What else would Jesus Do? (Boal in the Bible)

Warm up games
Knee Tag
Sword fighting
Treading on toes
Force field

Activity

1. Split into groups of 4 or 5

2. Read through the gospel text together
3. List encounters where Jesus intervened in a situation, For example:

Women caught in adultery
Martha and Mary
Zacheus in a tree

4. In your group create images of each intervention in the story (which can be shown to the other groups)

5. Pick one story and create images for what actually happened before and after the intervention.

Explore through images other scenarios before and after (What else could Jesus have done?)

6. 7. Pick a scenario you like and explore adding movement and speech to each image.

Perform to the other groups and Discuss 

8. Replay and  invite people to intervene with alternative interventions.

Building narratives with shapes

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.

Oppression - Group sculpture

In a group of 4 or 5 each person take it in turns to sculpt the group into an image of oppression.
You should have 4 or 5 images to show
Rehearse linking up each sculpture to create one piece of images
Show your composition back to the rest of the group.
Feedback through the following stages
1. Objectively - Ask the group literally what they see i.e Miles is reaching out towards Lily with his knees bent. Lily's eyes are closed.
2. Subjectively - Interpret what you see, The relationships between individuals, What emotions are evoked by these relationships or some of the images and shapes.
3. Create a scenario or story from the images before you. hat is happening? Who is who? Where are they? etc.

Build a Society - Group Sculpture

Pick one person from the group to position everybody in whatever shape he/she wants in the room to represent what society looks like.
Ask the group what they see?
Is it an accurate picture of society?
Give everyone in the group a chance to sculpt their idea of society
Choose a smaller group and give them the job of moving whatever image is left before them to an ideal picture of society (give a time limit i.e. 30 seconds)
As a group discuss what was the difference s observed between the images of society and the final last ideal image.

Touch Tag Drama

Pick two people from the group to play the tag game
label them A and B
Both A and B put their hand on their back so their palm is facing outwards.
The aim is to tag the others palm with their other hand.
At any point a mediator can call out freeze.
The mediator asks the group: Who are they? What is going on?
The group answer according to what they see. Encourage them to speak out whatever comes into their head. - A night club scene, A lover looking on at a wedding etc

Nb Theatre is made up of wants and desires, I want what you want or I want something different. That is the aim of this game.

With the rest of the group build a picture around the two in the middle. i.e show disapproving uncle at the wedding, What are they saying? etc
With other members of the group create a scene of what happened before. i.e In the bedroom. What is in the room? What happened? or even after this wedding scene.
Illicit questions from the group to create even more scenes and design a piece of theatre.

Creating images out of words

In a circle facing out, someone shouts out a theme/word i.e. Love
After a count of 3 turn and create an image.
Add a noise/word/sentence/Gesture to the shape
Go to people similar to your shape/sound and interact/improvise with them.
An external leader can observe and put in more people/groups to create an interesting impro/story.
This could be developed into a scene.

Progression
The group can be encouraged to call out 2 words ( eg. noun and an adjective) and then form a shape from that.
You can get people to perform the shapes at different levels of intensity. So a caller would say Jealous Love Level 8 (Highest)

The Odd Number

The group walk around the room.
The facilitator shouts out 1. Everybody has to hold a shape/Position.
If 1 is shouted out again instruct everybody that they are to return to that exact part of the room and hold the same shape.
People walk around the room and shout 2. They must now found another pose/shape.
Instruct them if 2 is shout they must return to that same place and pose.
As you add numbers 3, 4. 5 stipulate that they must form a shape in 3’s or 5’s. (Choosing an odd number means someone will be left out.)
As a leader be aware of the group shape this can create, where some one is isolated from the rest.
If you get a particularly good design call out that number and draw the group’s attention to it. Generally be aware of the design the different numbers throw up and see if you can pull a narrative out of it
Ask the group what they think might be happening. Who are the group? Why is the person separated?

Progression
This can be progressed by splitting up the room into groups that have been created and giving each group the task of creating a short drama on their scenario which they have decided on from the shape that has been created.

Lonely shapes

Each student thinks about a lonely moment in their lives and creates a shape that it might represent.
Ask the group to walk around the room and on a clap everyone holds their pose.
One half of the group can stay frozen while the others move around the room and have a look at the shapes.
Try to work out what their shape represents.
Then get the other half of the group to view the rest.
Put the participants into groups of 3 or 4 and using their shapes they are to devise a performance, which shows inclusion/togetherness.
They must use their shapes as a starting point. But have a finishing shape where they are united.
Show the different sketches and discus them with the group.
How did it feel moving from isolation to inclusion?

On Trial

Stand the group in a circle and put one person in the middle.
Get the people on the outside to come up with accusations about the one in the middle. .
The person in the middle is only allowed to respond with actions or gesture to defend themselves but not words. (You can get the circle to walk around to make it more accusatory.)
After a while stop and ask the group if they think the person in the middle is guilty or not of the accusations. (You could select a smaller group to sit out and watch who act as the jury)
If they can understand his/her mimed actions then they are cleared of those charges but if not they are guilty.
Ask how did the accused feel in the middle?
How did the accusers feel?

You're the Man

Walk around the room in any direction at an even pace.
Explain that as they catch eye contact with others they say, “You’re the Man!” the other person says back “No! You’re the man” then they walk on.
Then explain that on the command “Show me the love” everybody is to go into a huddle, except the last person who is pushed out and must stand on their own. (The facilitator may need to judge this - A variation on this is to call out someone’s name.)
The group then whisper to each other and talk about the person on their own.
Observe how they react.
The facilitator then shouts again “walk” and everybody goes back to walking around the room.
Repeat this a few times and then bring the group together to have a discussion about how people felt being separated from the group and how people felt being part of the group.

Progression
You could develop a scenario pretending to be a teacher arriving on the scene and ask the group “What is going on here?” Force someone to respond and then ask “Why?” and so on to build up a mini scene.

Playback Theatre

Someone retell an incident that happened to them.
In pairs try to show it in a simple repetitive action.
Make it as visual/Physical as possible and only use a few words
The adjudicator asks the person who originally shared the experience if the feeling was encapsulated
If not they can suggest how it might be changed to be more accurate
Experiment with performing the piece in different positions/direction to one another.

Progression
Use more actors to create the playback piece
Use props, percussion etc

Barrier Wall

Description
The facilitator distributes lots of brick-shaped pieces of paper to the group. On their own, each participant is asked to write down statements in response to the following question:

“What do you perceive to be the barriers to social and educational inclusion for young people who arrive in Britain as exiles?”

When the participants have had time to write about 6-10 statements, the group ‘build a wall’ on the floor with their bricks. This can be done in themes – the first part of the wall could be education, the second social, the third making a new life and so on.

Participants then view the wall and comment on what they notice about it. Then they are asked to choose one statement that they are particularly drawn to (not one they have written themselves). With this statement in mind they think of a question a young person would ask about the issue.
In groups of 6 or 7 the participants form a line and ask the questions in role as young people.

Rationale
This exercise enables to:· have a collective understanding of the background and context of the work;· clarify our reasons for doing the work;· have the tools to justify the work to funders etc.;· set aims and objectives for the work;· have a point to reflect back on when developing project ideas.

Development
This exercise is a good start to planning a programme of work and an excellent way of facilitating a collaborative learning process with adults wanting to do this kind of work.

Guidance·
It is important to acknowledge that this exercise is about our perceptions and not necessarily an accurate picture of how young people feel.· It may be necessary to set some boundaries about how the group respond to statements they do not agree with.· Repetition of statements is an interesting point of discussion: “Why did that thought come up so many times.” Also, ideas that stand out as very different from others are worth noting as they may help us to look at issues from different angles. It may be necessary to seek clarification of some statements and this is another opportunity for people to learn from each other.