In a big circle one person goes in to the middle and holds a shape;
Someone joins them interacting with them in a other shape and so on.
Ask the group what they see? What emotions? What is going on in the story?
Get lots of variations.
Repeat but this time give the group (or groups) 20 seconds to create what ever you call out i.e an emotion or a noun (church, Bicycle,) or the Weather- Hot, Stormy, Hurricane etc.
Repeat again and give the group an emotion to build together- Search together again for a narrative.
Follow up: This is a good exercise to go on and create images from texts, which can create scenes for a drama. Words can be given to characters, which can be built into sentences and so on.
Comment: A good exercise to use with a mixed group as it lends itself to differentiating the task. A good group can be pushed to create scenes to a story where as a less experienced group could stop at just images.
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
Elasticity
Find a partner and face one another
Move around anywhere in the room but keep eye contact with each other
when leader shouts "change" you must change partner
Experiment with levels, distance, pace etc
Comment: This requires a certain amount of trust in the group to be able to maintain eye contact but is a good way of finding out the groups closeness.
This is a good spacial awareness exercise working with a partner and being aware of those around at the same time.
Move around anywhere in the room but keep eye contact with each other
when leader shouts "change" you must change partner
Experiment with levels, distance, pace etc
Comment: This requires a certain amount of trust in the group to be able to maintain eye contact but is a good way of finding out the groups closeness.
This is a good spacial awareness exercise working with a partner and being aware of those around at the same time.
Knee tag
Find a partner and face one another
The idea is to try and touch your partners knee 3 times before they touch yours 3 times.
You can increase the difficulty by making each pair put an arm behind their back.
On the command "Change" You must find a new partner to do combat with.
Comments: Great to use with a new group especially as a way to get to know one another. This is also a good spacial awareness exercise as individuals are not just to watch their partners moves but be aware of those around them.
The idea is to try and touch your partners knee 3 times before they touch yours 3 times.
You can increase the difficulty by making each pair put an arm behind their back.
On the command "Change" You must find a new partner to do combat with.
Comments: Great to use with a new group especially as a way to get to know one another. This is also a good spacial awareness exercise as individuals are not just to watch their partners moves but be aware of those around them.
Mexican wave
In a circle one person sends a clap around the circle
Try to get the gap between claps as small as is possible.
First send it clockwise and then anticlockwise.
If you create 2 circles you can race to see which circle is faster.
Encourage people to be alert both with their eyes, ears and body.
You can make the circle tighter to increase the speed of the clap.
Comments: This is a fun one to use with a new group to introduce the idea of play and team work. It is good to use with a group who may be a little nervous about doing drama to loosen them up.
Try to get the gap between claps as small as is possible.
First send it clockwise and then anticlockwise.
If you create 2 circles you can race to see which circle is faster.
Encourage people to be alert both with their eyes, ears and body.
You can make the circle tighter to increase the speed of the clap.
Comments: This is a fun one to use with a new group to introduce the idea of play and team work. It is good to use with a group who may be a little nervous about doing drama to loosen them up.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Aadu veedu (goat House)
The game starts with everybody creating a Goat House (two people stand holding arms up to create a house and someone sits down underneath to represent the goat).
If the leader shouts "Goat" all the goats have to change place.
If the leader shouts "House" all the houses change places to shelter different goats.
If the leader shouts “Goat House”, then everyone has to change and recreate Goat Houses with different people.
At the start make sure there are a few free goats, so that they have to compete with the rest when they change.
Nb: Aadu Veeda is the Tamil name version of this game. It simply means Goat House. In the UK this game is more commonly known as house, person, tempest
Variation
You can add to the analogy of house by saying "extension" Two people then have to create an extension each side.
Comment. I have used this game with a group that did not know each other well and it worked very well. I think because it is well structured and the children knew exactly whatt was expected of them. However it does encourage mingling as well
If the leader shouts "Goat" all the goats have to change place.
If the leader shouts "House" all the houses change places to shelter different goats.
If the leader shouts “Goat House”, then everyone has to change and recreate Goat Houses with different people.
At the start make sure there are a few free goats, so that they have to compete with the rest when they change.
Nb: Aadu Veeda is the Tamil name version of this game. It simply means Goat House. In the UK this game is more commonly known as house, person, tempest
Variation
You can add to the analogy of house by saying "extension" Two people then have to create an extension each side.
Comment. I have used this game with a group that did not know each other well and it worked very well. I think because it is well structured and the children knew exactly whatt was expected of them. However it does encourage mingling as well
Monday, 16 March 2009
Conducting game
Divide the group into twos and instruct them to create a short sound or rhythm that they will be asked to share with the group.
Everyone shares their sound.
Explain to the group that you as the leader will be a conductor and as you point to a pair they must make their sound/rhythm until you point to them to stop.
As conductor you can bring anyone one in you want at any Time so everybody must be watching and ready.
The conductor also shows the group other signs such as increase or decrease volume using his hands. (or lengthen or shorten sound)
The challenge is for the conductor to create as rhythmical a sound as possible.
When the conductor has had enough he can pass the baton to whoever he wants and he then joins that pair.
Variation:
This can also be done with simple movement to create a dance piece
A outside pair of eyes can watch the action and look for narratives ion the movements. This can be fed back to the pairs and a scene could be devised out of this.
Shapes/movements/narratives can be paired off together to create something
Everyone shares their sound.
Explain to the group that you as the leader will be a conductor and as you point to a pair they must make their sound/rhythm until you point to them to stop.
As conductor you can bring anyone one in you want at any Time so everybody must be watching and ready.
The conductor also shows the group other signs such as increase or decrease volume using his hands. (or lengthen or shorten sound)
The challenge is for the conductor to create as rhythmical a sound as possible.
When the conductor has had enough he can pass the baton to whoever he wants and he then joins that pair.
Variation:
This can also be done with simple movement to create a dance piece
A outside pair of eyes can watch the action and look for narratives ion the movements. This can be fed back to the pairs and a scene could be devised out of this.
Shapes/movements/narratives can be paired off together to create something
Friday, 27 February 2009
Red shoes
Make a circle sitting on chairs
One person stands in the middle and must say something about themselves.
i.e. "I am wearing red shoes."
Everyone with red shoes must change places without letting the person in the middle sit down.
The person who cannot sit down then becomes the person in the middle.
And so on.
Variation
A condition can be put on the game like, Only share something that happened to you last week, or tell the group something you dislike.
If there is no condition put on the game it is interesting to see how much people disclose about themselves and cit an give you a good indication of the level trust within the group.
Comment: I found this a useful game when working with excluded pupils recently to guage how far they were willing to open up. I also repeated it at the end of the term to see how far they had come.
One person stands in the middle and must say something about themselves.
i.e. "I am wearing red shoes."
Everyone with red shoes must change places without letting the person in the middle sit down.
The person who cannot sit down then becomes the person in the middle.
And so on.
Variation
A condition can be put on the game like, Only share something that happened to you last week, or tell the group something you dislike.
If there is no condition put on the game it is interesting to see how much people disclose about themselves and cit an give you a good indication of the level trust within the group.
Comment: I found this a useful game when working with excluded pupils recently to guage how far they were willing to open up. I also repeated it at the end of the term to see how far they had come.
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Ali Ali Ali !
Group stand in a circle with one person in the middle.
The person in the middle must say someones name three times before they can say their name once.
If the person in the middle succeeds then they join the circle.
The person on the outside who failed then goes into the middle.
Comment: A good game when the group is familiar at least a little bit with eachothers names. However the person in the middle can always ask people in the circle their names to remind themselves. This also builds up tension as that person ios then expecting their name to be said
The person in the middle must say someones name three times before they can say their name once.
If the person in the middle succeeds then they join the circle.
The person on the outside who failed then goes into the middle.
Comment: A good game when the group is familiar at least a little bit with eachothers names. However the person in the middle can always ask people in the circle their names to remind themselves. This also builds up tension as that person ios then expecting their name to be said
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Playback Theatre 2
Retell in a group of 3 how you came to school/work this morning
Other members of the group listen and hold on to 3 images that come out of retelling.
Create 3 images for each persons story in the group
Each group of 3 should have a total of 9 images to show.
Create a stage with a chair to one side where the person who told the story sits.
His/her partners present the 3 images that represent their story, but the author in the chair cannot speak.
You can ask the audience to comment on what they saw or even suggest ideas as to what they think happened.
Each group of 3 takes it in turns to get up and perform their stories and images
Music can be used as an accompaniment to the stories
Variation
The author retells their story out loud to the audience and the partners perform the 3 images at the appropriate time in the story
The author is not allowed to make any additional comments.
Comment: I found this exercise quite moving especially where quite personal stories were shared. It is as if the story tellers story is being valued by the others acting it out and they could show something that the person might want shared but find it too hard to speak about. I was recently doing a project in Manilla with Street Children where we talked about using this exercise to tell some of their stories. Unfortunately it didn't happen but I will keep it up my sleeve for another time.
Other members of the group listen and hold on to 3 images that come out of retelling.
Create 3 images for each persons story in the group
Each group of 3 should have a total of 9 images to show.
Create a stage with a chair to one side where the person who told the story sits.
His/her partners present the 3 images that represent their story, but the author in the chair cannot speak.
You can ask the audience to comment on what they saw or even suggest ideas as to what they think happened.
Each group of 3 takes it in turns to get up and perform their stories and images
Music can be used as an accompaniment to the stories
Variation
The author retells their story out loud to the audience and the partners perform the 3 images at the appropriate time in the story
The author is not allowed to make any additional comments.
Comment: I found this exercise quite moving especially where quite personal stories were shared. It is as if the story tellers story is being valued by the others acting it out and they could show something that the person might want shared but find it too hard to speak about. I was recently doing a project in Manilla with Street Children where we talked about using this exercise to tell some of their stories. Unfortunately it didn't happen but I will keep it up my sleeve for another time.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Alphabet
In groups of 3 make a letter of the alphabet.
Show them to one another and try to guess them.
Choose one group of 3 in turn and the rest of the group brainstorm out loud any words, shapes images or stories they see.
Each group create a short scene using the ideas given with their shape as a component of it.
Variation
You can join groups (shapes) together to create a short scene where they either go together or offer a contrast.
Comment: I did this recently in a school with primary children and it worked a treat. It is something that they had a lot of fun doing without having to think too much, but it opened up a whole load of ideas when they started to look at one anothers shapes.
Show them to one another and try to guess them.
Choose one group of 3 in turn and the rest of the group brainstorm out loud any words, shapes images or stories they see.
Each group create a short scene using the ideas given with their shape as a component of it.
Variation
You can join groups (shapes) together to create a short scene where they either go together or offer a contrast.
Comment: I did this recently in a school with primary children and it worked a treat. It is something that they had a lot of fun doing without having to think too much, but it opened up a whole load of ideas when they started to look at one anothers shapes.
Friday, 6 February 2009
Football clapping tribes
Clap out the rhythm "dada, dadada, dadadada, dada."
Split into two groups and set first group off clapping once through
Then bring in the second group after the first "dada".
While the groups are still clapping give them instructions.
i.e. cross over, walk around the room, sit down etc
You can also split the main group up into smaller groups (tribes) and set them off clapping at different times.
Stand in a circle and call each tribe into the middle to perform their clap.
The leader can act as a conductor raising of lowering the noise level and stopping or bringing different groups in.
Comment: A cracker of an exercise so long as the leader has the rhythm and timing to bring everyone in. I did this with Ali Campbell at Goldsmiths and you literally can lose sense of time and get lost in the rhythm. It is also interesting to seee how you start to relate to each other through facial expresiion and body gesture.
Split into two groups and set first group off clapping once through
Then bring in the second group after the first "dada".
While the groups are still clapping give them instructions.
i.e. cross over, walk around the room, sit down etc
You can also split the main group up into smaller groups (tribes) and set them off clapping at different times.
Stand in a circle and call each tribe into the middle to perform their clap.
The leader can act as a conductor raising of lowering the noise level and stopping or bringing different groups in.
Comment: A cracker of an exercise so long as the leader has the rhythm and timing to bring everyone in. I did this with Ali Campbell at Goldsmiths and you literally can lose sense of time and get lost in the rhythm. It is also interesting to seee how you start to relate to each other through facial expresiion and body gesture.
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