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Games & Exercises

Quick activities. Real results.

Find low-prep drama exercises that build skills, boost participation, and fit into any class.

Classroom Exercise

Life is Meaningless: Theatre of the Absurd

Theatre is all about change. Not only do we want to look back and identify origins, but it’s also important to explore theatre history to see how the form evolves. Often that evolution comes from...
Classroom Exercise

Scene Study: Realism

If you want students to learn the elements of a theatre history era, there’s no better way than to study a scene from a play that exemplifies that era. For example, look at the principles of the...
Classroom Exercise

Connecting the Past to the Present: Modernizing a Scene

When working with historical theatre pieces by playwrights like Shakespeare and Marlowe, a common complaint is that their diction is difficult for students to understand. One way to help students...
Classroom Exercise

Respect the Tech! A Technical Performance Challenge

So much emphasis in theatre and drama classrooms is placed on acting, that we often forget the unsung heroes of the theatre – the crew (also known as the “techs” or “techies”). This includes...
Classroom Exercise

Create a Costume Vision Board

A vision board is a visual representative of the look of the show. Directors can use a vision board to illustrate their concept of the show to their design team. It can also be used to illustrate...
Classroom Exercise

Nine Questions Actors Needs to Ask Themselves

Uta Hagen held a lot of influence in 20th century American Theatre. She made her Broadway debut in 1938 in Anton Chekov’s The Seagull. She also acted against Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named...
Acting

Do You Know Your Character?

Characters come to life in the small details, the little things like personal preference, food, or music choices. These two exercises can help student actors discover those details and really get...
Classroom Exercise

What Does My Character Want?

Figuring out what your character wants will help you add depth and interest for your character, making them more realistic and believable. A character that doesn’t want anything is a boring...
Acting

Bound, Punch, Float – Physicality Exercise

Student actors tend to keep their limbs close to the body. When we think about creating physical pictures on stage, one of the easiest ways to present depth is through extension. How can we...
Classroom Exercise

Nonverbal Communication Exercises for the Drama Class

How do we communicate without words? We communicate without words every day. A frown and crossed arms communicates a clear message, as does a nod, wink, or a “come here” gesture. There’s the...
Classroom Exercise

3 Fun, Physical Warm-Ups To Get Your Students Moving

Warm-ups are a great way to get students’ bodies and minds ready for drama class, especially if they have been sitting in other classes all day. Warm-ups get students into the creative mindset...
Classroom Exercise

Create A Vocal Workout For The Articulators

Ontario teachers Claire Broome, Colin Oliver, and Carmelina Martin put together this awesome exercise that gets students to create their own vocal workout. Thank you so much for letting us share it...
Classroom Exercise

The Vowel Tree

The Vowel Tree Exercise enables us to practice making sounds with our voice and exploring the entire vocal range from low to high. It allows us to be vocally impulsive in a non-judgemental way....
Classroom Exercise

Ten Rounds for your Next Warm Up

Want to get your students working together as an ensemble? Are you looking for a great vocal warm up that will improve their listening skills? Use rounds! A round is a short musical piece in which...
Classroom Exercise

5 Tongue Twister Exercises for Ensemble-Building

Tongue twisters are a fantastic tool to use in drama classes and rehearsals. They help students to warm up their voices, improve diction and enunciation, and get their brains moving! But repeating...