Exercise Articles for Drama Teachers

Are your students feeling stuck or frustrated with their playwriting assignments? This exercise will help get them unstuck by challenging them to explore alternative situations for their scenes and...

So, you’ve decided to do some playwriting with your students. Fantastic! But now comes the hard part – actually sitting down and writing. Whether in a notebook or on a computer screen, that blank...

Scenes from a Bag is one of my most favourite theatre games. It can easily become one of those “takes over the whole class period” games because it’s simple and fun for students. This game is...

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...

If you’re going to study theatre history, Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Era are two of the most fascinating topics to study. But time and time again students (and teachers) resist against...

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...

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...

Commedia dell’arte is a style of theatre that was popular in Italy during the 1500’s. It was recognized for being comedic, improvised, and having clear elements: • Stock characters including...

Since Shakespearean plays have been around for hundreds of years, we need to shake things up by trying new ideas in order to make these shows different and exciting. One of the most wonderful...

In Ancient Greek Theatre, there is an interesting similarity among the plays written during that time: there is always a chorus included. Nowadays most people would associate a chorus with...

Have you heard of Tech Challenge (sometimes it’s called Tech Olympics)? Teams compete in common tasks that every technician should know and/or participate in during the run of a show. Some examples...

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...

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...

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...

Monologues. The word can send shivers down the spine of the bravest actor! It’s just you up there on stage with all those words. When faced with a monologue, will you sink like a rock or shine like...

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...

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...

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...