THEATER-MUSIC CLASS GAMES
This page is both for kids who are entering the group late and for parents who wonder what we do in this class. Most of these games are taken either from Viola Spolin's Theater games for the Classroom or from www.improvencyclopedia.org. Some fo the voice exercises are from Gillyanne Kayes' Singing and The Actor.
When we adapt exercises, it will be our version that is described here.
Getting AcquaintedGames to help people learn names in a large group.
10 Fingers - everyone starts with all ten fingers up; go around the circle asking questions such as "do you have a younger brother?" Everyone who has to answer "no" to the question puts a finger down. The one left with any fingers up wins.
Alliterative name game - first person couples their own name with an alliterative description ("Nerdy Nancy") and an appropriate gesture (pushing your glasses higher on your nose). The second person repeats that and adds their own alliterative name and gesture, and so on around the circle until the first person must remember everyone.
Warm-ups
Warm-up exercises get the circulation going and get people laughing and ready to work together.
Relay Hand-off - Everyone lines up at one end of the room. When the time-keeper shouts "Go!" the first person races to the other end of the room, grabs a rolled-up magazine from a chair and runs back to hand it off to the second person, who runs back, deposits the magazine on the chair, comes back and tags the third person, who takes off to pick up the magazine, etc. When the last person gets back, the time-keeper announces the elapsed time. Then we do exactly the same thing again, trying to do it faster.
Explosion Tag - restrict the playing area by fencing it with back-facing chairs. Play tag within that area, but when a person is tagged, he/she must "explode" before going on to tag the next person. There is no set way to explode - it is a spontaneous action at the moment of being tagged.
Slow Motion Freeze Tag - restrict the playing area by fencing it with back-facing chairs. Play tag within that area, but everyone moves in very slow motion - fluidly without starts and stops, but very slowly. As soon as "It" tags another person, he/she freezes in position. The tagged person becomes the new "It."
Swat Tag - players sit in a circle with a stool in the center. Player A goes around the group with a rolled-up magazine, tapping each player in sequence (like duck-duck-goose). Player A eventually taps Player B a bit harder, then runs to put the magazine on the stool in the center (if it falls off, Player A has to put it back on). Meanwhile, Player B gets up and tries to grab the magazine from the stool and tag Player A with it before Player A can get back to her seat. If Player B succeeds, he must get the magazine back on the stool and run for his seat, while Player A grabs the roll and tries to tag Player B with it before he can get there. And this is so confusing to write about, I'm not sure I said it right! But if a player does manage to get back to his/her seat unswatted, the remaining player starts the duck-duck-goose process over again.
Voice Work
These exercises develop the ability to speak clearly, to project the voice or to use the cadences of the voice to convey specific meanings.
Tongue-twisters - standard warm-up to help develop clear diction. We used:
"The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue.
The tip of the tongue, the teeth, the lips.""The big bad bug bit the big black bear
and the big black bear bled badly."Tie twine to three tree twigs.
Red leather, yellow leather
Rubber baby buggy bumpersMixed biscuits. (repeat four times)
Peggy Babcock (repeat four times)
Gibberish Selling - a single player, speaking gibberish (made-up nonsense syllables) tries to sell something to the audience; requires eye-contact and using the voice expressively.
Voice Awareness Exercise I: Lip Trills
- First blow breath gently through nearly-closed lips
- Second, blow harder to create a lip trill
- Third, add voice
Voice Awareness Exercise II: Glottal Stops
- Closing the vocal folds: say uh-oh (crisp, not forced)
- Notice the "glottal stop" before each the uh and oh
- Now go to make the sound, but stop before you do it - you'll be holding your breath and vocal folds are closed
Voice Awareness Exercise III: Locating the soft palate
- Say the consonant "K," as hard as you can. Your breath is first held then released as the back of your tongue presses against the soft palate
- Say the word "sing," holding the "ng" part
- Hold your nose - the sound should stop
- Say "sing-ing-ing-ing," keeping the main part of your tongue in one position while flicking the soft palate away from the tongue
Voice Awareness Exercise IV: Sirening
- Put your tongue and palate together in "NG" position
- Make very small whining or mewing sounds
- Go up and down in pitch, gradually going higher and lower
- Notice what parts are working hard as you get higher
- If the sound breaks, try making your neck long and pulling up with the back of your head
Object Work
Space Ball - participants stand in a circle and play catch with a "ball" made of space. This game requires deducing the ball's trajectory, weight and force from fellow actors' gestures.
Attention to one's acting partner
Copycat - a phrase and gesture begun by one person is repeated around the circle, but everyone also carefully imitates any differences the last person may have inadvertently introduced. Requires attention to what your nearest acting partner actually does and says, not what you expected him/her to do and say.
Mirror - working in pairs, one partner reflects everything the other does, aiming at zero time lag, like a reflection in a mirror; after a few minutes, the second partner acts, the first one reflects; then try the exercise without knowing which one is leading, i.e., "follow the follower"
Give and Take warmup - players stand in a circle. Any player may start a movement and when that happens, all other players must hold (no movement).
Alien/Cow/Tiger: There are 3 things a player can be:
- An alien: hold you index fingers up next to your head, as little antennas and say `Bleeb bleeb`, bending inwards into the circle;
- A cow: bend forward, hold your right hand on your tummy and go `Moooo`
- A tiger: push your right hand forward, imitating a claw and roar.
Everyone stands in a circle and at the Sidecoach's signal, every player decides to become one of the three. The idea is for everyone to become the same, which obviously won`t be the case, the first time. Re-do this until everyone is in sync.
Problem-solving and focus
Blind Line-up - everyone closes their eyes tight (blindfolds would work better) and lines up in order of whatever quality the director chooses (we used height). This game requires group cooperation and problem-solving.
Quick Numbers - Players line up in a semi-circle and number off starting with 1. Player 1 calls another player's number, who calls another player's number, who calls another player's number, etc. But if a player doesn't realize he has just been called and therefore does not respond with a new number before the original caller is able to point to her, the tardy responder goes to the end of the line, and Player 1 starts the process over.
Now here's the tricky part: when the tardy responder moves, everyone behind him/her has to move up to fill all the number slots, meaning they all get new numbers everyone now has to remember.
If Player 1 makes a mistake and points to the wrong person for failing to answer promptly, Player 1 goes to the end of the line, Player 2 becomes Player 1 and everyone down the line thus gets a new number.
Charades - this version has different rules from the parlor-game version. A team of players chooses a secret word of two or three syllables. Then they act out a scene for each of the syllables and then for the whole word. A word like "mistake" can be acted as "miss + take" or "mist + ache." The acting team can speak during the scene, but may not say the secret word or the syllable being acted as part of the skit. The audience offers guesses about the word being acted only AFTER all the scenes are complete.
Spontaneity
List 10 objects - whatever comes into your head without self-editing
What's the opposite of? - Player A says a word, Player B has to say the opposite. The point is not to be literal and logical, but just to say whatever comes into your head without thinking first. Go fast, don't think even if you end up saying the same thing the last person did. A pause is the only wrong answer.
What's in the box? - Player A puts his hand or hands into a box and pulls out an object. Sidecoach asks questions about the object and tells him when to dip into the box again. A variation is Take Something off the Shelf.
Presents: Players stand in pairs and give each other presents. To give a present, you just open your arms/hands to indicate you`re holding something. Don`t try to think about what you`re holding, but give it to your companion.
Upon receiving the present, you give it a name, the first thing that comes to mind. You say something like "Oh, thanks, a little dead bird." The recipient is always delighted and thrilled, no matter what it is. You promptly ignore your present and return something else to your companion.
It's Tuesday - Player A begins by making a "dull offer," such as, "It's Tuesday." Player B responds to this as if it is the most earth-shaking statement ever made, playing over-the-top emotion (despair, contempt, joy, grief, etc) over whatever issue Player B has decided is connected to "It's Tuesday." When Player B runs out of steam, he/she ends the monologue with a new "dull offer," that is in some modest way connected with the emotional tirade just completed (i.e., "Feed the goldfish"). Player C takes off on a hugely emotional monologue responding to "feed the goldfish" (or whatever dull offer has been made).
