Exercises we recommend, collected from our newsletters.
We will continually update this page, newest exercises at the top. Check back frequently.
Bound/Unbound
To help students with monologues or solo songs, have them perform their piece, but limit their motion. (Think metaphorically here. You will not need rope or gaffer’s tape for this exercise.) Tell your students they can’t move their arms or their feet. If one of them has a common move — a sweep of the hair, for example — tell them they can only use that gesture once. Your students will quickly find out where they can no longer keep their arms or legs still, or where they must use that gesture.
For more advanced students, tell them they have to perform their monologue or song as though they’re in a circumstance where they can’t be emotional, or must be quiet — a crowded airport terminal or in a room where someone else is sleeping. Circumstances for monologues and solos often come with such constraints. Sometimes those limitations are external; sometimes they’re internal.
Limitations engender creative solutions. Like a blocked pipe that keeps getting filled with water, your students will reach a breaking point and their movements or emotions or will burst out with more strength, more conviction, and more focus — and at the most appropriate moments.
To help students with monologues or solo songs, have them perform their piece, but limit their motion. (Think metaphorically here. You will not need rope or gaffer’s tape for this exercise.) Tell your students they can’t move their arms or their feet. If one of them has a common move — a sweep of the hair, for example — tell them they can only use that gesture once. Your students will quickly find out where they can no longer keep their arms or legs still, or where they must use that gesture.
For more advanced students, tell them they have to perform their monologue or song as though they’re in a circumstance where they can’t be emotional, or must be quiet — a crowded airport terminal or in a room where someone else is sleeping. Circumstances for monologues and solos often come with such constraints. Sometimes those limitations are external; sometimes they’re internal.
Limitations engender creative solutions. Like a blocked pipe that keeps getting filled with water, your students will reach a breaking point and their movements or emotions or will burst out with more strength, more conviction, and more focus — and at the most appropriate moments.
Make ’Em Laugh
Tell two young actors that they have a love scene and you can practically hear their palms sweat. Here’s a way to take the heat off.
We all know that some of the most iconic moments in a real life romance are those where the two lovers are smiling or laughing together. So, have your two actors try their romantic scene dialogue with the intent of making their partner laugh.
For an exercise, try scenes from either Romeo and Juliet or Taming of the Shrew. From Romeo and Juliet, start in Act I, Scene 5 with Romeo’s line “If I profane with my unworthiest hand” and end with Juliet’s line “You kiss by the book” (which is already a pretty funny line).
From Taming of the Shrew, go to Act II, Scene 1, starting with Petruchio’s line “Good morrow, Kate, for that’s your name, I hear” through “I must and will have Katherine for my wife.” Of course, you can end it earlier in the scene, if that suits your class better.
This scene is a greater challenge since neither Kate nor Petruchio wants to give the other the satisfaction of laughing at something the other said. So, you can add a layer for the actors by giving them the direction not to laugh at the other’s words, no matter what. You can do that in one pass of the scene, or add that direction for a second time through for the two actors.
Tell two young actors that they have a love scene and you can practically hear their palms sweat. Here’s a way to take the heat off.
We all know that some of the most iconic moments in a real life romance are those where the two lovers are smiling or laughing together. So, have your two actors try their romantic scene dialogue with the intent of making their partner laugh.
For an exercise, try scenes from either Romeo and Juliet or Taming of the Shrew. From Romeo and Juliet, start in Act I, Scene 5 with Romeo’s line “If I profane with my unworthiest hand” and end with Juliet’s line “You kiss by the book” (which is already a pretty funny line).
From Taming of the Shrew, go to Act II, Scene 1, starting with Petruchio’s line “Good morrow, Kate, for that’s your name, I hear” through “I must and will have Katherine for my wife.” Of course, you can end it earlier in the scene, if that suits your class better.
This scene is a greater challenge since neither Kate nor Petruchio wants to give the other the satisfaction of laughing at something the other said. So, you can add a layer for the actors by giving them the direction not to laugh at the other’s words, no matter what. You can do that in one pass of the scene, or add that direction for a second time through for the two actors.
Getting Everyone on the Same Page
In 2009, Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Action had many people in the corporate world talking. We think Sinek got his inspiration from theater.
By starting your rehearsal process with table work, you can cut down on the lack of focus that slows rehearsals and makes them more tedious for all involved. Table work, done well, puts everyone — designers, tech, and actors — on the same page. It helps them understand the story they are all telling and why, and what their contribution to that effort will be. That helps everyone at rehearsal focus on the tasks at hand.
Once you’ve read through the play, do this:
• Name the protagonist. The protagonist is always the character with the most to gain or lose.
• Name the antagonist, if there is one. (Some stories are about internal conflicts; those conflicts may or may not be represented in the flesh by an antagonist.)
• Write a Major Dramatic Question that every character works to resolve. A good Major Dramatic Question frames the central story in a way that can be answered with a simple yes or no.
Some examples of Major Dramatic Questions:
• Will Dorothy find her way home?
• Will Ross ever marry Rachel for real?
• Will Harry Potter defeat Voldemort?
Make the question specific. That last example could be phrased as “Will good conquer evil?” but it’s not specific to the story.
To help your young actors, we’ve created a worksheet (below) that your students can use as they discuss the story and as they start to make choices for their character. They just print it off and fill it in.
In 2009, Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Action had many people in the corporate world talking. We think Sinek got his inspiration from theater.
By starting your rehearsal process with table work, you can cut down on the lack of focus that slows rehearsals and makes them more tedious for all involved. Table work, done well, puts everyone — designers, tech, and actors — on the same page. It helps them understand the story they are all telling and why, and what their contribution to that effort will be. That helps everyone at rehearsal focus on the tasks at hand.
Once you’ve read through the play, do this:
• Name the protagonist. The protagonist is always the character with the most to gain or lose.
• Name the antagonist, if there is one. (Some stories are about internal conflicts; those conflicts may or may not be represented in the flesh by an antagonist.)
• Write a Major Dramatic Question that every character works to resolve. A good Major Dramatic Question frames the central story in a way that can be answered with a simple yes or no.
Some examples of Major Dramatic Questions:
• Will Dorothy find her way home?
• Will Ross ever marry Rachel for real?
• Will Harry Potter defeat Voldemort?
Make the question specific. That last example could be phrased as “Will good conquer evil?” but it’s not specific to the story.
To help your young actors, we’ve created a worksheet (below) that your students can use as they discuss the story and as they start to make choices for their character. They just print it off and fill it in.
| table_work.pdf |
Make Mistakes Out Loud
Idina Menzel has told the story many times of singing “Defying Gravity” for her Wicked audition and blowing the high note. She stopped, owned her mistake, had the accompanist start the last line again, and nailed the note. Needless to say, she got the part.
Mistakes in theater class are not like mistakes in other classes. A mistake in geometry class could give you a lower grade so students don’t want to make them. They rarely want to own up to them in school.
A mistake in drama class is different. It’s something to learn from and move past. That can be done more quickly if a student owns their mistakes immediately, like Idina Menzel.
So, for one day in rehearsal, declare it “Mistakes Out Loud” Day. Have any student making a mistake claim it out loud. Have other students cheer that claim. Doing this, you might be surprised how quickly your students stop making the same mistakes over and over and move to the next level in rehearsal. You’ll also find that students will have an easier time owning — and fixing — their mistakes the next day, too.
Choose the day for this exercise carefully. Too early and you’ll have to deal with a mistake a minute. Too late and the students will get discouraged that they’ll never get it right. But holding a “Mistakes Out Loud” Day — or even a “Mistakes Out Loud” Hour — will clean out a lot of errors in your play or musical so you can improve it more quickly.
Idina Menzel has told the story many times of singing “Defying Gravity” for her Wicked audition and blowing the high note. She stopped, owned her mistake, had the accompanist start the last line again, and nailed the note. Needless to say, she got the part.
Mistakes in theater class are not like mistakes in other classes. A mistake in geometry class could give you a lower grade so students don’t want to make them. They rarely want to own up to them in school.
A mistake in drama class is different. It’s something to learn from and move past. That can be done more quickly if a student owns their mistakes immediately, like Idina Menzel.
So, for one day in rehearsal, declare it “Mistakes Out Loud” Day. Have any student making a mistake claim it out loud. Have other students cheer that claim. Doing this, you might be surprised how quickly your students stop making the same mistakes over and over and move to the next level in rehearsal. You’ll also find that students will have an easier time owning — and fixing — their mistakes the next day, too.
Choose the day for this exercise carefully. Too early and you’ll have to deal with a mistake a minute. Too late and the students will get discouraged that they’ll never get it right. But holding a “Mistakes Out Loud” Day — or even a “Mistakes Out Loud” Hour — will clean out a lot of errors in your play or musical so you can improve it more quickly.
Getting Focused
In rehearsals, students can have trouble focusing, especially as the show gets closer to opening. This exercise can be done quickly in groups or by individuals.
Have your performers close their eyes, then count slowly from five to one. Five can be spoken at normal levels but with each new number, their voices should get softer until one is a whisper. In a group, this can take more than a few seconds the first time you try it, but the more you do it, the faster the group will come together.
As you count down, you can add a simple movement, like holding a hand high showing five fingers. Lower your hand as you descend through the count. (Counting down with your fingers is optional.) If you add that gesture, you can then simply raise your hand any time you need your company to focus and, without saying a word, they'll quiet down and return their focus to you and the tasks at hand.
Any individual having trouble focusing can step to one side and do this exercise alone to regain focus. Since the diminishing volume of the counting is actually a metaphor for all the noise, outer and inner, they’re hearing, they can actually do the countdown silently.
In rehearsals, students can have trouble focusing, especially as the show gets closer to opening. This exercise can be done quickly in groups or by individuals.
Have your performers close their eyes, then count slowly from five to one. Five can be spoken at normal levels but with each new number, their voices should get softer until one is a whisper. In a group, this can take more than a few seconds the first time you try it, but the more you do it, the faster the group will come together.
As you count down, you can add a simple movement, like holding a hand high showing five fingers. Lower your hand as you descend through the count. (Counting down with your fingers is optional.) If you add that gesture, you can then simply raise your hand any time you need your company to focus and, without saying a word, they'll quiet down and return their focus to you and the tasks at hand.
Any individual having trouble focusing can step to one side and do this exercise alone to regain focus. Since the diminishing volume of the counting is actually a metaphor for all the noise, outer and inner, they’re hearing, they can actually do the countdown silently.
Putting (Real) Life Into Your Characters
Characters compete. If they don’t, the play you’re doing will probably be pretty boring.
This is a difficult concept to teach in theater since we emphasize collaboration. We all work hard to foster camaraderie in the company.
Part of life — that thing we try to depict in our productions — is that humans accomplish things in three ways: as a solo effort, in competition with others, and by working together. The trick in life is to keep those means in balance with one another, to know what method needs to be applied to accomplish which goal.
Characters in plays are at a point where they must compete or they will not accomplish what they most desire as the story starts. In Hairspray,Tracy finds out that she has to do more than audition to dance on the Corny Collins Show. She has to defeat sizeism and, for good measure, racism, all represented by Velma Von Tussle.
Sometimes characters have to overcome competing interests to get what they need. When the Jets determine they will fight the Sharks in West Side Story, they know they need all the muscle they can get, so they want to know if Tony will join them. Riff says he will, but is he sure when he says that? He knows in that moment he’ll have to convince him since Tony has apparently moved on from participating in the gang. Can he bring Tony back into the fold?
We sometimes describe the show we’re doing as a chess game, a tennis match, a fight to the finish, especially for marketing purposes. But how dull would that tennis match be if one or both of the participants didn’t play to win?
Find the competition in the scenes of every play and frame it that way for the actors. Character A enters wanting something from Character B. Will she get it?!? Go!
Characters compete. If they don’t, the play you’re doing will probably be pretty boring.
This is a difficult concept to teach in theater since we emphasize collaboration. We all work hard to foster camaraderie in the company.
Part of life — that thing we try to depict in our productions — is that humans accomplish things in three ways: as a solo effort, in competition with others, and by working together. The trick in life is to keep those means in balance with one another, to know what method needs to be applied to accomplish which goal.
Characters in plays are at a point where they must compete or they will not accomplish what they most desire as the story starts. In Hairspray,Tracy finds out that she has to do more than audition to dance on the Corny Collins Show. She has to defeat sizeism and, for good measure, racism, all represented by Velma Von Tussle.
Sometimes characters have to overcome competing interests to get what they need. When the Jets determine they will fight the Sharks in West Side Story, they know they need all the muscle they can get, so they want to know if Tony will join them. Riff says he will, but is he sure when he says that? He knows in that moment he’ll have to convince him since Tony has apparently moved on from participating in the gang. Can he bring Tony back into the fold?
We sometimes describe the show we’re doing as a chess game, a tennis match, a fight to the finish, especially for marketing purposes. But how dull would that tennis match be if one or both of the participants didn’t play to win?
Find the competition in the scenes of every play and frame it that way for the actors. Character A enters wanting something from Character B. Will she get it?!? Go!
How Choice in Relationships Creates Action
Get the relationships between characters in a play right and the actions of the play will flow more easily.
Relationships are much more than their superficial descriptions. Usnavi is the grandson of Abuela Claudia in In the Heights. But if you only name their places on the family tree, you miss the depth of feelings each has for the other. Determining relationships goes far beyond the nominal.
Venezuelan playwright Isaac Chocrón once told a group of aspiring playwrights at UNM that family members are the only people we don’t choose to spend time with. Using Chocrón’s observation gives many characters a baseline action: choosing to be with someone. Choosing is a positive act, an important part of describing a relationship. Beatrice and Benedick quarrel incessantly in Much Ado About Nothing, but they could choose to avoid one another. In My Fair Lady, Eliza could leave Henry Higgins anytime she wants, or he could yield to his exasperations and tell her to leave. Instead, each has found an intellectually and emotionally challenging partner. Each satisfies a need for the other, and the actions in their scenes flow from those needs. A young actor might easily see the quarrel, the conflict, but miss the reason they choose to stay together.
Investigate relationships closely with your actors. Find out why their characters choose to spend time together, choose to stay together. As an exercise, ask them to express the reason for that choice physically. Then find those actions their characters can express and, more importantly, those they want to express but can’t. Those scenes will quickly get richer.
Get the relationships between characters in a play right and the actions of the play will flow more easily.
Relationships are much more than their superficial descriptions. Usnavi is the grandson of Abuela Claudia in In the Heights. But if you only name their places on the family tree, you miss the depth of feelings each has for the other. Determining relationships goes far beyond the nominal.
Venezuelan playwright Isaac Chocrón once told a group of aspiring playwrights at UNM that family members are the only people we don’t choose to spend time with. Using Chocrón’s observation gives many characters a baseline action: choosing to be with someone. Choosing is a positive act, an important part of describing a relationship. Beatrice and Benedick quarrel incessantly in Much Ado About Nothing, but they could choose to avoid one another. In My Fair Lady, Eliza could leave Henry Higgins anytime she wants, or he could yield to his exasperations and tell her to leave. Instead, each has found an intellectually and emotionally challenging partner. Each satisfies a need for the other, and the actions in their scenes flow from those needs. A young actor might easily see the quarrel, the conflict, but miss the reason they choose to stay together.
Investigate relationships closely with your actors. Find out why their characters choose to spend time together, choose to stay together. As an exercise, ask them to express the reason for that choice physically. Then find those actions their characters can express and, more importantly, those they want to express but can’t. Those scenes will quickly get richer.
Teaching That Words Are Actions
We tell students that, in drama, words are actions. That’s not always a concept they understand easily. In much of the rest of their experience in school, words are information, and many neophyte actors deliver their lines as though they were reporting on something they learned for geology class. (Okay, unfair to geology, but we had to pick on somebody.)
Just saying that words are actions is an action: you speak them to teach.
To help them with the concept, talk to them about why they themselves speak or write or Instagram words. Have them create a list of those reasons, such as to inform, to share, to brag, to express sorrow, to make people laugh. Those are actions.
There’s another action involved with words: hearing or reading. You can create a second list of actions involved in why people read or listen to words including to understand, to gain information they need or want, to empathize, to be included.
As students create their lists, have them make another column of emotions or character traits that could be associated with the actions they’ve included. You could add pridefulness to the entry “to brag” or neediness to the entry “to make people laugh.”
Those lists should now help your students understand how to put words into action. Author Nick Moseley refers to this concept as actioning in his book of the same name, where characters speak to elicit a specific response from another character in the scene. All of this is a good start to bringing more life to your students’ work on stage.
As a second step, you could have students read scenes where words easily infer action such as the words-as-weapons in James Goldman’s The Lion in Winter or the words-as-a-waltz in Lanford Wilson’s Talley’s Folly. Have them mime sword fights as they read scenes from the first, or dance as they read the second. Their metaphorical physical actions will color the words they speak.
We tell students that, in drama, words are actions. That’s not always a concept they understand easily. In much of the rest of their experience in school, words are information, and many neophyte actors deliver their lines as though they were reporting on something they learned for geology class. (Okay, unfair to geology, but we had to pick on somebody.)
Just saying that words are actions is an action: you speak them to teach.
To help them with the concept, talk to them about why they themselves speak or write or Instagram words. Have them create a list of those reasons, such as to inform, to share, to brag, to express sorrow, to make people laugh. Those are actions.
There’s another action involved with words: hearing or reading. You can create a second list of actions involved in why people read or listen to words including to understand, to gain information they need or want, to empathize, to be included.
As students create their lists, have them make another column of emotions or character traits that could be associated with the actions they’ve included. You could add pridefulness to the entry “to brag” or neediness to the entry “to make people laugh.”
Those lists should now help your students understand how to put words into action. Author Nick Moseley refers to this concept as actioning in his book of the same name, where characters speak to elicit a specific response from another character in the scene. All of this is a good start to bringing more life to your students’ work on stage.
As a second step, you could have students read scenes where words easily infer action such as the words-as-weapons in James Goldman’s The Lion in Winter or the words-as-a-waltz in Lanford Wilson’s Talley’s Folly. Have them mime sword fights as they read scenes from the first, or dance as they read the second. Their metaphorical physical actions will color the words they speak.
Discover the Discoveries
Discoveries are critical to telling dramatic stories. Each story in theater is about a day unlike any other, so the characters in the story are constantly discovering new things.
You will need a bell for this exercise or all students can have noisemakers cued up in their phones. A student or students read a monologue, two-scene or a set of lyrics from a song. The rest of the class/group rings the bell or sounds their alarms whenever they recognize a discovery a character makes, whether the actor reading the line reads it as a discovery or not. Some discoveries may require discussion. Others are o0bvious.
For example, in The Addams Family, Wednesday discovers a new side to herself in the song “Pulled.” When you do the exercise with this song, it might go like this:
“Puppy dogs with droopy faces, [Ding]
“Unicorns with dancing mice, [Ding]
“Sunrise in wide open spaces, [Ding]
“Disney World, [Ding] I'll go there twice!” [Ding Ding]
The discussion for that last line might be about why there could be two discoveries in it.
You can use the exercise as a standalone, or in conjunction with whatever play you’re working on. If you have a large class or cast, have subsets of the group alternate in finding the discoveries.
Discoveries are critical to telling dramatic stories. Each story in theater is about a day unlike any other, so the characters in the story are constantly discovering new things.
You will need a bell for this exercise or all students can have noisemakers cued up in their phones. A student or students read a monologue, two-scene or a set of lyrics from a song. The rest of the class/group rings the bell or sounds their alarms whenever they recognize a discovery a character makes, whether the actor reading the line reads it as a discovery or not. Some discoveries may require discussion. Others are o0bvious.
For example, in The Addams Family, Wednesday discovers a new side to herself in the song “Pulled.” When you do the exercise with this song, it might go like this:
“Puppy dogs with droopy faces, [Ding]
“Unicorns with dancing mice, [Ding]
“Sunrise in wide open spaces, [Ding]
“Disney World, [Ding] I'll go there twice!” [Ding Ding]
The discussion for that last line might be about why there could be two discoveries in it.
You can use the exercise as a standalone, or in conjunction with whatever play you’re working on. If you have a large class or cast, have subsets of the group alternate in finding the discoveries.
The Power of Secrets
An exercise to use in rehearsals
At the end of Act I in West Side Story, Tony tries to find a peaceful solution to the rumble because Maria has begged him to make sure no one gets hurt. Of course, he can’t tell any of the gang members on either side why he’s asking them not to fight. His love for Maria would get him killed. His secret adds another layer of complexity to a wonderfully rich scene.
Mary Poppins manages the Banks children’s behavior by revealing secrets and secret powers as she needs. The withholding of her many secrets are at the core of her power.
Playwrights give their characters secrets all the time. So can actors.
In Oklahoma!, has Aunt Eller always been a prairie-hardened spinster or might she have a soft spot for another character in the show? If so, that secret could add nuance to her scenes with other townspeople when that person is there. In Beauty and the Beast, is Gaston secretly jealous of the intellect displayed by Belle and her father? Such jealousy could further fuel his rage in a very specific way.
When actors, often working with the director, find these latter secrets to use in building their characters, they should not reveal those secrets to other actors. Otherwise the power of that secret to give dimension to the character is lost.
An exercise to use in rehearsals
At the end of Act I in West Side Story, Tony tries to find a peaceful solution to the rumble because Maria has begged him to make sure no one gets hurt. Of course, he can’t tell any of the gang members on either side why he’s asking them not to fight. His love for Maria would get him killed. His secret adds another layer of complexity to a wonderfully rich scene.
Mary Poppins manages the Banks children’s behavior by revealing secrets and secret powers as she needs. The withholding of her many secrets are at the core of her power.
Playwrights give their characters secrets all the time. So can actors.
In Oklahoma!, has Aunt Eller always been a prairie-hardened spinster or might she have a soft spot for another character in the show? If so, that secret could add nuance to her scenes with other townspeople when that person is there. In Beauty and the Beast, is Gaston secretly jealous of the intellect displayed by Belle and her father? Such jealousy could further fuel his rage in a very specific way.
When actors, often working with the director, find these latter secrets to use in building their characters, they should not reveal those secrets to other actors. Otherwise the power of that secret to give dimension to the character is lost.
Be Specific
An exercise to use in rehearsals
One of the keys to great performances is making very specific choices for your character. Work together with your cast and crew to get them all thinking in specifics.
In any given moment, each of us generally knows what we are wearing, how comfortable our clothes are, what’s in our pockets, what we know how to do.
You can use a moment from a show you’re working on as your starting point. For example, a character enters a room (or is there at rise). Describe the character. What are they doing? What were they doing the moment before we see them? What are they thinking? What do they want right this minute? What are they wearing? What does the room smell like? How light is it? How familiar are they with it, how comfortable? What’s the temperature in the room? Are they cold or hot?
Do you see how that specificity helps add depth to the character and to the scene? You can ask any question that helps prompt your actors’ thinking about the scene they are in.
Have students take turns asking questions and giving answers. Once you have answers, determine how you can incorporate them into your production as actions, character depth, or props. Once your actors, actresses, and production team members have all this information, they can tell this story in a more detailed way.
An exercise to use in rehearsals
One of the keys to great performances is making very specific choices for your character. Work together with your cast and crew to get them all thinking in specifics.
In any given moment, each of us generally knows what we are wearing, how comfortable our clothes are, what’s in our pockets, what we know how to do.
You can use a moment from a show you’re working on as your starting point. For example, a character enters a room (or is there at rise). Describe the character. What are they doing? What were they doing the moment before we see them? What are they thinking? What do they want right this minute? What are they wearing? What does the room smell like? How light is it? How familiar are they with it, how comfortable? What’s the temperature in the room? Are they cold or hot?
Do you see how that specificity helps add depth to the character and to the scene? You can ask any question that helps prompt your actors’ thinking about the scene they are in.
Have students take turns asking questions and giving answers. Once you have answers, determine how you can incorporate them into your production as actions, character depth, or props. Once your actors, actresses, and production team members have all this information, they can tell this story in a more detailed way.
We Can’t Talk Here
This exercise for more advanced actors helps to develop comedy and comedic understanding. It begins when one of the participants enters or turns to the other and says, “We can’t talk here.” Each needs to discover why they can’t talk where they are, what the relationship is between the two, and whether they are friends or foes. What secrets does each carry and do they ever reveal them? And, if they can’t talk where they are, how can they communicate with one another? Play it to some kind of resolution.
Encourage physical communication and cooperation. While the two characters can be antagonists, great friends, or have any other relationship the two actors can create, they must find a cooperative way forward in the scene. The exercise can sometimes run dry quickly, or turn to the verbal. If the pair fumble or stall, prompt a new action from the side.
The objective is not a comedically brilliant scene but to help the actors understand how comedy develops from authentic responses, trust in the other partner’s contributions, and truly listening and watching more than thinking and plotting. Students should not be writing a solution in their heads. They should be responding to their partners as they work for a resolution together.
This exercise for more advanced actors helps to develop comedy and comedic understanding. It begins when one of the participants enters or turns to the other and says, “We can’t talk here.” Each needs to discover why they can’t talk where they are, what the relationship is between the two, and whether they are friends or foes. What secrets does each carry and do they ever reveal them? And, if they can’t talk where they are, how can they communicate with one another? Play it to some kind of resolution.
Encourage physical communication and cooperation. While the two characters can be antagonists, great friends, or have any other relationship the two actors can create, they must find a cooperative way forward in the scene. The exercise can sometimes run dry quickly, or turn to the verbal. If the pair fumble or stall, prompt a new action from the side.
The objective is not a comedically brilliant scene but to help the actors understand how comedy develops from authentic responses, trust in the other partner’s contributions, and truly listening and watching more than thinking and plotting. Students should not be writing a solution in their heads. They should be responding to their partners as they work for a resolution together.
Whose Story Are You Telling?
An exercise to use in rehearsals
A useful exercise for your cast and crew is to discuss whose story is being told in any musical or play you’re producing. The answer is always the character with the most at stake. As in most good storytelling, a play will be about one character. As audience members, we want to know whose story is at the center of a play so we know who to root for.
Some scripts make it easy: Pippin is about Pippin, Hairspray is about Tracy. Scripts that have a strong ensemble feel can make it more difficult to ascertain whose story is at the heart of it all, scripts like Little Women or A Chorus Line. Musicals or plays that are about romance can mislead us because we want them to be about both lovers. Whose story is Beauty and the Beast or West Side Story? When you determine who has the most at stake, your answers should be Beast and Tony, respectively.
Playwrights writing plays specifically for high schools sometimes sidestep the question of whose story is being told, opting instead to create an exercise in ensemble performance, but the better the script, the more likely the playwright will choose one character to focus on. That doesn’t mean that anyone who isn‘t cast as Jean Valjean or Dorothy Gale should quit. It often takes a lot of characters to tell a story well. Once your cast and crew know whose story is being told, each will understand the importance of their role in telling that story more clearly, from the actor playing the jilted lover or patient mother-in-law to the students designing lights.
An exercise to use in rehearsals
A useful exercise for your cast and crew is to discuss whose story is being told in any musical or play you’re producing. The answer is always the character with the most at stake. As in most good storytelling, a play will be about one character. As audience members, we want to know whose story is at the center of a play so we know who to root for.
Some scripts make it easy: Pippin is about Pippin, Hairspray is about Tracy. Scripts that have a strong ensemble feel can make it more difficult to ascertain whose story is at the heart of it all, scripts like Little Women or A Chorus Line. Musicals or plays that are about romance can mislead us because we want them to be about both lovers. Whose story is Beauty and the Beast or West Side Story? When you determine who has the most at stake, your answers should be Beast and Tony, respectively.
Playwrights writing plays specifically for high schools sometimes sidestep the question of whose story is being told, opting instead to create an exercise in ensemble performance, but the better the script, the more likely the playwright will choose one character to focus on. That doesn’t mean that anyone who isn‘t cast as Jean Valjean or Dorothy Gale should quit. It often takes a lot of characters to tell a story well. Once your cast and crew know whose story is being told, each will understand the importance of their role in telling that story more clearly, from the actor playing the jilted lover or patient mother-in-law to the students designing lights.
Adding Color
Here’s a great exercise for actors, designers, and techies alike. It’s called Adding Color from Viola Spolin.
One person tells a story about something to another person. The first person doesn’t have to finish the story, by the way. After about a minute, stop the first person and have the second person relate the story back but add in the colors of the elements in the story they imagined when they heard the story. If a house was mentioned, the second person would note what color house they saw. You can also add shapes or designs. Did the second person see a white dress with red polka dots, or maybe an Argyle sweater? After the second person’s version of the story, talk about the emotional level of the two different stories. Did the color (and shapes) add emotion to the story? How? (This exercise works well online or in person.)
Here’s a great exercise for actors, designers, and techies alike. It’s called Adding Color from Viola Spolin.
One person tells a story about something to another person. The first person doesn’t have to finish the story, by the way. After about a minute, stop the first person and have the second person relate the story back but add in the colors of the elements in the story they imagined when they heard the story. If a house was mentioned, the second person would note what color house they saw. You can also add shapes or designs. Did the second person see a white dress with red polka dots, or maybe an Argyle sweater? After the second person’s version of the story, talk about the emotional level of the two different stories. Did the color (and shapes) add emotion to the story? How? (This exercise works well online or in person.)
Signals
Need students to connect as a cast while staying socially distanced in the same room? Try this exercise adapted from Michael Chekhov.
In groups of three or four, have students warm up their bodies, safely distanced. Movements should be simple to avoid muscle strain or anything beyond the physical capacity of the participants. Choose one person in each group as the leader. After a minute or two, tell the groups to change leaders without any of them saying a word. After following the new leader for a bit, have them change leaders again. As a variation, tell them at the start of this exercise that they can change leaders (silently) at will throughout the exercise. When done, discuss how the change in leadership was communicated, what gestures might have been used or observed, and what constitutes a gesture (beginning, middle, and end). If you repeat this exercise over the course of a semester, your students will likely find that the change in leadership will happen more fluidly.
Need students to connect as a cast while staying socially distanced in the same room? Try this exercise adapted from Michael Chekhov.
In groups of three or four, have students warm up their bodies, safely distanced. Movements should be simple to avoid muscle strain or anything beyond the physical capacity of the participants. Choose one person in each group as the leader. After a minute or two, tell the groups to change leaders without any of them saying a word. After following the new leader for a bit, have them change leaders again. As a variation, tell them at the start of this exercise that they can change leaders (silently) at will throughout the exercise. When done, discuss how the change in leadership was communicated, what gestures might have been used or observed, and what constitutes a gesture (beginning, middle, and end). If you repeat this exercise over the course of a semester, your students will likely find that the change in leadership will happen more fluidly.