This is a collection of concentration and improvisation games, best suited
for Middle School and older students. These games were sent to me
by Edwena Jacobs, a fellow drama teacher and cybercolleague. This
is exactly the sort of thing I started this website for. Drama teachers
are few and far between, and we can't have the kind of collegial exchange
of ideas face-to-face that, say, History teachers can. So I am thrilled
to be taking part in a world-wide exchange of ideas over the Internet.
Edwena lives thousands of miles from me, and we have never met, but we
have been learning from each other, exchanging ideas, and improving both
our crafts. It has always been my intent to eventually include lesson
plans and games submitted by other drama teachers. This page is the
first of what I hope will be many. I have tried most of these games,
and they are great. Thanks, Edwena!
Concentration
Games
Telling It
The class divides into pairs.
Each has to think of a story to tell the other--for example, the plot of
a recent TV play or film they have seen.
At a signal from the teacher, they both start telling each other the story
at the same time.
They must look at each other in the eye without looking away, and they
must keep talking without a break and without laughing.
If either breaks down, the other has "won."
Telling the
Group
One person tells the rest of the group a story, or gives them a talk on
a set subject.
The others interrupt him by asking totally unrelated questions.
The speaker must answer the questions and then continue with the story
or talk without hesitation, and from exactly the point where he left off.
Truth and
Lies
The class divides into pairs. In each pair, one is the questioner and the
other the answerer.
The questioner asks questions in rapid succession.
The answerer must answer the questions, alternating between true answers
and lies. He must not hesitate or laugh, and he must keep strictly
to the alternation.
If the answerer hesitates or laughs, or if he fails to alternate between
truth and lies, he is "out" and the partners reverse roles.
This rather complicated game is particularly useful with a new class who
do not know each other very well.
The class divides into pairs and each pair decides who is 'A' and who is
'B'.
To begin with, A has to find out as much as he can about B in 2 minutes.
At the end of that time, the As stay where they are and the Bs change partners.
The class are then told that B is a policeman who is suspicious of A and
intends to question him.
A has to pretend that he is the B he has just questioned. He has
to remember all the details that he can from that conversation so that
when the new B starts questioning him - about his name, address, and so
on - he can answer with detailed information, in role as his former partner.
(When he can't remember, he is at liberty to invent.)
Repeat the game with new partners (and with As becoming Bs).
All Change
- Conversations
The class divides into pairs and decide on who is 'A' and who is 'B'.
The teacher then gives the class a simple and straightforward topic for
conversation, or a situation (e.g.: A is a local in the town and B is a
stranger. B is asking the way to the station.)
They converse for a minute or two and then the teacher interrupts with
fresh instructions that alter the situation partially but not completely
(e.g.: Now A is old and deaf; or, now B is a rich and famous person).
Teacher continues to make changes, with increasing swiftness and strangeness,
as the game progresses.
Join in
The class sits in a circle and the teacher asks for a volunteer to start
the game.
The volunteer thinks of a mime--either a task or an activity--that involves
a lot of people doing different things (e.g.: building a house; shopping
at a supermarket).
The volunteer begins the mime he has thought of.
The teacher then indicates different members of the class who must join
in, either assisting the first person or using the location he has chosen.
The teacher's aim is to get as many people in the class involved as he
can, and in as short as time as possible.