Games, Exercises, & Activities

Students often get hung up on the notion that in the theatre, sets, costumes, and props all have to meet the standard of the movies. The world of the play has to be three-dimensional and real. A...

““I’m just one hundred and one, five months and a day.” “I can’t believe that!” said Alice. “Can’t you?” the Queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.” Alice...

Character analysis can be done in many forms: • You can analyze a character in a play you’re studying. • You can analyze a character you’re playing in a production. • You can analyze a character in...

How do people create illusion out of harsh reality? In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche Dubois works hard at creating an illusion. She tells lies about her past so that others see her in...

“Shakespeare is too hard… Shakespeare is too old… I can’t relate to Shakespeare….” It’s one thing to tell students that they should study Shakespeare, it’s another thing to get them engaged in the...

Characters come alive in the smallest details: a favourite food, a disliked type of music, a fear of spiders, an allergy to plums, a scar from a fall at two years old, a love of reality television....

Today’s students are visual learners. They look at screens all day long, it makes sense that they are going to be grabbed by a picture instead of something they hear or read. So why not bring the...

Jessica Stafford of Owensboro Middle School was in the middle of rehearsing Hoodie for the KTA middle school festival. She generously shared this “Positive and Negative Post-it Exercise” she used...

Sound is a powerful sense. Many objects and actions are clearly identified by the sounds they make. Sound also triggers powerful memories. When I hear a screen door slam, I am instantly brought...

If you have a Shakespeare unit or play study planned for your class, start with this exercise; it’s a great doorway to engaging with the Bard. The key to Shakespeare is to get students up and...

Warm-up games are never a throwaway activity; they transition students from the outside world to rehearsal world. They can be used to encourage ensemble building in your group and help students...

Need something to fill the last 10 minutes so you’re going right to the bell? Try this exercise! Instruction• Students write a different header on five different pieces of paper (OR download the...

One of the keys to Classroom Management is getting students to work well together. Group work is tricky if students don’t know one another. Why should I share something with this guy who doesn’t...

When it comes to analyzing a character, names are extremely important. In a play, character names are always specifically chosen by the playwright to give clues on personality, status, identity,...

One of the keys to Classroom Management is getting students to work well together. Group work is tricky if students don’t know each other. Why should I share something with this guy who doesn’t say...

If you’re looking for a great cross-curricular activity for your drama classroom, delve into verbatim theatre. Verbatim: in exactly the same words, word for word Verbatim theatre uses a process in...

I am a huge fan of tongue twisters in the theatre classroom. They have so many uses. They get a group focused & relaxed, they help warm up the voice, they get the lips and tongue limber and ready...

I received the trailer below for a production of Tuna Fish Eulogy and I think it’s great. It’s basically a commercial for the show, but also gives a clear indication of the style of the production,...