Theatre Activities/Games

TERM: Neutral State
>Super Focus
>Relax











Activity 1: Isolation
> The body is STILL except for one body part
> The one body part comes ALIVE

• Fixed gazed

>>Extension of Activity

• Use Space 
• Use Sound

-The use of space allows you to get comfortable with your surroundings.
-The use of sound energises space, the person around you.
*Important note
The presence of an awkward/insecure laughter becomes an uncommitted sound which is disengaging!











Activity 2: Leading a movement 
>One person leads and the rest follow.

• Commit to movement
• Variation in one movement (Speed, Type, With feelings/emotions)
• Be Confident
• Have a clear thought/mind
• Clean and Sharp ending into neutral state
• Concentrate/Focus
• Find a meaning for that particular movement

- The details are important!
- What is your state mind?
- Having a motivation will make the movement meaningful.

>>Extension of an activity (In a circle)

• Intensify the movement
• Be direction-less
• Discover the cycle 
• Pay attention to details (Which leg moves first? What is the last position? Fast or Slow speed?)
• Play with a situation at hand
• Expression (Body and Face)
• Sound + Action

- To intensify and exaggerate the movement by working harder to find a deeper meaning.
- It is okay that the movement was done are not 100% the same because everyone has a different energy.
- Each person will embody the movement offered and make it into their own unique style of action.
- Everyone draws inspiration by observing others.

>>Extension of an activity (In an open space)

• Everyone must be on the same page
• Alert
• Aware of people and surroundings
• Evolving a movement
• Development requires people who lead to take risks
• Learn to respond to each other's offer
• Play with speed, tempo, sound and levels
• Communication with the body

-The person must be brave enough to drop action and change it into their own.
-The person must trust that people will follow him/her.

Activity 3: Opposite Command 

• Stop > Go
• Go > Stop
• Forward > Backwards
• Backwards > Forward
• Slow > Fast
• Fast > Slow

The only variation is the speed.











Activity 4: Form A Group
> Form a group of a required number.
> Failure to do so will result in a DRAMATIC DEATH!!

- Dying Dramatically can help work on expression using a scale of 1 - 5.
- Try to have a sharp finish.












Activity 5: Create A Picture With Your Body
>Create a gesture/shape with your body to express the sentence

Material Title: What have I been doing lately - Cabarrus County

What have I been doing lately
I was lying in bed
And the door bell rang
I ran downstairs
Quick I open the door
There was no one there
I stepped outside
Either it was drizzling or there was a lot of dust in the air, the dust was damp
I stuck out my tongue and the drizzle or the damp dust tasted like government school ink
I looked north
I looked south
I decided to start walking back
While walking north I noticed that I was barefoot
While walking north I looked up and saw the planet, Venus

• Need not be direct
• Remember to freeze after each gesture/shape
• Repeat sentence is to improve on your creation or practice it.
• Enhance the gesture/shape to create a stronger effect
• Sharp action
• Add emotions
• Play with heights, shapes, space and direction
• Try to express your emotion in another way.

Activity 6: Conflict Scene
>Saying the line and then go into your pose
> Repeat structure

• Improvising
• 1st person needs to establish the character and conflict
• Try a range of expression (Quiet - silence, Loud - Screaming)
• No eye contact
• Use words instead of actions to lash out your feelings
• Be vulnerable and expose yourself to take conflict onto a personal level.
• Say things that matter to you and not funny sentence

-You may find that the pose helps to draw out inspiration for the conflict.
-Everyone has to make things up with full commitment for it to be engaging.

TV Acting VS THEATRE Acting
-Tv acting has to be as real as possible

- Theatre acting is to create a make believe event, incident on stage.
- Theatre creates symbolic and metaphoric images.
- It gives people a sense of an idea without spoon-feeding them the information.
- Get them thinking
- The theatre is Abstract and Indirect like Picasso's Cubist Images that evoke feelings.




*Important to note
- Observation can help inspire creative ideas.
- Asking questions blocks and limits creativity.