Fear

Fear of failure is a huge concern in drama class. Nobody wants to fail – it’s not a good feeling, and students are hyper-aware of not only their own feelings, but their perceptions of what others in the class think of them. Making a mistake can be paralyzing because students are afraid of looking foolish, unintelligent, or unaware in front of others – so they often won’t even try a task without a huge amount of anxiety. However, the following improvisation game, The Alphabet Improv Game, is great to try with your students because it’s a pretty challenging one. It is inevitable that your students are going to make mistakes and “fail” while playing it, because even the most seasoned improv performers find this one difficult. The point is to try the game, make mistakes, and see that making mistakes is not the huge deal that students can make it out to be. The goal is that your drama students will realize that everyone makes mistakes – it’s not just them, stuck in their own heads. And at the same time, they get to have a lot of fun! InstructionThe Alphabet Improv Game is played as a full class. • Have students sit in a circle. • Select three to four students to start the scene. • Have the rest of the group choose a location (e.g. supermarket, classroom, movie set, theatre rehearsal, corporate office, desert, jungle). • The first group of students will start the scene. However, each sentence spoken by a new person must start with the next letter of the alphabet, from A to Z. (Each word in the sentence doesn’t have to start with that letter.) • Students need to listen carefully and remember what letter they are currently on! • For example, if the scene is taking place on a movie set: 1. Student 1: “Annnnnnd…action!” 2. Student 2: “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” 3. Student 1: “Cut, cut! Can you do that again, please? We can’t hear you!” 4. Student 3: “Don’t speak so quietly.” 5. Student 2: “Everyone else on this set can hear me…can’t you guys?” …and so on. • If a student starts their sentence on the wrong letter or repeats a letter that was already used, then they have to sit down and the next student in the circle replaces them. The scene continues on, with the new student either taking on the same role or coming in as a different person. The location remains the same. • If there is a long pause and none of the students can think of the next sentence, all of the current students have to sit down and the next three to four students in the circle replace them. They pick up from the last letter used. So if the last line was “Man, it’s so hot out here!” then the next sentence must start with N. • The scene must be completed by the time the students get to the letter Z. Then the scene may start again with three to four new students in a new location until the full class has had the opportunity to play. • If your students find this game too easy, have them go through the alphabet backwards, from Z to A! If your students ask, there is no prize or reward for one person/group being able to complete the game in one try. This is not a competitive game and that’s not the point of it. After each student has had a chance to participate, have a debrief conversation with the class. How do they think they did? What were the easiest and most challenging parts of the game? How did your students feel if they made a mistake? If you notice students are getting overly critical of themselves, acknowledge that there is always room for improvement but that everyone makes mistakes and it’s completely normal to do so. Then ask them to discuss positive moments that arose while playing the game. They will explore their thoughts further while completing an individual Reflection. Distance Learning AdaptationsAlphabet Warm-Up (Full Class) • The goal is for students to recite the alphabet out loud, from A to Z, one person at a time. One student says “A”, another student says “B”, another student says “C”, and so on, without following an assigned running order. • If two students say the next letter at the same time, or a letter is skipped, the group starts over at A. Students cannot cue or coach each other, or give visible hints. • Ask students: What is the purpose of this exercise? What are the benefits to students of doing this warm-up? Alphabet Storytelling (Full Class) • Determine a running order of students. • Students will tell a story, one sentence at a time, starting with the letter A. The next student will start their sentence with the letter B, and so on, from A to Z. (Each word in the sentence doesn’t have to start with that letter. See the example in the article above.) Students must focus on starting with the correct sequential letter, as well as ensuring their sentence has a specific beginning and ending, and that it makes sense with the story topic. • If a student starts their sentence on the wrong letter or repeats a letter that was already used, they are out. The story continues on until the students reach Z. • Once students are able to tell a story with an assigned running order, try the exercise again without a running order. Students will need to listen that much more carefully to avoid interrupting each other. Virtual Alphabet Improv Game (Full Class) • This game can be played using a video conferencing program, pretty much exactly the same way as the in-person version. Assign 3-4 students to create an improv scene, and have the rest of the students ready to jump in if a letter is missed or a long pause occurs. If you wish, determine a running order for participating students in advance, so students know when they are “on deck.”

Fear is such a wonderful motivator for characters – with both positive and negative connotations. How many of us know someone who won’t do something because of fear? Who won’t get on stage, or get on an airplane? Who won’t make life changes because they fear the outcome? And on the other side, how many of us know someone who works to counter a fear – a fear of turning out like their parents? Or a fear of becoming poor? These are the traits that make characters three-dimensional and interesting. And what about that climactic moment when a character decides to stand up and face their fear? What an exciting moment! When they stand up to their overbearing boss, or jump off the cliff, or walk out the door. The possibilities are endless. You take a fear, be it emotional or physical (e.g. failure, losing one’s looks, animals, being buried alive) _answer questions about the origin of the fear _(is this fear real or irrational?) and then start writing. What else could you use fear for in the drama classroom? Be sure to check out the Character Fear list available to download at the end of this article. Use the grid in the following exercises: Doctor, Doctor: A scene for two actors: A student picks a fear without telling anyone. Another student acts as a “doctor” and has to interview the first student about their fear. The aim of the game is for the doctor to guess the fear. First Date: A scene for three actors. Two students pick a fear. They don’t share their fear with each other, but they do with the third actor. They then improv a first date at a restaurant, with the third student playing the waiter. The goal for the couple is never to reveal their fear. The goal of the third actor is to do whatever he/she can to make it impossible for the couple not to reveal their fear. _For example, if the fear is fear of flying, the waiter would initiate a conversation about a horrible plane crash. _ Fear Club: A scene for six actors. Everyone picks a fear without revealing it. They are all at a meeting of Fear Club. For the sixth actor it’s his first meeting. His job is to guess everyone else’s fear. Everyone else must act out their fear, but they’re not allowed to directly say their fear. (For example, if someone is afraid of failure, they can’t say the words – “I’m afraid of failure.” They have to come up with lines that suggest the fear.) *This exercise is based on and shared from an original article on The How To Write Shop_. _

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 say two words in class? Over the next four weeks the Saturday Exercises will act as building blocks toward a more cohesive group through activities that will help your students learn about each other. Exercise: Fear in a HatStudents often feel their particular fears are singular to their experience. Because of this, they’re afraid to share their fears. Nothing bonds a group together quite like the knowledge that their fears are shared. Everyone is in the same boat together. There are many variations of this exercise. It’s a great activity for students to express their “what’s going to happen in drama class” fears in an anonymous way. • Hand out slips of paper with the following sentence starter: In this class I am afraid that… • Each student must complete the sentence. • Tell students that the exercise is completely anonymous, so they should avoid writing anything that would reveal their identity. Also direct students to be sincere. • Collect the slips of paper, fold each one in half, and put them in a hat. • Pass the hat around the class and tell each student to take out one of the slips. • Students read out the fear on their chosen piece of paper. They then respond by saying what they think the person who wrote the fear was feeling. What what they say to that person? • Maintain a level of respect in this exercise. Don’t mock or laugh at the person or the fear. • This exercise can lead to a discussion about what students expect or think will happen in the class. • Let students know that they do not have to divulge their fear and that you’ll be shredding the pages after class. Fear Reflection: Have students reflect on the exercise – what was it like to write down something you fear? What did it feel like to discuss the fears? Describe fear using the five senses. Re-iterate to students that they don’t have to divulge their fear. Alternative: If you want to change the focus of the exercise, use a dream sentence starter: My biggest dream is to…

I had a very interesting conversation with a teacher who was familiar with Theatrefolk plays and had recently put up Pressure. She had wanted to do Anonymous but it was ‘rejected’ by her administration. You see, she had to vet every play before moving forward with rehearsals. I’m sure many of you must follow the same procedure at your schools. The teacher was able to put on Pressure without issue. This is a play, you may have already guessed, about the pressures that teens face. Some of these pressures certainly aren’t PC, or ‘clean’ as some like their material to be. In Pressure we have: • underaged drinking • it is inferred that a character was forced into sexual activity. • it is inferred that a character succumbs to the pressures she’s dealing with and kills herself. These are indeed tough situations, frankly, as they should be. They are heavyweights which some of the characters deal with and some don’t. So, the admin did not see issue with Pressure. Here’s why they vetoed Anonymous: • the word “God” is used. • the word “gay” is used. • the word “sex-ed” is used. Words. If this teacher wanted to do this play, those words would have to be removed. Thankfully, this teacher refused and did something else. But what a fascinating comparison, huh? Words vs actions. Wouldn’t you assume it would be Pressure that would be nixed? Are the three words above THAT damaging to the teen psyche? What would happen if they heard those words? What is so wrong with using those words? Why do they cause fear? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t understand why or how the removal of words and the removal of topics prepares teenagers for the world at large. What words have been vetoed at your school?