DRAMA ACTIVITIES

 

For Concentration Skills

The Noise Machine - All actors stand in a circle with space to move between them. One actor begins the “machine” with a sound and a movement that they do simultaneously. Have the person next to them repeat the sound or movement and go around the circle till all have done the combination. The last person, however, instead of doing the sound or movement that has been passed around, makes a new combination and that new combination travels around the circle as quickly as possible, continuing on until everyone has had the chance to make their own noise machine combination.

Crazy Party - Divide the actors into groups of five with one person as the party host. The host leaves the room and the four remaining characters each choose a personality and persona. The host then re-enters the room and the four characters exit. One-by-one the guests enter the “party” and the host has to concentrate on hints and clues to guess the person’s character. For a twist, have two characters come to the party at once and be a famous couple, like Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.

Lights, Name, Action! - Form a circle with your actors. Each one must share their name and a unique four-beat action such as tapping an elbow four times, patting their head four times, etc. After everyone has gone, have your first volunteer make eye contact with someone else, say their name and action, then switch places with that person. That named person continues the pattern as quickly as possible with another name and the four-beat action. This is a great way to get to know names, you can start each session with this activity and speed it up as your time together goes along.

For Building Character

Taxi Cab - Set four chairs in two rows of two (like a car). You can divide your group into four. Actor one is the driver. The driver creates a unique character and begins the scene. Person two gets “picked up” and interacts with the driver as a new unique character (for example, someone who just got their wisdom teeth removed). The twist is the driver must take on the character of who they pick up and they begin to interact together (as in the example, now they are two people who just got their wisdom teeth removed). Then the third person gets picked up with a whole new character and the two people in the car become that character that just got picked up and again for the fourth person. After a minute or two (and the comedy unfolds), the fourth person gets “out” of the cab and the three remaining characters return to the third person’s character and so on, until only the driver remains and ends the scene in their original character.

Fake News - Bring magazines with lots of people or print pictures of characters that will make for good storytelling. Have actors select a picture and give them a few minutes to create a backstory about this character and one minute to “become” that person for the group, whether just introducing themselves or putting the character into a situation. For added fun, have another actor get up and have their characters interact together for some fun improv.