or heavy, have a texture, whatever, as long as it is particular. At the
trainer's sign, everyone passes their ball to someone else. This is done a couple of
times, after which everyone tries to find back his or her ball.

Origin
How it Works
3 to 8 players. One player leaves the room, while the audience provides the name
of a famous or historical person. The 'absent' player will give a press conference,
but he does not know who he is. The other players are journalists, whose
questions should provide indications to who the mystery guest might be.
Game ends when our player guesses who he is.
Notes
The 'journalists' should really play journalist characters. They can take
photographs, or have a fight about who gets to ask the next question

Circle of Sound
How it Works
All players in a circle. On player steps into the circle, making a big gesture and a
loud sound. Player then steps back, and the rest of the circle imitates the sound
and gesture.
Try and do this with open sounds, as loud as possible. Yelling 'en masse' is
good for the soul.

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Hail to the Queen

How it Works
One player is the king or the queen. Other players are to try and pleas his/her
Royal Highness. They do this by entering the room, and offering something. The
queen either tells them to
continue, in case she's interested.
die, in case the queen is bored
freeze, if the queen might be interested
Players that are allowed to continue may approach the queen and the queen may
unfreeze frozen players at her discretion. The game is over when a player is close
enough to actually touch the queen.
Notes
The queen can kill a player for any reason: she may not like the message, or she
may not like the way the message is presented. The queen can give hints why she
does not like the offer: "You know I don't drink coffee, so die!". The queen should
be really difficult..

Sit, Stand, Down

How it Works
Silly game to teach fast acting.
3 players play a scene. At any point in time, there should always be one player
standing, one player sitting and one player lying down. As soon as a sitter stands
up, the stander needs to sit down.
Try to justify the moves !

Samurai
How it Works
Tell the players they are Samurai, and their right forearm is a poisoned sword.
Then have them do a slow motion sword fight.

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The only way to fend off a 'sword' is by blocking it with your right arm. If
another player's sword touches your body on any other part than your right
forearm, you die a gruesome death (also in slow motion).
Notes
Players should not speed up when they are about to get 'killed', but rather 'let
themselves be killed'.

The Prop Box

For this game you will need a box with many different props in. The stranger the
props, the harder the game! The game is simple to play. The group sits in a circle.
The person who is having their turn is in the middle. They close their eyes and
pick something out of the prop box. They then have to improvise for 1-1.5
minutes using the prop. When their turn is over, they put their prop in a "used
prop pile" and pick a prop from the box for the next person. A twist on this game
can be that the player has to think of as many different uses for the prop in a
certain time, and whoever can think of the most uses in that time wins.

The Machine
In this game, one person goes up to the front, and makes a noise and chooses a
repetitive action (like that of a machine in a factory). More people are added,
until every player is a part of the machine. To change the game slightly, you can
specify a certain sort of machine to be made at the beginning (Eg. A donut
making machine, a foot washing machine)

Freeze Scenes
In this game, the leader gives an improvisation topic to one member of the
group. The person does their improvisation, and when the leader calls out
"Freeze" they stop exactly in their current position. The next person is given a
different improvisation topic and must start the improvisation with the other
person frozen in their last position. This continues until you have about 4 people
in the improvisation. Anymore than this will become to confusing! A twist on
this is to let the players select their own improvisation topic.

Pass the Parcel

This game is played by having the group sit in a circle. The leader will suggest
something to be passed around the circle (Eg. An Elephant,a bird, a dirty tissue)
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and the players must act as if they are passing this item to each other. This game
works especially well for younger children.

The Shoe
This game works by telling the children what type of shoes they are wearing (Eg.
Clown shoes, ballet shoes, tap shoes, boots up to their knees, etc.) The children
then walk around the room pretending they are wearing that sort of shoe. A
variation on this game is that one child pretends they are wearing some sort of
shoe and the other children guess what type of shoe they are wearing.

The Hat
Very similar to the Shoe Game, but instead you suggest to the children what type
of hat of headwear they are wearing (E.g. mantilla, fishing hat, nurse's cap, ice
cream man's hat) and they act out what they would do when they were wearing
this type of hat.

Musical Movement
For this game you need a tape with music of varying styles and speeds. Play the
tape and get the children to act the way the music makes them feel, or what type
of music it is. (Eg. Ballroom dancing music, slow music, fast disco music, Spanish
music, Mexican music, music box music)

The Following Information can be found at:

http://come.to/dramawest

The following exercise is a useful one when you are trying to encourage students
to look beyond the words in a script.
Apply the following dialogues in each of the following scenarios (play it straight
and resist the temptation to make it a spoof):
1. All characters are stereotypical teenagers involved in an emotionally
dramatic episode of a soap.
2. All characters are members of the Mafia, involved in a multi-million dollar
criminal deal.
3. All characters are presenting a children's TV program

85

4. All characters are the members of a football club, either players or

administration.
5. All characters are the long term residents of a small town.
You will need to consider and make notes on:
the appropriate body language for communicating character and
relationships
the appropriate use of voice for communicating character and
relationships
what the main theme of the piece would be in each scenario
what atmosphere would be generated by the dialogue in each scenario
Dialogue 1
A: Hello. Are you the person I was told to see?
B: I don't know. Who were you told to see?
A: I was told to see the person who could help me with something important.
B: That's not me. I never have anything to do with things that are important. You
need to talk to my friend here.
C: That's right. I deal with all the important things around here. What's your
problem?
A: It's this. I can never tell what is important and what's not.
C: Well, I can't help you unless it's important. If it's not important, you'll have to
ask my friend here.
B: That's right.
Dialogue 2
A: I did what you asked. Now what?
B: Now you have to write out a report.
A: But I thought it was a secret.
C: It is. And we want a secret report.
B: Make sure you don't leave anything out.
A: No. I won't do it. Once I've written something down it won't be secret any
more.
B: Are you sure you did what we asked you to do?
A: Of course I'm sure.
C: Then it isn't secret, is it? We know what you did.
A: You tricked me!
C: No, you tricked yourself.

Improvisation Ideas
Run out of ideas for stimulating improvisation? Try some of these.

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A group of travellers who have only known each other for a couple of
days, since they began their trip, are stranded in the middle of nowhere
when their organiser takes off in the bus with all their belongings.
A lunatic has escaped from a high security institution and has hijacked a
bus. He/she orders the driver to take the bus and its passengers, who are
strangers to each other, to an old church where they are held hostage.
Disaster in the form of a severe flood occurs in a small isolated town in a
mountain valley. The community leaders meet to deal with the situation
but they don't get on very well with each other. Most of them are related
to each other, but there is one outsider, the primary school principal.
A person plans a scam whereby she/he poses as someone who has found
gold in a remote location. He/she wants to convince the victims of the
scam to give her/him the money to develop a mine.
The people who live in Neat Street are very proud of their lovely old
houses, many of which have been restored at the expense of considerable
time, effort and hard-earned cash. Now the Government is planning to
turn Neat St into a six-lane highway, which will mean that some houses
will be pulled down and the rest will have to cope with the increased
noise and air pollution caused by the extra traffic. The residents decide
that they must take action.
A shy loner living in a small country town and looked down on by the
locals, wins a short story competition and goes on to become a famous
writer. He/she decides to revisit the small country town ten years later.
A primitive tribe in a remote area of the world is visited for the first time
by an outsider, a person selling clothing who got lost on the way from one
city to another.
An active, intelligent person retires at the age of sixty-five and suddenly
finds that others expect him/her to give up living.
A naive and friendly person from the bush arrives at the airport to meet
someone from interstate and is mistaken by journalists for a well-known
politician.
A middle aged widow/widower announces his/her intention to get
married for a second time but family and friends are hostile to the idea.
An elderly person goes away for a holiday and when he/she returns,
strangers are living in the house. When he/she tries to get help from the
neighbors he/she finds only strangers there also.

Physical Objectives
One of the easiest ways to approach acting is to begin with physical objectives.
This is the essence of Stanislavski's method. Don't start with an emotion. Plan out

87

and do physical tasks that help your character attain her objective. As you
concentrate on these tasks, you will realize that some of the actions an actor takes
are internal actions. The proper emotions will tend to come as a side-effect. The
physical actions alone will convey and help create the emotion you need in the
scene.
The exercise below will help you to act from a basis of physical objectives. You
will need a scene partner.
One partner sits at a desk or table and writes. The other partner comes in
and tries to get his or her attention. Use only numerical verbal responses
(such as saying "two"), and respond only when you feel an emotion from
your partner. The partner trying to get the other's attention must perform
at least three physical actions (such as grabbing the sitting person's pen).
The partner trying to ignore the other must respond with three physical
actions, as well (take back the pen or pull out another).
Let the physical actions guide the scene, not the lines. As you do the exercise,
you will notice that different meanings will be conveyed depending on the
physical actions you and your acting partner take.

Extra-daily Behavior
Shape your character for the scene described below by creating a fictive body.
Shape your body in a way you would never do in everyday life. Move through a
scene by maintaining this carriage of your body. For example, do a scene with
your body loose and floating. Do it again with your body stiff and formal. Think
of other ways to shape a fictive body and do the scene.
One partner sits at a table and writes. The other partner comes in and tries
to get the person's attention. Use only numerical verbal responses, but
respond only when you feel an emotion from your partner. The partner
trying to get the others attention must perform at least three physical
actions. The partner trying to ignore the other must react with at least
three physical actions, as well.

Rasa box
You will need a scene partner. Place a grid on the floor with the following nine
emotions. You can also just label nine pieces of paper and place them on the
floor. Place the emotions anywhere, but keep "peace, sublime tranquility" at the
center. First, speak only with numbers, then do a scene from one of the course
plays. As you move to a new grid, shape your body, correspondingly.

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Lesson Plans
The Following Information can be found at:
http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/erachi/

Set Design: Visualizing a Concept

Objective: To create visual examples of an emotion or concept.
Materials : magazines, 8 1/2" x 14" white paper, glue, scissors.
Lesson:
One of the first challenges of creating a set for the stage is the ability to identify
relationships between the theme of the play and the images created on stage to
represent it. This activity will help the students to stretch their interpretations of
idea into a piece of visual art.
Students will create 4 collages using these instructions.
Using magazine cutouts, create a color collage for one word in each of the
following groups. You will be making four collages in total, two can use pictures
and two of them should simply use color (no identifiable objects). Please write
the group letter and word on the back of each collage.
A : anger, suspicion, memories, tension, exaggeration, dreamlike, deception.
B: joy, excitement, fear, balance, dark, fantasy, noble.
C: heat, cold, conflict, danger, light, confusion, comfortable.
D: comedy, love, poverty, laughter, secretive, militant/order, tragedy.
Teacher Notes
You can approach a group discussion after the assignment
several ways:

89

1. Group all the collages representing the same words

together and then discuss the similarities and differences in
interpretation.
2. Have the students join their pieces together horizontally :
Example - most calm to least calm. Discuss.
As an extension, have the students bring a piece of music that they feel best
represents ONE of their collages and have them justify their choice.
OR
Play several pieces of music and have the class decide on ONE collage that best
represents each one. Try and
encourage debate .

Stage Lingo or Theatre Vocabulary

Grade 10+
This is a list of theatrical stage terms with the answers
written in. Try and provide visual examples of the words, or if you're fortunate,
use your school stage in conjunction with this vocabulary lesson.
Front or Act Curtain: Curtain that masks the acting area or stage from the
audience. Opens show and can be used to separate Acts.
Apron: Area between the front curtain & edge of the stage.
Proscenium Opening: Opening through which the
audience views the play or performance. Sometimes called a picture frame stage.
Thrust Stage: An area of stage which extends from the
proscenium arch toward the audience.
Theatre in the Round: An acting area or stage which may be viewed from all
sides simultaneously.
Wings: Offstage areas to R and L of acting/onstage area.
Teaser: Heavy curtain hung from above the proscenium opening to adjust the
height of the opening.
Tormentors: Curtain or flat on each side of the proscenium opening used to
regulate the width of the opening.
Borders: Short curtains hung at intervals above the acting area to mask lighting
and flown scenery from audience.
Tabs: Long curtains hung parallel to the tormentors on the right and left wing
areas to create masking or entrances.
Trap: An opening in the stage floor.
Grid: Metal framework above the stage from which lighting instruments and
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flown scenery are hung.

Fly Gallery: Against one of the backstage walls, it is where the fly rope and
pulley system is operated from.
Pin Rail: Where fly lines are pulled and tied off.
Battens: Long horizontal pipes that hang above the stage from which curtains,
lights and flats are hung or secured.
Masking: Used behind stage windows and doors to hide the backstage area from
audience.
Rake: A gradual gradation in stage floor height.
Tread: The area on a step where you place your foot.
Rise: The distance in height of each stair.
Drop: A large cloth (often painted) used for creating a scene or picture
background on stage.
Scrim: A drop of loosely woven material (cheesecloth, shark's tooth) which is
opaque if front lit and is transparent if backlit.
Cyclorama): Tightly stretched white fabric hung
extremely upstage and used to project light or images on.
Jacks/bracing: wood frames used to support flats.
Flats: Wooden frames with a flat surface used to create walls or separations on
stage.
Spiking: Using tape to mark where a piece of scenery will

Set Design: Public Space on Stage

Objective: To create a set that captures the essence or feeling of a public space.
Materials : Anything the students wish to use.
Lesson:
In pairs of your choice or individually, create a set model which symbolizes a
public space ( one that you have not spent a significant amount of time in:
laundromat, barber shop, meat locker, flower shop. ) Your design should not
simply recreate the space, but capture the feel or mood of it. Assume that this
space is the setting for a play and adapt it to any one of the
following stage types: thrust, proscenium, arena, flexible or open.
Requirements
1. Create a detailed front view rendering (drawing) of your stage design which
should be in color and may be painted, pencil crayoned, collaged, etc.Include a
pencil drawing of the top view layout of your set.

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2. Include a one page written explanation of your set. Be prepared to speak

briefly about he public space you chose and how you represented it through
your set design.
3. Provide a model of your set. This must reflect the drawings and be in color.

Movement and Vocabulary Development

Concepts: Movement, body awareness, and vocabulary development
Objective: Students use movement and body awareness to expand vocabulary
and word meaning.
Grade Range: 1-6
Each exercise takes about 20 minutes. Teachers may want to use only one
exercise per day. Teachers use these exercises in conjunction with a reading or
English lesson. These exercises should take place outside or in a large room.

Exercise 1:
Students stand in a circle with the teacher in the center of the circle. The teacher
says a word such as tiny. One student takes one step forward and says the word
using a movement or hand signal to convey the meaning of the word. Then the
child returns to his or her place in the circle. The student to the left repeats the
word and motion. All other students in the circle follow in rapid succession until
play returns to the leader. The activity continues until all students have the
opportunity to be the leader and assign a motion to a vocabulary word.
For the word tiny the student might say the word in a small, high voice while
squatting down to indicate tiny, or the student might say tiny while bringing the
index finger and the thumb together. Students are limited only by their
imagination. The difficulty of the vocabulary depends on the age and grade of
the student.
Exercise 2:
Materials: The teacher should have a list of antonyms.
Students form a circle. The students pair up for this activity. The teacher
remains in the center of the circle. The teacher says a pair of antonyms. She
might say slow and fast. One student steps forward, says slow, and assigns a
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motion to convey the meaning of the word. The student may use voice inflection
to accompany the motion. His or her partner steps forward, says fast, and
assigns a motion to convey the meaning of fast. They both step back into the
circle. The next pair steps up and repeats the antonyms with the assigned
motion. All partners follow in rapid succession until play returns to the leaders.
The activity continues until all participants have the chance to be the leader.
Exercise 3:
Materials: Word cards with homonyms written on the cards. Only one word is
written on each card.
Students form a circle. The teacher says the word while showing the spelling of
the word. She might say rain and hold up a card with the word spelled out on
the card. The teacher will need to turn while holding the card in order for all
students to see the spelling of the homonym.
One student steps forward, says rain and makes a motion to indicate rain. The
student to the left repeats the word and motion. All other students in the circle
follow in rapid succession until play returns to the leader. The next child listens
for the next word. The teacher says rein and shows the card to all students. That
child steps forward, repeats the word, and assigns a motion to rein. Students
repeat the word and motion moving around the circle in rapid succession until
play returns to the leader. The teacher then says reign and shows the word card
to all students. A third student steps forward, says reign and assigns a motion to
the word. All other children follow in rapid
succession until play is
returned to the leader. The activity continues until all children have the
opportunity to be the leader.

Creating a Pantomime
Grades: 8-12
Objective: For students to learn how to create and perform pantomimes. Ideal
for using prior to giving an assignment to create and perform a pantomime for
class.
Strategy: Three progressive lessons to introduce pantomime, learn how to create
a pantomime, and learn how to handle mimed objects with clarity.
(NOTE: Lesson #3 is best read out to students as they participate.)
As we think of creating a pantomime, it is important to understand that there are
two attributes to performing pantomime: the story and the gestures used to tell
the story. Storytelling - or what is being communicated - is the primary purpose
of a
pantomime. Without telling a story or conveying a point, the mime act

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would only be movements. Movements alone can be very entertaining, but

without something to convey to the audience, they will be no more than moves
to please the eye.
Pantomime is first and foremost acting a scene. The body
movements are the means by which the scene is conveyed.
Here are some guidelines to consider for creating a pantomime story:
You can create comedy effectively by laughing with a friend about
situations that are funny. Simply "block" that scene. Come show time,
you may be pleasantly surprised to find your audience will laugh with
you just as your friend did.
Employ movements and mime "techniques" with extreme clarity for your
audience. In doing so, your audience will be able to follow with ease
(see lesson two about "Handling Mimed Objects With Clarity"). However,
be cautious about making your movements too overpowering.
Movements by a talented performer can be impressive, but they can also
distract an audience from the effectiveness of a story if they are
overwhelming.
Use your facial expressions with confidence, as this is where your
audience will mainly be focused. Communication with your eyes is most
effective.
Employ the "element of surprise" throughout. This will keep your
audience on the edge.
Create your story line with a confident, substantial beginning, and
consummate the ending with completeness.

Handling Mimed Objects With Clarity

When a mime artist performs, his movements must be clear to the
audience. This is extremely important. Pantomime movements that are unclear,
or
"sloppy," result in misunderstanding. The audience will become puzzled by
what is happening and will be unable to follow. But precise movements will
result in clear communication, and the audience will follow with ease.
This lesson deals specifically with the movements of a simple pantomime
"technique" that makes pretended objects appear real and visible to the
audience. It is called the click technique.
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To begin, touch the tips of your thumb and index finger together, the same as
signaling "o.k." with your hand. In a quick moment, squeeze the tips of those
fingers together, as if you were suddenly and firmly squishing a pea between
your fingers. Feel your hand and forearm tense-up when you do this.
Start with your muscles relaxed, then tense your muscles as you quickly "squish"
that pea - then relax again.
Now, at the same moment that you squish the pea, jerk your wrist in a rotating,
clock-wise fashion, the same as your wrist moves as if you lock a dead-bolt lock
as fast as you can. You should be jerking your wrist and squishing the pea
together in the same movement. Do not relax your muscles until a few seconds
after the end of this movement. Notice how your hand freezes into an absolute
still position - feeling almost paralyzed - until you relax again. By the way, if you
ever pick a flower in mime, this is the exact movement you would execute to do
so.
Try this movement with a smaller motion, as though it is a twitch instead of a
jerk. That is the basic "click" technique. Practice this movement with controlled
precision, freezing your hand at the finish of each click. Now let me show you
how this
technique is practical and valuable.
The click technique can be used to mime taking hold of any solid object. For
example, the following exercise shows how this technique works in the details of
taking a glass of water.
First of all, the shape of your hand holding a glass should be the same as holding
your hand in the "C" position of sign language. Tense your hand in this position
with the same tense, frozen feeling as the squishing pea exercise, only without
pressing the tips of your fingers together. Just quickly tense your hand in the C
position and freeze your hand.

Icebreakers
The Line Game: 10 minuntes
Divide the students into equal groups. You will announce an order that you wish
them to line up in, first group to do it and sit in a line on the floor wins a point.
Use any of these categories: street addresses (highest in the front - lowest in the
back), age, shoe size, birthdays,

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telephone numbers, middle names in alphabetical order, Mother's first name,

etc.

The Name Game: 10 minutes

(don't let the tap get too aggressive). Students stand in a circle and each person
says their name. One is chosen to be in the middle and is given the newspaper
roll. They attempt to tap the head of a circle member before that member yells
out another player's name. If the player yells out a name in time the tapper goes
to that player, and so
on and so on. They will learn names quite quickly with this!

The Interview Game: 15 - 20 minutes

Have students pair up with someone who they don't know very well. Assign
one partner as "A" and the other as "B". Each student is given 3 minutes to
interview their partner. Encourage them to try and discover and remember as
many details as possible. Have each student
introduce their partner and give a short report on what they have learned about
them.

Movement/Concept Building: 45 minutes

Objective: Body awareness and cooperative problem solving
Materials: none
Lesson:
1. Start with students lying on the floor. Ask them to create the
following things - individually - using only their body and sounds:
bacon frying
ice cream melting

porridge bubbling
a blender crushing ice

an egg boiling
popcorn popping

2. Working in pairs have the students create the following:

a vacuum cleaner cleaning
a lawn mower mowing

a fridge with a door that opens

a kettle heating up

Discuss the things that worked really well and why .

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3. Now, working in groups of 4 have the students create a frozen statue of the
following appliances. When the teacher claps, the appliance will begin to work.
Everyone must be involved in the appliance - no operators!
a coffeemaker

a toaster

a washing machine

*Have each group perform individually and encourage applause from the
audience.
4. Working in the same groups of 4 , have the students create a mode of
transportation in both a statue and working form. Each member must be
involved in the item - again, no operators.
After each "performance", have the other groups guess what the mode of
transportation was and offer what they think the best thing about the
performance was. What did they do great?

Suggestions
Skateboards, motorcycles, ATV's, speed boats, bikes, busses, cars, helicopters,
wheelbarrows
5. End with a game of Machines. One student starts making a sound and simple
movement in the center of the room. Add students, one at a time, who will have
their own sound and movement that interacts with the ever- growing machine
on stage. Continue until all students are part of the machine - which will be very
loud!
If you have a large number of students you may have to cut down some of the
exercises in # 2 and # 3.

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