drama exercises

1. WEEKLY DRAMA ACTIVITIES
(Mon. 8th
Oct. – Fri. 12th
Oct. 2007)
TOPIC(S): OBJECTIVE(S): Students will
FORM ONE
1. Teamwork, Trust,
Co-operation
2. Choral Speaking (a) learn about Choral Speaking and what it entails;
(b) engage in exercises/activities that foster proper
pronunciation, enunciation, breathing;
(e.g. facial warm ups, deep breathing, tongue
twisters);
(c) engage in activities that promote trust, co-operation,
concentration and warm up for performances;
(d) read pieces/passages for meaning/understanding
and dramatic effect.
GAMES/ACTIVITIES/EXERCISES:
Anything Fabric (* Form 1:6 did this very well on Fri. 5th
Oct. 2007), Slow Motion
Race, Mirror Exercises, Classic In A Minute/Fairy Tale In A Minute, Find The
Leader, Broken Telephone, Blob (simple), simple Tongue Twisters.
FORM TWO/THREE
1. Teamwork, Trust, (a) engage in activities/exercises to foster
Co-operation teamwork, trust, co-operation; characterization;
2. Working on (b) read the piece for meaning/understanding;
‘Brackley And The Bed’: (c) engage in casting the play;
Understanding the story; (d) engage in activities to build and sustain
Building and Sustaining character;
Character; (e) form tableaux and understand their role in
Forming Tableaux adding dimensions/nuances to scenes.
GAMES/ACTIVITIES/EXERCISES:
Anything Fabric, Slow Motion Race, Broken Telephone, Classic In A Minute/Fairy
Tale In A Minute/, Find The Leader, Improvisation Starters, Mirror Exercises,
Tongue Twisters.

2. I. Warm Up Games
If You Love Me The goal of this game is to make others
players 'crack'. The players whose turn it is approaches another
player and says "If you really loved me, you'd smile." That
player must answer "I really love you, but I just can't smile."
while keeping a straight face. Pulling faces, sitting on laps etc.
is allowed in order to get someone to crack.
Object A fast-paced game for any number. An ordinary object
is placed in the centre of the room. Players either take turns or
jump in as they wish. The idea is to act a short (5 second!)
scene in which the object is endowed as something other than
what it is. For example, if the object used is a shoe, then
someone might hold it to their ear and use it as a telephone,
someone else might mime ironing their clothes and so on.
Slow Motion Race A warmup game for an individual team.
The team has a race over a short distance - each person
moving in the slowest slow motion they can while still trying to
actually win the race. A good physical warmup.
Twenty One A good group warmup. The idea is to count to 21
as a group. No turns are taken, instead anyone can yell out the
next number (from 1 to 21). If a number is skipped or if two
people yell the same number at the same time, then you must
start again from 1. It's a great feeling for the group when you
finally hit 21!
What Are You Doing A good warmup for your imagination.
The group forms a circle. Someone begins by miming simple
action. The next person (clockwise or anti-clockwise) asks
"What are you doing?" The person miming then answers with
an action other than that which they are miming. The new
person takes this action and the game continues round the
circle. For example, if Bill mimes eating popcorn and is asked
"What are you doing? " he might answer "Riding a bicycle" The
person who asked the question would then mime riding a
bicycle, and so on.

3. II. Tag - Yes Tag!
Tag is fundamentally the most dramatic of all games and
is played in almost every culture of the world. Pursuit &
Escape > Basic Human Activities. (Cops & Robbers, Hide
& Seek) When the structure of all drama is boiled down,
fundamentally, only the game of tag remains. Play Tag!
Every kid knows how to play. One person it, with one
Free/Home Space.
Try these alternatives: Freeze Tag - If tagged, you stay
frozen until someone else tags you. Monster Tag - Like
regular tag, except person who is it has to be a monster.
Jazz Tag - Where all participants have to play Tag while
moving as Interpretive Jazz Dancers - VERY FUNNY!
Also, you can add to all of these by yelling out Slow (for
slow motion), Reg, or Fast (for fast motion)! (or maybe a
different style you or your students may know)
III. Shark Attack
A great fun game that is exciting and great to use at the
end of the day or as a middle of the session break. This
game is played with all your students as the swimmers
and you as the 1st shark.
The Rules
What you need is some sections of old newspaper that
are the big double sections. Strategically place them
around the room. These are your islands and the rest of
the floor space is the water. The object of the game is for
the shark (you) to catch swimmers who are not
COMPLETELY on the paper island. Tell the swimmers to
swim around the room, when you yell out "SHARK

4. ATTACK" they must get onto an island. Even if a half inch
of their shoe is on the bare floor, they get eaten and are
out! Sounds simple enough! Except for the fact that after
each round, the lead shark will rip a piece of the island off
so the islands slowly become smaller. This continues until
all the swimmers have been eaten. You may or may not
use the people that you kill as extra sharks. The space
will help you decide this. You may want to just use one or
two extras at a time. Watch out for this one, they will
want to play it every day!
IV. Freeze Frame
1. Have three students get up on stage and begin an
improvisation, (you may give them the situation if
necessary).
2. When another class mate yells "Freeze!", the players
stop in their exact postion. The student then goes up to
one of the players, taps him on the shoulder which
dismisses him, and then takes his place.
3. The person who just stepped into the improvisation
must now come up with a new improvisation which the
other players will have to work off.
4. If the students need help getting things going, you
may want to yell "Freeze!" the first few times and send a
students into the game. This is often the most fun when
you wait until the players are in odd positions.
V. One Minute Games

5. Advertisement The team must advertise an imaginary
product. The advertisement can be a song, a short scene
or anything, but must sell the product.
Alphabet A scene is acted in which the first words of
everyone's dialogue must be in alphabetical order. Thus,
if Bill comes out with "A nice day for it,", Jenny might
follow with " Better than yesterday, that's for sure!"
Classic In A Minute The team must act out a condensed
version of a classic story in one minute.
Death In A Minute A scene is acted, during which at
least one character must die, of whatever cause.
Expert Double Figures One player takes the role of an
interviewer and another takes the role of an expert. The
interviewer then interviews the expert about their area of
speciality. The catch is that the other team members
kneel behind these two and act out their hand gestures.
The players and the hands should feed off each other.
VI. Emotion Party
Explanation: The host of a party and the guests acquire
the emotional state of whoever enters the party.
How to Play: One person begins, as the host, with a
neutral emotion. The first guest knocks or rings the bell
(saying "knock-knock" or "ding-dong"), and enters in
highly charged emotional state. Emotions that work well
with this exercise include, excitement, fear, anger,
jealousy, joy, sadness, etc. As soon as the host picks up
on the emotion, she "catches" it, and interacts with the
guest. The next guest enters with a different emotion,
and the host and guest "catch" it. Things get more
chaotic as more guests enter, as each new guest causes a

6. different emotion to permeate the party. Once the first
guest has entered, the participants can interact with
different people until they notice a change in the emotion,
and then they must adapt that emotion. The participants
should not watch the new guests for the emotional state,
rather, they should let the emotion "travel" to them as it
will. To make things really tricky, two guests could enter
at the same time with different emotions. The
participants will be really wired after this game, so plan
accordingly to use that energy.
Improv Games
Pass the Ball: All players in a circle. Ask the players to pass a mimed ball [present] to
others (one ball at a time). The ball bacomes heavier, until it weighs a ton, or extremely
light, extremely big (and light or heavy) or extremely small (and light or heavy). Actors
need to show the ball's characteristics in the way it gets passed.
Mirror Exercise: Pair up actors. One actor is the mirror and must copy everything the
other actor does.
Shrinking Box: Actors pantomine that they are in a very large box. Show audience all the
sides. Then the box gets smaller. Show the audience how small it is getting. Then they
must figure out a way to escape. The actor must do a good job showing the audience how
they have escaped so they can correctly guess how.
Group Stop: Everyone quietly mills about the room. One person will elect to freeze in
position unexpectedly. As soon as one notices that someone else has frozen in position
they freeze as well. So the effect of one person freezing causes everyone to freeze. Once
everyone is still the group starts milling around again. The goal is to see how quickly the
group can freeze in position.
3 Noses: A fun and silly game. Let everyone walk leisurely around the room. When you
shout '3 Noses' the players must form little groups, each group consisting of 3 touching
noses. Use your imagination - say 4 feet, 3 hands, 2 ears, 9 fingers, 5 hips, 4 elbows, 3
heads, 7 left big toes, 4 little fingers. Repeat till everyone is giggling.
Alphabet Game: The actors act out a scene but they must start each sentence with the
letters of the alphabet. If an actor gets a letter wrong, audience yells SLEEP and
remaining actors continue.
Fairy Tale in a Minute: The actors pick a fairy tale (or get one from the audience) and
then act out the story in one minute. Then they must act out the same thing in 30 seconds.
THEN they must act it out in 10 seconds.

7. Lines from our Pockets: The audience will write lines for the actors to say. Someone will
collect the lines and not show them to the actors. The actors will act out the scene and
then they must interject the lines into the scene.
Melodrama: We have an old fashioned melodrama for you, but with a twist. The twists
will be based on suggestions from the audience. We have three characters: a damsel in
distress, a hero, and a villain. Audience: you will Boo at Villain, Cheer for Hero, Ahhh
for Damsel. Audience will suggest... Damsel: something strange to raise on a farm,
Villain: a weird form of torture, Hero: an odd weapon someone might use to stop a
villain.
Stunt Doubles: 2 Actors are acting a scene such as washing a car. When it comes time to
do a “dangerous” step (such as turning on the hose) they call in their stunt doubles.
Here Comes Jill: One actress plays Jill who is off stage. The other two actors are patrons
at a restaurant and describe what Jill is like while she is off stage. Jill is a waitress and
when Jill comes in, she has to act like she is described.
Flock of Seagulls: You have a lead actor and four other actors who must copy everything
the lead actor does. The problem is that each of the other actors have some sort of
problem. One has their foot stuck to the floor, one can't put their arms down, one has
their hands stuck to their head, one keeps falling asleep (add your own problems).
Honey Walk: All actors walk in place. The audience calls out different things they must
walk through. Snow, ice, mud, jello, honey...
Games are incredibly useful in a theatre classroom; and not just acting or warm-up
games – all kinds of games can be played to increase performance or creative skills.

8. Most theatre games, and the recreational games that are best in class have no
winners or losers. The participants work individually or with others to accomplish the
goal of the game, and if the goal is not accomplished at the first try, the participants
have still learned something from the experience.
The games here are ones that I have created or that I have learned and could not be
traced to a particular source.
A great resource to check out is Hugh's List of Improv Handles, maintained by Hugh
McLeod, which lists improvisation games and instructions for playing.
ALI BABA
Game Type: Concentration
Age Range: 7-12
Number of Participants: 8-20
Materials: None
Explanation: Ali Baba is sort of a physical version of a song in the round. one
person starts with a motion, and the next person comes in one line later with the
first motion, while the first person is doing the next motion. The game stops when
the first motion has successfully made it around the circle to the first person.
How to Play: All participants sit in a circle. The leader begins, saying "Ali Baba and
the forty thieves" while doing a repeatable motion (Clapping, snapping) with her
hands. As soon as the phrase, "Ali Baba and the forty thieves" is finished, the second
person (person to the right of the leader) picks up the leader’s first motion, saying
the "Ali Baba" phrase. The leader is now saying "Ali Baba…" for the second time, with
a new hand motion, so the second person must still keep an eye on the leader – he
will have to duplicate every new motion as the leader finishes. The motions travel
around the circle in this fashion, with the leader coming up with a new motion every
time she says "Ali Baba…", until the first motion reaches the leader. That is, the
leader sees the person to her left making the first motion that she made, and so
stops her action. Then the non-action follows through the circle until the last person
has repeated the last motion.
Notes: It is easier at first for the participants to keep their eyes on the person to
their left, so that they can see each new motion clearly. As they get better at
switching the motions as necessary, the participants can try following the motions
without looking directly at the person to their left. The leader should make sure each
motion she does is different from the ones before, as a repetition causes confusion.
ANYTHING FABRIC
Game Type: Warm-up

9. Age Range: 5+
Number of Participants: 5-20
Materials: A piece of fabric, about a yard square, solid color or pattern
Explanation: This game stimulates imagination by encouraging multiple answers for
the same question.
How to Play: Participants stand in a circle. The leader shows the fabric to the
participants, saying "What could this piece of fabric be? We’re going to pass it around
the circle and each of you will show us something that it could become." The leader
demonstrates, turning the fabric into something (for suggestions, see list below) and
stating what it is. The fabric is passed from person to person, with each participant
sharing an idea. If an idea is repeated, such as "a hat", the leader asks the
participant to be more specific (a turban, a bonnet), thereby making the participant
come up with their own idea. If the number of participants is small enough, the
fabric can travel around the circle twice. A variation on this game is to limit the ideas
to a category such as clothing, or things that are the color of the fabric.
Notes: Here are some of the answers to the question, although the possibilities are
endless.
• A Superman cape
• A Diaper
• A Magic carpet
• A Flag
• A Picnic blanket
• A Dog’s leash
• A Toga ("One of those things they wore in Greece" was the original
description)
• A Leg cast
• A Wig
BLOB (SIMPLE)
Game Type: Warm-up
Age Range: 7+

10. Number of Participants: 5-40
Materials: Enough enclosed space to accommodate the number of participants
Explanation: The blob tries to assimilate everyone, and everyone tries to avoid
assimilation.
How to Play: Participants spread out in an enclosed area and the Blob is chosen. At
the leader’s signal, the Blob begins trying to tag another participant. When the Blob
succeeds in tagging a participant, that person latches on to the Blob, becoming part
of the Blob. The Blob continues to try to tag others, and as they get tagged, they
also join the Blob. Eventually, everyone is the Blob, and there is no one left to be
tagged. Encourage both groups of participants as they try to avoid or assimilate, and
remember that the last person to be tagged by the Blob is not the "winner" and the
first person to be tagged is not the "loser". The objectives for the Blob and the non-
blobs should prevent the participants from thinking of this. The group will probably
ask to play again, and because this is a fairly short game, there should be time to
repeat the game. The second time, encourage the Blob to work together to find
better ways to tag people, and the non-blobs to discover original ways to avoid the
Blob.
Notes: Make sure that any obstacles that could cause a fall are removed before
playing this game.
BLOB (COMPLEX)
Game Type: Warm-up
Age Range: 7+
Number of Participants: 5-40 Materials: Enough enclosed space for the
participants to play this game.
Explanation: The Blob tries to assimilate everyone, and the other participants try to
avoid being assimilated, while all are "blind".
How to Play: The participants spread out in the enclosed playing area, and they
close their eyes/put on blindfolds. Remind the participants that they will have to
move slowly and carefully to avoid crashing into anyone. Select a Blob by tapping
him on the shoulder, and then signal the participants to begin. At the leader’s signal,
the Blob begins trying to tag another participant. When the Blob succeeds in tagging
a participant, that person latches on to the Blob, becoming part of the Blob. The Blob
continues to try to tag others, and as they get tagged, they also join the Blob.
Eventually, everyone is the Blob, and there is no one left to be tagged. Encourage
both groups of participants as they try to avoid or assimilate, ask them to use senses
other than sight to determine where the Blob is or non-blobs are. The objectives for
the Blob and the non-blobs should prevent the participants from thinking of this. The
group will probably ask to play again, and because this is a fairly short game, there
should be time to repeat the game. The second time, encourage the Blob to work

11. together to find better ways to tag people, and the non-blobs to discover original
ways to avoid the Blob.
Notes: Make sure that any obstacles that could cause a fall are removed before
playing this game. The leader and assistants should monitor the speed and positions
of the participants to help avoid any collisions with people or things.
CATEGORIES
Game Type: Warm-up
Age Range: 7+
Number of Participants: 8-20
Materials: None
Explanation: Participants try to think of as many things as they can that fit into a
particular category.
How to Play: Participants sit in a circle and begin a one-two rhythm (Clap-snap, or
slap(legs)-clap). One person says, in rhythm, "I am thinking of ….." whatever the
category is, and then says something that fits the category. On the second beat after
the first person, the second person says something that fits the category, and so on
around the circle.
Example:
"I-am-thinking-of-kinds-of-fruits" (Clap) "Apple"
(Clap) "Orange"
(Clap) "Strawberries"
(Clap) "Banana"
(Clap) "Watermelon"
It is okay if saying the category items takes longer than one beat, because of
multiple syllables, but the participants are not allowed to pause for more than one
beat between the end of the last person’s item and their item. Everyone continues
this process until someone gets stuck or repeats an item. When this happens, the
participants can either start over with a new category, keeping the person who got
stuck in the circle, or the person who got stuck could be "out" and the same category
could be repeated until there is only one person left. If everyone stays in, the leader
could time the participants to see for how long they can continue.
Notes: The category chosen depends on the ages and interests of the participants. A
younger, less experienced group could play for a while with a category of "Different

12. kinds of candy", while a high school drama club might have fun with "names of
playwrights". The leader should explain that the objective of the game is to keep the
category traveling around the circle as long as possible, even if the participants who
get stuck or repeat are out. This way, the participant choosing the category won’t be
encouraged to come up with an obscure one that only they know several answers to.
EMOTION PARTY
Game Type: Improvisation
Age Range: 10+
Number of Participants: 5-15
Materials: None
Explanation: The host of a party and the guests acquire the emotional state of
whoever enters the party.
How to Play: One person begins, as the host, with a neutral emotion. The first
guest knocks or rings the bell (saying "knock-knock" or "ding-dong"), and enters in
highly charged emotional state. Emotions that work well with this exercise include,
excitement, fear, anger, jealousy, joy, sadness, etc. As soon as the host picks up on
the emotion, she "catches" it, and interacts with the guest. The next guest enters
with a different emotion, and the host and guest "catch" it. Things get more chaotic
as more guests enter, as each new guest causes a different emotion to permeate the
party. Once the first guest has entered, the participants can interact with different
people until they notice a change in the emotion, and then they must adapt that
emotion. The participants should not watch the new guests for the emotional state,
rather, they should let the emotion "travel" to them as it will. To make things really
tricky, two guests could enter at the same time with different emotions. The
participants will be really wired after this game, so plan accordingly to use that
energy.
Notes: If this has not been discussed before, it might be a good time to discuss with
the participants how to express negative emotions such as anger without hitting any
other participants- what verbal and physical things show anger (in performance)
without hurting anyone in reality.
IMPROVISATION STARTERS
The situations in these starters should be fairly easy for beginning improvisers to put
themselves into. Each character has a motivation, what that person wants in the
scene. The actors should decide the "why" behind their desire before they start the
scene. This will help them to keep focused during the improvisation. The specifics of
the scenes can either be determined ahead of time, or they could be made up during
the improv.

13. For Younger Actors (8-12):
1. A girl brings a dog (not another actor-imagine it is there) into her house who
"followed her home". She tries to convince her mother to let her keep the
dog.
2. Two siblings play a board game. One accuses the other of cheating. An
argument ensues.
3. A grandparent and grandchild have a talk about what they did during their
day. The child expresses a desire to be older, and the grandparent wishes to
be younger.
4. A teacher tries to teach the multiplication table to a student who only wants
to talk about TV shows.
5. One friend tries to convince another friend that she has seen a UFO. The
friend is disbelieving.
6. A child tries to convince parent to stay home from work and let her stay home
form school.
For Older Actors(10+)
1. A teacher tells a student that she is going to fail science class. The student
tries to convince the teacher that she will improve, and asks her not to put an
F on the report card which comes out next week.
2. A mother and son/daughter are shopping for school clothes. The Mother does
not think her child’s attire choices are appropriate for his/her
age/weight/personality.
3. One friend tries to convince another that he has seen a UFO. (Is he lying or
not?)
4. A young child is at the doctor’s office with his/her mother to get a shot. The
child is very frightened and the doctor has to use tactics in order to give the
shot. The mother is very nervous.
5. Two friends are deciding which clubs/classes to sign up for. One wants to
take/join something (i.e. cheerleading, ROTC, Feminist Theory) that the other
thinks is an awful choice.
6. One sibling tries to convince another who is shy to come to a party.
7. A boy has been told (falsely) that a girl likes him. Actually, the girl’s best
friend likes the boy. He runs into the girl at the library, and she tries to get
him to go over to the section of the library where the best friend is.
8. A young person has to do a paper on (pick an historical character), but does
not want to have to read a lot. He tries to get a salesperson in a children’s
bookstore to show him books on the subject that will provide enough
information for the report.
9. A teacher is trying to teach the multiplication table in a one-on-one situation.
The student only wants to talk about TV shows.
10. Three friends are in a restaurant. They try to order from the menu, but each
has some dietary restriction that requires them to change the preparation of
each dish. The waiter is new on the job.
11. Two friends are on a talk show. Their problem is that one keeps changing her
interests and attire to match the other friend. The talk show host is on the
imitator’s side.

14. 12. Two people are at an amusement park. One wants to ride the newest roller
coaster in the park (choose specifics), and the other one is terrified to do so.
He/she tries to convince the other not to ride without letting on that he/she is
scared.
13. Girl/boy talks to male/female (opposite gender) friend about new boy/girl
she/he is dating. The person is a JERK and the friend doesn’t think she/he
should see him/her.
14. Babysitter tries to get a child to go to bed. The child will not fall asleep,
because he/she is afraid of a monster (pick a kind).
15. Four people are going to the movies, but two want to see one movie (choose
a type) and the other two want to see a different one (choose something
radically different from first).
16. A schoolmate tries to convince another to convert to his new religion, which is
based on the idea that computers are omnipotent.
17. Two strangers are stuck in a room that has a security door. The one is overly
concerned with getting out, the other wants to become friends, and so is in no
hurry.
MIME IT DOWN THE ALLEY
Game Type: Skills Development
Age Range: 10+
Number of Participants: 8-10/line
Materials: None
Explanation: A pantomimed version of "Whisper down the alley". Participants try to
communicate an object or idea to each other so that the last person has the same
"message" as the first.
How to Play: Participants are divided into groups of eight to ten people. Each group
sits in a straight line, facing backward except for the first person. Participants are not
allowed to talk at any point in the game. The first person in each line is given an
object to mime (i.e., a toaster, a computer, a jack-in-the-box) – the only
requirement is that it can be shown in pantomime in a seated position. The first
person taps the second person in line on the shoulder so that they turn to face each
other. The first person mimes the object, and when the second person thinks he
knows what the object is, he nods. Then the object is mimed to the next person,
traveling down the line to the last person. The objective is for the pantomime of the
object to be clear enough each time that it stays the same object all the way down
the line. Usually, the object changes into something entirely different – the
interesting thing is to see how it changed along the line. Each person should tell the
others what they thought the object was, and discuss what they saw the others
demonstrating.
Notes: There are many variations that can be played with this game, by changing
the object to a movie or book title, or incorporating concepts from a curricular area

15. into the game. For example, the pantomime could be of a preposition or a science
concept.
NAME GAME #1
Game Type: Group Cohesion
Age Range: 10+
Number of Participants: Unlimited
Materials: None
Explanation: A game for the first day of class, so that everyone learns each others’
names.
How to Play: The participants sit or stand in a circle. The leader says, "We are
having a party, and everyone has to bring something for the party that begins with
the same first letter as their name. My name is JANINE, and I am bringing a bag of
JELLYBEANS." The person to the leader’s right says his name and item, and then
repeats the leader’s name and item: "My name is ERIK, I am going to bring EGG
SALAD. This is JANINE, who is bringing JELLYBEANS." Each person in turn introduces
himself, announces their item, and repeats the name and item of everyone who
preceded them. This means that the last person has to remember everyone in the
group, or at least try. The leader should encourage others to help out when
participants get stuck on someone’s name or item, with verbal or pantomimed clues.
NAME GAME #2
Game Type: Group Cohesion
Age Range: 8+
Number of Participants: Unlimited
Materials: None
Explanation: Participants learn each other’s names with the help of gestures.
How to Play: Participants stand in a circle, and each person in turn says their name,
at the same time executing a gesture that expresses their personality. For younger
participants, the leader can suggest that the gesture shows a favorite hobby, sport
or activity. After everyone has shared their name and gesture, the participants play
"tag" with the names and gestures. While standing still, the participants can tag each
other one at a time by saying a person’s name and repeating their gesture. The
leader should encourage the participants to get to everyone’s name without repeats,
so that all members of the group are included.

16. Notes: The leader should continue this game until he knows almost all of the
participants’ names. Hopefully, this will be before the group is bored with the game.
OBJECT PERMANENCE
Game Type: Skill Development
Age Range: 7+
Number of Participants: 2-20
Materials: A melange of 20 to 50 objects, pens/pencils and paper
Explanation: Participants try to remember things they can no longer see.
How to Play: Prior to playing, the leader places the group of objects on a table and
covers it with a cloth or places it in a separate room, so that no one can see it ahead
of time. The leader explains that the participants have one minute to look at the
objects on the table, and then they will be asked to write down as many objects as
they can remember. The participants are not allowed to touch any of the objects,
and they cannot talk aloud during the minute of looking. The leader has the
participants stand around the table, and pulls the cover off, saying "Go." After timing
a minute, the leader covers the table, and asks the participants to write down as
many objects as they can remember. The leader gives the participants two minutes
to do this, and at the end of this time, the leader lists all of the objects on the table.
Notes: This game helps participants focus on their sense of sight – it can be repeated so
that they can try different methods of remembering all of the objects.
OPEN SCENES
The two lines in each scene are to be repeated over and over again in a predetermined
situation, i.e., for scene one, character A is stuck underneath a fallen tree, and character
B is not strong enough to lift the tree.
One
A: Help me.
B: I can’t.
Two
A: I’m sorry.
B: It’s all your fault.
Three

17. A: Stop it.
B: Make me.
Four
A: What are you doing?
B: What does it look like?
Five
A: It’s time to go.
B: Not yet.
Six
A: I need you.
B: Just a minute.
PARK BENCH
Game Type: Improvisation
Age Range: 10+
Number of Participants: 2
Materials: A Bench
Explanation: In this game, one person decides the character for both participants.
The other participant has to react to this while trying to determine their character.
How to Play: One participant sits on a bench. The setting is a park, and the person
on the bench has no character until the second participant enters. The second
participant has decided who she is, and who the person sitting on the park bench is.
For example, the person entering could decide, "The person on the bench is a
famous author, and I am a great fan of their work." In this situation, the actor would
recognize the person on the bench, react to seeing their favorite author in person,
ask for an autograph, and tell the author about which books she likes best. The actor
on the bench, meanwhile, has to adapt to the situation, developing their character
bit by bit. The improvisation ends when one actor exits, hopefully after everyone
figures out who they are.
Notes: With younger or less experienced actors, the leader may want to supply the
person entering with characters, so that there is no worry about clear characters.

18. PEOPLE PICTURES I
Game Type: Improvisation
Age Range: 9+
Number of Participants: 2-20
Materials: Pictures of people, as many as Participants (see Notes)
Explanation: Participants will use pictures as inspiration in creating characters, and
interact with others as their characters. They will try to determine which picture the
other participants used for their inspiration after interacting with them.
How to Play: Participants spread themselves out in the room, so that each person
has enough space to think without distractions. The leader passes out a picture to
each participant, explaining, "DO NOT let anyone else, even me, see your picture.
You have three minutes to look at the person in your picture and become that
person. Decide what kind of personality he or she has, how old the person is, what
kind of life they lead, etc. Use the picture to help you decide - are there details about
the person's clothes, their surroundings, their face which give you ideas? Try to
create a "story" for this person, as well as a voice, mannerisms, attitude. All of your
characters will attend a party at the end of the three minutes." The participants
should not talk to one another before the three minutes are up. At the end of the
three minutes, the participants hand in their pictures. As soon as they hand in the
picture, they transform into their character. The leader should explain that they need
to talk to the other characters, as if they are at a party. The participants should
attempt to talk to everyone else, and try to remember things about the other
characters. The party lasts five to ten minutes, depending on the number of
participants. At the end of this time, the leader asks everyone to discard their
characters and become themselves. The leader then shows the participants the
pictures that were used, and asks the group to identify whose character matches
with the picture. (Don't tell the participants that this will happen ahead of time. The
temptation of "fooling" everyone is too great to resist for some people, and these
people will purposefully make their character unlike their picture if they know there
will be guessing.) The group should discuss their reactions to their pictures, and to
others' as well as how everyone developed their character.
Notes: The pictures can be cut out of magazines, and then pasted onto oak tag or
posterboard for stability. Try to get a good assortment of people - all ages, races,
levels of attractiveness, and don't put any famous faces in the bunch. The more
interesting the setting and the appearance of the person, the more there is for the
participants to use for inspiration. Remember, there are no wrong answers - but the
participants should be able to answer "why" questions about the character and
picture.
THIS IS A WATCH
Game Type: Concentration

19. Age Range: 7+
Number of Participants: 5-20
Materials: As many one syllable objects as participants- pen, book, etc.
Explanation: The object of the game is to pass the object or objects around the
circle without stopping or breaking the rhythm of the script– eventually, the group
should be able to complete a circle in which everyone has an object.
How to Play: The participants sit in a circle. One person has a watch (GIVER), which
she will hand over to the person on her right (RECEIVER) once the lines are
completed. The first time, the watch is passed from one person to the next, following
the script (see below) until the watch is back at the beginning. Once everyone knows
the lines exactly as written, the group can try two objects. The person with the
watch again passes it to the right, but the person to the left of her hands her a pen
AT THE SAME TIME that she is handing over the watch. This means that the person
with the watch is saying both parts of the script – the GIVER’S and the RECEIVER’S
part. The chart below will illustrate.
(The GIVER has a watch, and turns to the person on her right, the RECEIVER)
GIVER: (Offering Watch)
This is a Watch.
RECEIVER:( To GIVER)
A What?
GIVER:(Replying)
A Watch.
RECEIVER:(Repeating)
A What?
GIVER: (Replying)
A Watch.