Workshops/Acting Exercises

1. Life as Art - At your local library, find a collection of artwork in a book (search
for Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, etc.) and select paintings with several
people in them or even a large group. Have your actors take on one of the
characters in the painting and see if they can recreate the scene. Once they have
hit their mark they must freeze. For added fun, snap a picture of the group and
then compare to the real art.

Purpose: Imitation -The basic concept of drama is imitation. This is why we say that
drama is an imitation of life.

2. Animal Scramble - Players find a partner; partners separate and run around. The
leader calls out a phrase and the players must find their partner and depict the
scene. The last pair to depict the scene is out.

Examples:

 Frog on a log - One student gets down on all fours (log) and the frog sits gently
on their back.
 Bird on a perch - One student gets down on one knee (perch) and the bird sits on
the perch.
 Lion in a den - One person stands with their feet apart (den) and the lion lies
down on the floor.

Purpose; Characterization, the act of posing as a specific character. To be able to do

this effectively, an actor has to transform into that character. They have to use their
whole body and not only their face, they have to make that characterization seem
natural, instinctive, and unconscious.

3. Jump In, Jump Out - Have actors form a circle and hold hands. There are only
four jumping commands: In, Out, Left, Right. Sounds easy? Have the group say
what you say and then do what you say to start. Have the group jump in, out, left
and right for 30 seconds to get used to the concept. Then increase the challenge
by telling your group to say what you say, but do the opposite. Go slow at first,
but then speed it up for some comical fun!

Purpose: Attention, Concentration, Focus, Thinking

4. What were they wearing? - Description of the exercise: This exercise can also
be done both individually and in a group. In a group: People sit in a circle and
they are given 5 minutes to remember who was wearing what. It’s important to
remember all the details of clothing, accessories, hairstyle, etc. After 5 minutes,
they turn, and the host of the game begins to ask questing like these: “Anna, tell
me, please, what was Helen wearing?.”, “John, what was the color of Anna’s
shoes?”, etc. At the end, everyone turns back and checks the answers.

Purpose: This exercise is aimed at developing attention. Attention is very important

for an actor as well, as you have to pay attention to every detail of other people. Also,
it is very difficult for a beginner to play an emotion or a state that he/she has never
experienced. But if your attention is well developed, you can always recall the
observations about the people who have experienced the desired state or emotion.
Memorization, as well.

5. Accent Tube - Accent tube is a variation on Emo Tube. 6-8 players. Each Person
chooses an accent, then they all wait on one site of the playing area. The first
player enters and establishes that they are waiting for a train. The second player
enters and the first player adopts the same accent as the second player. The third
player enters and the other players adopt the third players accent. Once all players
have entered, the first player exits and they all revert back to the first players
accent. A fun and comfortable way for students to experiment with accents!

Purpose: Imitation, Attention

6. The Raspberry Game -a popular warm up game for all ages. - This is Game
that works really well for kids and adults. The kids love the competition element
and the adults just can't quite believe how tricky it is!!! Stand players in a line or
circle then give them categories. There is a 3 second rule applied to this
game. Each player has only three seconds to think, if they have not answered in
three seconds they hear the 'Raspberry' and are out. Facilitator goes down the line
with various categories.

Example

Something you wear on your head

Something beginning with 'G'…

A fruit…Girls name beginning with C…

Something you find at the beach...

A tree beginning with B...

Make up as many different categories as possible. Each answer has to be different and
if they're duplicated they're out! You can make the game as difficult or easy as
possible to fit in with your age group.

Example

Film title with a girl/boys name in it…

Film title with a colour in it…

A body part beginning with F...

When you get down to the last three/four keep the category the same so that players
have to think of more than one response.

Purpose: Thinking, Focus etc.

7. Spelling Test - Players in a circle. The teacher randomly points at each player.
The players have to respond with a letter from the alphabet (these cannot be
consecutive) after about three/four letters the teacher points to another player and
asks them what those letters spell. This should be the first thing that comes into
their heads but cannot be a word that sounds like a letter IE: Tea, Bee, Queue. Or
the name of a place.

The teacher then asks another player where those random letters spell that word. So
the sequence would run:

TEACHER: Letter?

PLAYER # 1: 'A'.

PLAYER # 2: 'W'.

PLAYER # 3: 'M'.

PLAYER # 4: 'Q'.

TEACHER: Spells?

PLAYER # 5: Radiator.

TEACHER: Where?

PLAYER # 6: In Spain.

Then start again. They're out if: The letters are consecutive or sound like a word (see
above). The object sounds like a letter or is a place. NB: Places can be anywhere. IE:
Spain, Glasgow, High Street, Kings Road, The Moon…

This game is illogical, it is a really great game for getting your students to think
quickly and lose any hesitation.

Purpose: Thinking

8. Sequence - Players in a circle. The teacher points to each player (in sequence
first) and tells each one what to do: "Clap, Clap, Clap-Clap, Stamp, Jump, Clap".
(This can be done a couple of times depending on ages of players). Then the
teacher doesn't tell them what's next and they're left to remember the sequence by
themselves. The teacher can now point to random people but they have to keep
the sequence in order or they're out!

Purpose: Attention, Focus

9. Last Letter/Next Word - Players in a circle. First player says a word, next player
has to say a word that begins with the last letter of the previous word.
IE: Yellow - What - This - Stool - Light - Them - Marshmallow - Witch - House -
Elephant…
10. Wink Murder - Have all players sit in a circle with their eyes closed. Choose
one person to be the Murderer by tapping him lightly on the head as you go
 around the circle. Next, announce that the space has been transformed into a
ballroom and everyone is at a big party. Tell everyone that there is a killer in their
midst! Tell players that they should mingle and make small-talk, but if the killer
winks at them, they are to die. However, they must wait ten seconds before dying
a very dramatic death. If someone thinks they know who the murderer is, they
may raise their hand and make a guess. If they are wrong, they are out of the
game. If they are right, they get to choose the next murderer and the theme of the
party!

Purpose: Sensing, Attention, Thinking