Learnings and Importance of Theatre

Theatre has been an influential factor in many people's lives. Creativity can flourish, academics
can improve, and means of self-expression can be developed. It is important to have mandatory
theater classes because when a student participates. They benefit significantly, not only in terms
of exploring the unexplored or hidden ability to act, but also by shedding the inhibitions
associated with performing in front of an audience. Theater can be influential in all aspects of
life. Participating in theater classes can stimulate student's creativity and thought process. The
whole experience of theatre makes people more aware and sensitive towards various issues. It
empowers the meek and makes people do away with their reservations.
The theatre classes, which went on for a week were designed with an idea of pushing people
away (?) from their comfort zones and showcase their creativity – did you read the course
outline?. Theatre makes you form a connect with people and impact their lives by conveying the
message in a very subtle way. I personally benefitted a lot from this course in a very short span
of time. It’s a different story altogether that I already had a flair for acting right from my
childhood days and I had showcased my acting skills on a number of occasions. But, this was a
platform extended to me after a very long time where I could not only learn the nuances of
acting from a seasoned instructor but also implement them in practice to experience the
difference. The most striking aspect of the course was to realize the determination and self-belief
that you can do anything you wish. The students were asked to enact a paralyzed character who
could push a glass of water only by means of his face. This exercise, infused a sense of belief that
it doesn’t really matter how scarce the resources are at your disposal, you can always achieve
whatever you want if your are determined and focused about it. Sincerity and determination were
some of the key takeaways from this exercise - nicely substantiated!
Performing on stage doesn't always mean that you need to be vocal and heard. Conveying a
message to the audience and communicating with them without actually talking is something
which was worth learning during the course of this workshop. It's a common notion that only
articulation should be of highest order of importance when you are the middle of such a setting.
On the contrary, the fact is that, gesticulation using body language should be effective enough to
substantiate your verbosity.
Numerous aspects of theatre experiences are sensory and tactile. The workshops like these may
involve development of flexibility, strength control and ability to use the entire body to
communicate a role. They also help those students who are actually not focusing on performance
but concentrating on enhancing their kinesthetic abilities. Theatre also develops numerous social
skills. What I have observed personally is that people expressed and negotiated the differences in
opinions with utmost calm and composure. They have managed to learn from each other, which
is contrary to the conventional classroom learning – interesting correlation!. Most of the
performances were in teams, be it a team of two people or may be in excess of eight. How to
synchronize and compliment others in a play and how to time your dialogue delivery so that it
has the desired effect on the audience, were some of the key insights for me as a participant.
Theatre also makes all the participants share their ideas and showcase their creativity in whatever
aspect possible. Most of the time, it was observed that people who were not expected to be
associated with creativity, actually surprised everyone by their presence of mind.
The theatre workshop opened all of us in so many different ways, but it broke the same barriers
and inhibitions that we had hold on to for so long. The classes taught us team work. It made us
more confident, expressive and comfortable. The processes of preparing for a performance
helped us experience and value the perspective of other people participating with us. As students
endeavor to learn to act, to be involved in the many aspects of theatre, and to entertain
audiences with the art and craft of theatre, they are gaining understanding of themselves and
others. The workshop also had a unique blend of team activities that showed me how important
is it to have trust within your team if you want to be a high performing team. Without trust you
can never realize the true potential of what you as a team are capable of doing.
I could relate the theatre workshop to all five pillars of SOIL. Let's take Mindfulness first. It is all
about becoming aware of your surroundings, your co-performers, and the audience. All these
require you to be mindful of whatever is happening in the act.
A theater performance is a beautiful blend of different people from diverse backgrounds coming
together. Putting to rest their differences, shedding their inhibitions and perform as one while
helping each other. This particular aspect clearly refers to the pillar of diversity.
Making use of the limited resources at your disposal is another learning which I could garner
from this workshop. This refers to sustainability pillar of SOIL.
Theatre also taught me how to put yourself in others shoes and empathize with them. This
particular aspect is very crucial in a sense that if one can’t really get into the character he is
showcasing, then he won't be able to do justice to that performance. Hence the pillar of
compassion plays an indispensable role here.
And last but not the least, the pillar of ethics forms the essence of theatre in real sense. If we are
true to ourselves, then only we can be true to our values and to others - should have explored
this more.
In addition to the learnings I have mentioned above, I also realized that to be successful in life
adaptability and flexibility is of paramount importance. Theatre taught me to explore more, face
new challenges, and have the ability to adapt with the changing situations.

Drama as a Teaching Tool

By Keith Caldwell, M.Ed. - July 26, 2011
Drama is a performing art, an outlet for self-expression, and a way of learning. Drama is an
effective learning tool because it involves the student intellectually, physically, socially, and
emotionally. Activities in improvisation, pantomime, play-making, and scene reenactment serve
to develop the creative potential in the participants and help to develop critical thinking skills.

In answering the question, "Why teach drama?'", theater director and teaching artist Matt
Buchanan has this to say: "Dramatic Arts education is an important means of stimulating
creativity in problem solving. It can challenge students' perceptions about their world and about
themselves. Dramatic exploration can provide students with an outlet for emotions, thoughts,
and dreams that they might not otherwise have means to express. A student can, if only for a few
moments, become another, explore a new role, try out and experiment with various personal
choices and solutions to very real problems-problems from their own life, or problems faced by
characters in literature or historical figures. This can happen in a safe atmosphere, where actions
and consequences can be examined, discussed, and in a very real sense experienced without the
dangers and pitfalls that such experimentation would obviously lead to in the "real" world. This
is perhaps the most important reason for Dramatic Arts in schools."

Educational Objectives
The benefits of using creative play as a teaching methodology coincide with the
established goals of education. These include:
§ developing the imagination and creativity
§ fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills
§ exploring and evaluating ideas
§ discovering positive ways of dealing with conflict
§ expressing feelings and interpreting the feelings of others
§ enhancing communication skills
§ improving literacy skills

Participation in drama activities provides the teacher with another way to assess the student.
Through dramatic play, students reveal how they organize ideas, solve problems, work in a
group, deal with conflict, and use their imagination. Observing how students dramatize an
event offers valuable insight into how they perceive, interpret, understand, and analyze the
material at the core of the lesson.

Classroom Applications
Drama has many practical classroom applications for teaching curricular material. Important
concepts, ideas, events, and people can be dramatized through improvisation, pantomime, and
playwriting to stimulate interest, convey knowledge, gain comprehension, and improve retention.
Drama can be the vehicle for the following applications:

§ Role play situations to model/observe

new skills or behaviors.
§ Develop scenarios to introduce new
concepts.
§ Dramatize a meeting between characters
or historical figures.
§ Reenact a real event.
§ Dramatize a scene that might have happened in a story.
§ Improvise a scene that expresses the topic or theme.
§ Act out scenarios as a way to approach writing dialogue.
§ Create literary sketches.
§ Stimulate ideas for composing essays, poetry, or fiction.
§ Portray famous people.

Drama is a teaching tool that allows students to participate, demonstrate, and observe in a
"controlled," or non-threatening, environment. In other words, it provides another "non-
traditional" opportunity for students to learn and to demonstrate learning. At the same time,
drama helps students get in touch with their creativity and spontaneity as well as to develop
confidence in the expression of their ideas. Finally, it teaches self-discipline, acceptance of and
positive response to criticism, and cooperation with others.

Team building, while not perfect, is one of the best ways to improve employee engagement.
Here are the main reasons why you should get into the game.
1. Nurture a culture of teamwork. It’s the core of easy team building games, where
individual egos take a backseat for the common good. While these team building
activities are usually fun, they’re shaped by competitiveness and cooperation, two vital
factors that drive a team to success in real-work situations. The activities are designed
where a goal can only be accomplished through the proactive participation of all
members, and this requires bonding. Participants are made aware of the importance of
each other’s role, no matter how trivial, and that only by cooperating can they win the
game. In real scenario teamwork is one of the key factors to effective leadership and
project management.
2. Improve communication. Clear communication is vital in any organization. How many
projects have failed and business put at risk because of miscommunication? Common
team building activities here involve message delivery, non-verbal interpretation and
other communication challenges that promote clarity in conversation whether in print or
verbal.
3. Develop problem-solving skills. Activities can employ team building strategies to solve
a problem and achieve victory. Teams may be tasked to break down a complex problem
by assigning each member a problem subset. Each one follows a systematic process to
solve the problem. These activities mimic delegation, cooperation and coordination
under pressure, which are important test cases in real life. Problem-solving team building
games suit participants with a leadership role, such as managers, supervisors and project
leaders.
4. Enhance specific skills. Some games require specific team building techniques to
accomplish a goal that mirrors a real job task. We usually see this in blue-collar roles with
a defined skill set. For example, a competitive game among firefighting teams that
simulate real skills like climbing ladders, putting out a fire and carrying heavy loads.
5. Be aware of one’s personality versus others’. A workplace is a cesspool of
personalities that sometimes are at each other’s throat out of a misunderstanding or lack
of empathy. Team building games may focus on resolving this issue by making
participants aware of these differences and how each personality type approaches an
issue differently. Role playing is a key element in these activities. The goal here is to
nurture empathy; plucking people out of their comfort zone, assume other people’s roles
and make them see things from other people’s perspective.

10 Team Building Games & Ideas You Should Try In Your Company
Team building games are fun but by no means are idle recreation time. Underlying these games is
the aim to influence our subconscious towards a positive outcome that will, hopefully, rub off on
the workplace. These team building ideas aspire to smooth, proactive and productive work
relationships back at the office.
However, these games can backfire when wrongly done or they force corporate team building
cliches down employees’ throats. You must strike a balance between making the games feel not
like a day in the office, while sticking to work coaching principles.
Team building, why do it?
Team building goes beyond the getting to know each other stuff or bonding moments. It makes
employees more cooperative, collaborative and, generally, engaged in his or her work. Consider
the findings of Gallup on employee engagement in the U.S. last year: 34.1%. That’s nearly 70%
of workers who couldn’t care less about their job tasks.

Team building, while not perfect, is one of the best ways to improve employee engagement.
Here are the main reasons why you should get into the game.
1. Nurture a culture of teamwork. It’s the core of easy team building games, where
individual egos take a backseat for the common good. While these team building
activities are usually fun, they’re shaped by competitiveness and cooperation, two vital
factors that drive a team to success in real-work situations. The activities are designed
where a goal can only be accomplished through the proactive participation of all
members, and this requires bonding. Participants are made aware of the importance of
each other’s role, no matter how trivial, and that only by cooperating can they win the
game. In real scenario teamwork is one of the key factors to effective leadership and
project management.
2. Improve communication. Clear communication is vital in any organization. How many
projects have failed and business put at risk because of miscommunication? Common
team building activities here involve message delivery, non-verbal interpretation and
other communication challenges that promote clarity in conversation whether in print or
verbal.
3. Develop problem-solving skills. Activities can employ team building strategies to solve
a problem and achieve victory. Teams may be tasked to break down a complex problem
by assigning each member a problem subset. Each one follows a systematic process to
solve the problem. These activities mimic delegation, cooperation and coordination
under pressure, which are important test cases in real life. Problem-solving team building
games suit participants with a leadership role, such as managers, supervisors and project
leaders.
 4. Enhance specific skills. Some games require specific team building techniques to
accomplish a goal that mirrors a real job task. We usually see this in blue-collar roles with
a defined skill set. For example, a competitive game among firefighting teams that
simulate real skills like climbing ladders, putting out a fire and carrying heavy loads.
5. Be aware of one’s personality versus others’. A workplace is a cesspool of
personalities that sometimes are at each other’s throat out of a misunderstanding or lack
of empathy. Team building games may focus on resolving this issue by making
participants aware of these differences and how each personality type approaches an
issue differently. Role playing is a key element in these activities. The goal here is to
nurture empathy; plucking people out of their comfort zone, assume other people’s roles
and make them see things from other people’s perspective.

Below are various easy team building games that you can quickly organize with little costs
involved. Each game has its specific goal, requirements and mechanics explained. Have fun
adopting any of these fun-filled, lesson-rich simple team building exercises.
1. Drop the Egg
1. You’ll need: Eggs, cardboard tubes, boxes, scrap paper, cotton balls, rubber bands, tape,
glue, popsicle sticks, straws.
2. The goal: Protect the egg from breaking when dropped to the ground.
3. Instructions: Using only the materials above, each team needs to create a container to
protect the egg from the drop. A team is eliminated if the egg breaks. To shortlist the
winner, you can increase the height of the fall or downsize the materials until only one
egg remains intact.
4. Focus: Problem-solving, creative thinking
2. Copy My Lego
1. You’ll need: Equal set of Lego blocks for each team.
2. The goal: Copy the Lego build of the other team through memory.
3. Instructions: Two teams try to copy each other’s Lego build within 10 minutes, but only
one member from each team knows the Lego design of the other team. Place the teams
in separate rooms (or anywhere they can’t see each other) and give each team an equal set
of Lego blocks. The teams need to build a structure of their choosing. Once the build is
done, a member (spy) from the opposing team is allowed to check the other team’s
structure for one minute. He or she must remember the details including the color, block
types used and overall design. The spy will then rejoin his team and must communicate
clearly the specs used by the other team. The teams have ten minutes to build the replica
under the guidance of the spy. Whichever comes up with the more accurate and more
complete replica wins. To up the challenge, mix different block colors, types and
elements in the Lego set.
4. Focus: Communication
3. Pass the message
1. You’ll need: At least 10 members for each team, the more the better; coded message (a
combination of words that doesn’t make sense)
2. The goal: Pass the coded message from one member to another without adding to or
subtracting from it.
3. Instructions: Line up the team members, each one must face front (no glancing back).
To start the game, the team coordinator whispers a coded message to the member at the
back of the queue. The member then whispers the message to the one in front of him or
her, who’ll do the same thing until the message reaches the one at the frontmost. He or
she then will say the coded message aloud. The coordinator matches it with the original
message. The team that sticks closest to the original coded message wins. To make the
game more challenging, the message must be a coded phrase that doesn’t make sense to
force participants to remember not just the words but the sequence. Example: “The
chicken swimming with sharp teeth eats the shark playing with kids.” Alternatively, you
can have the first participant look at a picture, then he or she describes it to the next
person and so on and see who gets the most accurate picture at the end.
4. Focus: Communication
4. Mind the Mines
1. You’ll need: Open field or any wide space; miscellaneous materials for “mines” like
boxes, papers, strings, chairs, etc; start/finish markers
2. The goal: Walk blindfolded across the field without hitting the mines.
3. Instructions: The area is marked with a START and FINISH points on opposite ends,
and “mines” or obstacles are placed across the open space. Participants are grouped into
twos. One member is blindfolded and positioned at the START point, while his or her
partner is at the FINISH mark. The blindfolded person must walk towards the FINISH
mark guided only by his or her partner on the other end of the field, who barks the
instructions to avoid hitting any mine. The team that hits the least number of mines wins.
Vary the shapes and placement of mines to create a challenging course.
4. Focus: Teamwork, trust, bonding
5. Shape It Up
 1. You’ll need: At least 10 members for each team
2. The goal: Team members arrange themselves to form shapes as instructed.
3. Instructions: Have the participants huddled up together in groups. A game coordinator
barks a shape (for example, square) and the teams must quickly form the shape in five
seconds (adjust the time for larger groups). Start with simple shapes to warm up
everyone, then start barking complex shapes like “a circle on top of a square” or “square
intersects a triangle.” Teamplay is essential here to coordinate who are forming what in a
group. The team that forms the shape first wins. The larger the group the more
challenging the game is.
4. Focus: Teamwork, bonding, communication
6. Unknot the Knot
1. You’ll need: A wide space.
2. The goal: The participants must untangle themselves from a human knot to form a big
circle.
3. Instructions: All participants stand in a circle. Each one holds hands with the person
next to the one beside him or her. The result is a circle tangled with overlapping arms.
Now instruct everyone to form a neat circle by untangling themselves from the knot
without letting go of their hold. The participants can twist their arms and bodies or face
forward or backward, but they cannot let go of anyone’s hand.
4. Focus: Teamwork, bonding
7. Guess the Word
1. You’ll need: Hat or cap, slips of paper, tape, marker
2. The goal: A participant must guess a mystery word within a minute using the process of
deduction.
3. Instructions: Write a mystery word on a slip of paper, big enough that can be read from
2 meters away. Make ten or more of these slips, each one with a different mystery word
and keep aside (don’t show anyone). Group participants into two with each member
facing his or her partner. Each team takes turn to play this game. Start with the first
team. One member wears the cap. Tape the slip of paper on the cap’s front so that the
other member can see the mystery word. The one wearing the cap must guess the word
by asking a series of questions within a minute. The one who knows the word can only
answer yes, no or maybe.The one wearing the cap must be able to deduce the word
within the allotted time. The team that gets to answer a mystery word fastest wins.
Mystery words can be related to the company’s business, staff or completely random
items.
4. Focus: Clear thinking, deduction, problem solving
8. Act the Attitude
1. You’ll need: Self-adhesive sticker, pen marker
2. The goal: Make participants aware how attitudes affect meetings or projects
3. Instructions: Make a list of descriptions of common attitudes in a workplace, both good
and bad. For example: cheerful, supportive, optimist, listener, indifferent, grumpy,
pessimist, fearful. Write each description on a sticker and place them in a box to be
raffled off later. Group participants to simulate a meeting. Pass the box around and each
participant picks one description and sticks it on his or her shirt. The participants must
 act out their sticker description. The game coordinator starts the meeting with a project
goal and specifics and each participant must give his or her feedback acting out his or her
sticker description. So, a pessimist reasons why the project will fail, while an optimist
props up its good points and the indifferent couldn’t care less. Pass the box for a second
round so that each participant will have a different sticker description this time. You can
do a number of rounds that will allow each participant to role play different attitudes,
making them realize in stark terms how specific attitudes affect their workplace. The
game has no winner but will make everybody laugh seeing themselves being acted out by
their colleagues.
4. Focus: Work empathy, team bonding
9. Blind’s Count
1. You’ll need: Blindfold for each participant
2. The goal: The team must count as high as they can
3. Instructions: Have the participants form a large circle facing outwards. Blindfold each
one. Each participant will have to count out loud one at a time in sequence. To start,
designate the first person to shout “1” then the person to his or her right follows with
“2” and so on. Let the counting goes on until the sequence is broken or two or more
participants count out at the same time in their confusion. Assign a target number that
the team must reach to win a prize.
4. Focus: Listening skills, team bonding
10. Throw the Ball
1. You’ll need: Tennis ball or similar item
2. The goal: All team members must remember the complete name and one interest of
each other.
3. Instructions: Form the participants into a circle. Each one will shout out his or her
complete name and one random interest (example, “I like sushi” or “I enjoy
watching Stranger Things”). After everyone has done their turn, designate the first person
to throw the ball to anyone in the circle. The one who catches the ball must shout out
the name and interest of the one who throws the ball, before throwing the ball to the
next participant. Each participant won’t get to shout out all the names and interests of all
the other participants, but the randomness of being thrown the ball to him or her keeps
everyone on their toes to remember as many names and interests as possible. This game
is a good icebreaker for a new team or large organizations.
4. Focus: Team bonding, getting-to-know you