Tableau

Abstract theatre focuses on representing themes, ideas, situations, and emotions in a visual, stylized, symbolic way, rather than acting them out realistically. Using stylized physicality, students can express themselves in different and visually exciting ways. Let’s explore this through the lens of tableau scenes. Instructions1. Divide students into groups of 6–8. 2. Give each group a prompt from which to create a tableau scene. Here are some ideas to get you started: • Emotions: fear, joy, rage, anxiety, suspicion, boredom • Colours • Time: time passing, seasons changing, waiting for something to happen, growing up, a visual representation of a particular month or date • Situations: falling in or out of love, feeling pressured, dealing with parents/guardians, worrying about the future, feeling left out • Concepts: popularity, isolation, community, fashion, art, friendship, mess, growing up, safety, connectedness 3. Give students 10 minutes to come up with their tableau scene. If students need inspiration and time permits, you might have them do a word association exercise to come up with ideas to represent their theme. Every student in the group must be part of the scene somehow. For the first attempts at this exercise, students may only use themselves in the tableau scene — no costumes, props, or furniture may be included. Feel free to add these during subsequent rounds of this exercise if you wish. 4. How can students make their tableau scenes visually interesting? Consider the following: • Determine what the focal point of the scene is and build around that. • Use different levels: high, medium, and low. • Explore different ways to pose their bodies: sharp or bent angles, loose and flowing lines, curved or twisted poses, fluid versus flexed. • Use their full bodies: angles and/or placement of the head, neck, shoulders, elbows, fingers, hips, knees, feet — not just arms and legs. • Facial expressions are very important for portraying the emotion of the scene. • Explore how pairs or trios within the group could pose together — near or touching — to create different shapes and images. • Consider distance and proximity within the group. Are all the students grouped together? How close are they physically to each other? What could physical distance or nearness represent? Remember that students must hold their frozen poses for at least 10 seconds, so while they of course want their poses to be visually interesting, they also need to be physically achievable! So don’t plan on doing a risky or difficult move like a backbend, split, or pose on one foot if it’s not already within your skillset. 5. Once the 10 minutes are up, have groups present their tableau scenes for the rest of the class. You can have groups share their prompt topic and then present their tableau scene, or have students not share their prompt and have the rest of the students guess what the prompt was, depending on their interpretation of the frozen picture presented. 6. Groups should hold their frozen poses for at least 10 seconds. If possible, take a photo of each group’s tableau so they can actually see what they created and reflect on it. 7. For each group, discuss any or all of the following: • How did the students’ choice of poses in the tableau scene represent their concept? • What immediately caught your attention in the scene? Why? • What worked well? • What didn’t work so well? What might they do differently next time? 8. Once all the groups have presented their tableau scenes, have each student complete an individual reflection (found below).

If you’ve got a large group of drama students but not a lot of time, try these two quick full-class tableau exercises. Students will work together to create full-class tableau scenes as fast as they can. The first exercise challenges students to collaborate with each other in a timely manner, and the second exercise requires students to practice their quick-thinking improvisation skills. In these scenes, students may not use any props, costumes, or furniture pieces (no chairs, benches, or rehearsal blocks) to create their frozen tableau scenes. They can only use their own bodies and imaginations. If possible, have a device available to take photos or videos, so you can capture your students’ work and have them look at what everyone is doing. Alternatively, if you have a classroom with a large mirror, have them perform the tableau scene facing the mirror so they can see what the full scene looks like. Exercise 1: Small Groups, Full Scene1. Split the class into groups of 4–6 students. 2. Assign a full-class location prompt, such as the beach, a restaurant, or a playground. 3. Each group will have three minutes to plan a different section of the full-class tableau. For example, in the beach scene, one group of students might be sunbathing, one group might be swimming, and one might be playing volleyball. In the restaurant scene, one group might be a family out to dinner, one might be the chefs in the kitchen, and a third might be washing dishes. Work quickly; there’s no time to argue about roles. 4. Each group member must participate in the scene, but not everyone has to be a human character. In the playground scene, you might have one group who decides to portray a dog walker with a bunch of dogs — the students in that group can each play a different dog. Or in the restaurant scene, you might have one student in a group play the table and two students play chairs. 5. At the end of the three minutes, give students one minute to arrange themselves on one side of the room in a way that makes sense, and take their frozen tableau poses. Give them a cue (“3, 2, 1… Freeze!”) so they know when to hold the pose. Have students hold the tableau scenes for at least 10 seconds, so you can take photographs and/or students can see themselves in the mirror. Exercise 2: Add Three1. Have students stand in a large circle. 2. Assign a full-class location prompt. 3. Select three students to go into the middle of the circle and start a tableau scene depicting an aspect of the location. For example, in the playground scene, these three students might start by pretending to play hopscotch, jump rope, or leapfrog. (You might wish to encourage these first students to select poses that are easy to hold, as they’ll be holding their frozen poses the longest!) Hold these poses for five seconds. 4. After five seconds, while the current three students remain frozen, choose three more students to jump into the centre of the circle and add on to the scene. They can either join in the current scene, or do something adjacent to the scene that is still related. For example, one student might join in the leapfrog chain, while the other two pretend to ride bikes nearby. Once all three students are in place, have the group hold the pose for another five seconds. 5. Keep repeating this process, adding three additional students and holding the poses for five seconds, until all the students are in the tableau scene. Have students hold the final tableau scenes for at least 10 seconds, so you can take photographs and/or students can see themselves in the mirror. Tableau Tips: • Blinking and breathing is always allowed in tableaux. • Think about levels in your poses — high, medium, and low. • Where is your audience? Remember to cheat out and avoid turning your back to the audience area. • Focus on details, especially facial expressions, reactions, and eye focal points.

This warm-up game is a variation of the game “Numbered Tableaux”. It’s similar to the camp game “Chicken in the Hen House,” but adjusted to be safer for the drama classroom, and focused on creating various tableau scenes. It’s a simple introduction to tableau for students of any grade or skill level, with the added benefits of practicing memorization, collaboration, and stillness. It’s a great game for large classes, as students will need at least five different partners throughout the game. You can use this game as a “getting to know you” game, an elimination game if you have competitive students, or a week-long challenge — details below! Instructions1. Choose a Caller (could be the teacher or one of the students) and have the rest of the students spread out around the room. 2. The Caller will announce a way of moving around the room (creeping, tiptoeing, dancing, leaping, shuffling, crawling, sliding, etc.). Have the students move around the room in the manner that the Caller specifies. 3. At some point, the Caller will announce “Partners, side to side!” Students will go to the nearest student and stand next to them, shoulder to shoulder, without moving. (Blinking and breathing is always allowed, even when frozen.) This is the students’ first partner, of at least five different partners for this game. The Caller will let students know that this partner is their “side to side” partner, and anytime the Caller calls “side to side,” the students must find this particular partner and stand in this side-to-side position, without moving. Have them hold this pose for at least five seconds. 4. When the Caller announces “unfreeze,” students will move around the room again as the Caller determines. The Caller will announce “Second partners, back to back!” Students will go to the nearest, different student to them (it can’t be the same partner they had for side to side) and stand next to them, back to back, without moving. Going forward, anytime the Caller calls “back to back,” the students must find this particular partner and stand in the back-to-back position, without moving. Have them hold this pose for at least five seconds. 5. Continue with the game, adding at least three more tableau scenes with different partners each time. Here are some ideas to choose from (you’ll need to describe the poses to your students): • Chicken in the Hen House – A nod to the original game! The shorter partner kneels with their arms bent like wings (the chicken), while the taller partner stands behind them with their arms making a triangular roof over their own head (the hen house). • Statue of Liberty – The taller partner stands straight with their right arm above their head like they are holding a torch and their left hand to their side as if they’re holding a tablet (take a look at a photo of the actual Statue of Liberty for details), while the shorter partner holds up an imaginary camera as if they’re taking a photo of the statue. • Rodeo – The taller partner goes down on all fours (like a horse), while the shorter partner stands above or beside them, holding their arm above their head as if they were swinging a lasso (the horse rider). • Supermodel – Both partners strike dramatic poses as if they are modeling for a photoshoot. • Gone Fishin’ – One partner squats and holds an imaginary fishing pole while the other partner lies on the floor as the fish. • Forgive Me – One partner kneels and holds their hands up as if they were begging the other partner to forgive them, while the other partner turns their body away dramatically and crosses their arms. Remember to have students hold the frozen pose for at least five seconds each time. 6. Continue on with the game, calling out different ways of moving around the room, followed by a different tableau cue: “Back to back!” “Tiptoe around the room.” “Chicken in the Hen House!” “Disco dance around the room.” “Gone Fishin’!” “Back to back!” and so on. Students must remember which partner they have for each tableau cue and go back to that partner for that particular cue. Important Notes• Remember: tableau poses are meant to be frozen, which means no talking! • Take the path of least resistance when finding your partner; avoid slamming into or pushing over other classmates, even inadvertently. • Take care of your body: avoid clunking heads (especially in back-to-back position) or slamming knees and hands into the ground (for Chicken in the Hen House or Rodeo). • Students don’t need to touch each other to do the various tableau poses. • Be sure to leave space between pairs, so it is clear who is partnered with who. Variations • Make it a “getting to know you” game. When students pair up, have them share their name with each other. When they go back to that partner during a repeated cue, have them greet each other by name. • Play elimination style. The last pair to partner up, or a pair that moves when they’re supposed to be frozen, gets eliminated. This will cause some issues when you call out other poses, as certain partners will be eliminated. The non-eliminated partners will then have to partner up — think of it as an additional improvisation challenge! • Have students suggest their own tableau poses to add to the classroom repertoire. • Make it a week-long challenge. At various points throughout the week, without prior knowledge, randomly call out different tableau cues, even in the middle of a lesson, a rehearsal time, or another game. See if students remember what to do and what partner they’re supposed to be with.

Tableau is a fantastic introductory theatre topic for middle schoolers. The word “tableau” comes from the phrase tableau vivant, or “living picture.” In tableau, students use their bodies and imaginations to create visual storytelling moments. The big difference between tableau and miming is that mimes can move, while tableau scenes must remain still. Students create frozen pictures (or “freeze frames”) to tell a story visually, without movement or sound. That being said, blinking and breathing are always allowed in tableau, even while students are holding frozen poses. This may seem obvious, but inevitably at least one student in every class will ask. Tableau scenes are generally performed with two or more students, and there are many additional ways of making a tableau scene exciting and engaging. One key to creating a successful tableau scene is focusing on details, such as facial expressions, body posture, positioning of the fingers and hands, and direction of eye gaze or actor sightlines. Audiences will naturally look at what the actors onstage are looking at, so students should use that to their advantage. As well, using a variety of physical levels (low, medium, high) is a great way to create an interesting tableau scene. One of the challenges of tableau is staying still and not wiggling, fidgeting, or looking around to see what other groups are doing. The more students can stay focused and trust in their stillness, the more successful they will be in portraying their story. It also helps for them to choose frozen poses that they can safely and accurately maintain; for example, students might want to avoid poses that require them to stand on tiptoe or on one leg for long periods of time. As well, students must work to clearly portray the relationships between their characters while staying frozen. Planning ahead with the members of the group and really “committing to the bit” (taking a risk and not worrying about what you look like) can help a lot with this task. Even though the poses are frozen, students also need to keep the energy flowing as best they can throughout the scene. Again, making eye contact with their group members, choosing strong and active poses, and using lots of different facial expressions really helps the scene to feel alive, despite being still. One way to practice tableau is by recreating an existing photograph in frozen picture format. Students can either copy the photograph as best they can themselves, or have one student act as director and help guide the rest of the group into place. Once students feel more comfortable with the process of creating a frozen picture, have them try creating their own tableau stories. Give them a topic (such as making dinner, going to the beach, or learning to drive) and have them create three tableau scenes: a clear beginning, middle, and end. For example, if the topic is making dinner, students might create scenes of chopping the vegetables (beginning), setting the table (middle), and sitting down to eat the meal (end). For learning to drive, students might create scenes of a student sitting in the car in park (beginning), freaking out after narrowly missing a parked car (middle), and high-fiving the driving instructor at the end of the driving lesson (end). Have students hold a beginning tableau scene for a minimum of five seconds, slowly move to the middle pose, hold the middle pose for five seconds, slowly move to the final pose, and hold that one for an additional five seconds. At the conclusion of the ending scene, have students say “scene” to close the performance. To check your students’ comprehension of the information shared here, please have them complete the worksheet found in the giveaway below.

This group exercise has layers. It combines planning, teamwork, performance skills, and introductory sound design. Students will create three tableau scenes to tell stories that evoke various emotions onstage, and use music clips to enhance the emotional stories. If your students have never done tableau before, you may want to have them try Numbered Tableaux or Flowing Frozen Pictures to practice. As a reminder, when doing tableau scenes, students must hold their frozen pictures for a minimum of five seconds (but often longer, as you’ll see in this exercise). And because your students will ask, yes, blinking and breathing are allowed. Instruction 1. Have students form small groups of three to five. 2. Determine which emotion you want your students to portray. If you wish, you can use our Tons of Emotion Prompts list for ideas beyond happy, sad, and angry. Decide whether the full class will work on the same emotion, or if each group will portray a different emotion. 3. Groups will create simple stories that can be portrayed through a series of three tableau scenes. The three scenes will represent the beginning, middle, and end of a story that evokes their assigned emotion. For example, if a group was assigned “despair,” they might create a story in which a child is playing with a toy, breaks it, and cries over it. Another group might be assigned “calm” and create a story with characters feeling upset at the beginning but then becoming calm by doing yoga, meditation, or tai chi. It’s up to the students to determine exactly how they will portray the emotion throughout the three scenes, but each scene must make sense with the other two and continue the story. The beginning scene will establish what’s happening, the middle scene will move the story forward, and the third scene will conclude the story. Every group member must be involved in each scene in some way, whether that is as a character, a prop, a piece of scenery or furniture, or another inventive use. They must hold each tableau scene for ten seconds. 4\ Each group will select three music clips (10 seconds per song) that evoke the emotional energy of each of the tableau scenes. The songs can be by any artist and from any genre but the clips must be appropriate for a school setting (i.e., no swearing, awareness of lyrical content). If the music has words, they don’t have to be a literal interpretation of the emotion, but students can incorporate the lyrics into their tableau scenes if they want to. Students will need to create a list of each clip with title and artist, what scene it’s for, and the exact cut of the music. For example, a group whose emotion is “playful” might create a list of clips like this: • Scene 1: “Take On Me” by a-ha (0:54–1:04) • Scene 2: “Physical” by Dua Lipa (2:13–2:23) • Scene 3: “I Feel Like Dancing” by Jason Mraz (3:20–3:30) Each group will need to submit their song clips list to the teacher ahead of performance time, so the teacher can make a playlist of the songs. (You can also assign this task to a student who does not wish to perform, has an interest in technical work, or wants to earn extra credit. It may also be helpful to designate a sound operator during performance time, so you can watch the scenes without having to multitask.) 5. Each group will perform their three scenes for the rest of the class. The teacher (or assigned sound operator) will play the first selected clip for the indicated ten seconds, pause for three seconds for the group to move to the next scene, play the second clip, pause for an additional three seconds, and then play the third clip. 6. Have students respond to the following questions, either as a group discussion or as a group written response (one page): • How did you come up with your story? • Why did you select the three clips you did? • What were some other options for songs that you considered? (Give at least three examples.) 7. Each student will complete and submit an exit slip (found in the giveaway below). Related Exercises:Creating Atmosphere Using Music Tableau Scenes from a Book Tableau Scenes from a Book Come to Life

This exercise was inspired by one of my favourite theatre games, Tableau Scenes from a Book. If you haven’t tried that game with your students yet, do that first! In the original version of the game, students were tasked with re-creating a photograph in tableau (frozen picture) format. In this version of the game, students start with re-creating the image in tableau. Then, they’ll take that a step further and use the tableau image as a jumping-off point to create their own short acting scenes in their small groups, without any previous directions or context from the source of the photograph. What do the students think is going on in the photo? What stories will they bring to life? Let’s find out. What You Need: • A book of photos of people, like a souvenir show program book (my favourite is the annotated script book of Peter and the Starcatcher as it has lots of photos of the original cast) OR A scrapbook album or selection of photographs of groups of people (photos can be black and white or colour, modern or vintage) OR A collection of magazine or catalogue tear-outs with photos of people. • Helpful Hint: You may wish to make copies of the selected images for each group, so they can refer to it without having to keep coming over to you. Directions: 1. Divide the class into small groups. Each group needs to have the same amount of people as in the photograph. 2. Select an image that has the same number of people as students in each group. All groups will use the same photo. If you know the history/background/story of the photo, do not share it with students in advance. 3. Each group will start by replicating the photograph in tableau and hold the pose for five seconds. Then, they will unfreeze and create a scene no longer than two minutes that is inspired by the photograph. The scenes will likely end up being “work in progress” scenes, with a basic outline and some improvised elements during the performance. We aren’t expecting polished scenes, but rather focusing on quick, creative thinking, teamwork, and evidence of effort. 4. Scene requirements: • Each student must have at least one line in the scene. • Students need to make choices about who their character is, and what their relationship is to the other characters. These choices need to be evident somewhere in the scene. • Scenes must have a clear beginning and end. • The beginning of the scene needs to make sense with the starting poses from the image, but from there, it can go in whatever direction the students wish. 5. Groups will have 10 minutes to prepare and rehearse their scene. They will need to work collaboratively to have their scene ready to go in time. If you wish, you can assign one student in each group to be the director. They’ll still participate as a performer in the scene, but will be the deciding vote in decisions if the group can’t come to a consensus. 6. Once the 10 minutes have passed, each group will present their scene to the rest of the class. As with the rehearsal, each group will start in the tableau replica of the image for five seconds, and then move into their scene. Even with the scenes being “work in progress” scenes, students should still remember theatre basics such as clear diction, good volume, and body awareness (cheating out towards the audience, clear character postures and movements, etc.). 7. If you wish, after all the scenes are presented, have a discussion with your class. Some topics you might wish to explore include: • Which presentation intrigued you the most? • Which presentation did you think was the funniest? • Which presentation would you like to see developed into a longer scene or a full-length play? • Which presentation do you think is most related to the content/context of the photograph? • … and WHY? • If you know the history/background/story of the photo, share it with the class now. Which group’s presentation was closest to the real context of the image? • Compare and contrast the portrayals of each character in the image. How were they similar? How were they different? • What was one moment from any of the presentations that surprised you? 8. Optional: Repeat the exercise with a different image. You may also wish to swap out the group members to mix things up. 9. At the end of class, each student will complete and submit an exit slip (found below). Kerry Hishon is a director, actor, writer and stage combatant from London, Ontario, Canada. She blogs at www.kerryhishon.com.

The following exercise gives students the opportunity to practice active listening, teamwork, taking direction, and problem solving as a group. Acting as an ensemble with a student director, group members will create a tableau scene illustrating three moments from a familiar story, using every member of the group in some way. The word “tableau” comes from the phrase tableau vivant, or “living picture.” Students will use their bodies and imaginations to create frozen pictures to tell the story — no words or sounds allowed. Blinking and breathing are always acceptable — and necessary! You may laugh, but every time I play this game with students, there is always one person who asks, “Can I still blink when I’m frozen?” You’ll need a stopwatch or clock to indicate how much planning and rehearsal time is available. Optional: A smartphone or digital camera to take a photo of each tableau scene, so students can see their work Warm-UpTo get students in the tableau mindset, use Tableau Scenes from a Book or Numbered Tableaux as a warm-up exercise. Instruction1. Divide students into large groups of 8–10. Adjust as necessary depending on how many students you have, but try to have at least 2 separate groups. 2. Select one director per group. This student will be in charge of the final look of the scene but is welcome to take suggestions from the group members. They must also participate as a member of the tableau scene. 3. Give each group a familiar nursery rhyme or story prompt with a limited number of named characters, such as The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, or Sleeping Beauty. Groups will choose three memorable moments in the story to portray in three frozen onstage pictures. Let students know how much time they have to plan and rehearse. 4. Each group member must be included in the tableau scene in some way, despite there being fewer named characters than students. What else can the other students portray? They might be props (such as the spinning wheel in Sleeping Beauty or a bowl of porridge in Goldilocks), set pieces (such as one of the Three Little Pigs’ houses), atmosphere (sun or moon, trees, background creatures), or whatever else makes sense for the scene. Encourage students to make creative, thoughtful choices that add to the overall picture, but don’t forget that the director is to make the final decisions for the look of the picture. 5. Another thing students will have to think about is the transition between the pictures. How will the group move from each tableau? 6. Students will present their tableau scenes to the rest of the class. 7. Optional: Take a photo of each tableau scene so students can see what they look like in the frozen picture. Ask your students: what worked well in this scene? What didn’t work so well? If you’re showing the photos to students, ask them: when you look at the photos, does the scene look like you imagined it would look? What might you change if you were to attempt the exercise again? 8. A reflection is provided (see below) to allow students to think about their participation in the exercise. Additional Options: • Have students plan their tableau scenes silently. How will they communicate non-verbally? • Tell each group secretly what story they are portraying, and have the other groups guess what the story is. • Tell only the director what story their group is portraying. The director must instruct the rest of the group without revealing what the story is. • Try the exercise again, switching some of the group members, with less planning time.

This is one of my absolute favourite theatre games. I always use it in my early drama classes because, not only is it a fun way to approach the basics of tableau, it’s a good way for students to start getting to know each other in smaller groups. As well, tableau is a great way for students who may be new to performance, or shy, to dip their toes into performing without having to speak in front of people right away. Try it! What You Need• A book of photos of people, like a souvenir show program book (my favourite is the annotated script book of Peter and the Starcatcher as it has lots of photos of the original cast) OR • A scrapbook album or selection of photographs of groups of people (photos can be black and white or colour, modern or vintage) OR • A collection of magazine or catalogue tear-outs with photos of people • Optional : a digital camera or iPad to take photos of your students’ tableau scenes so they can see what they look like Pre-Game Discussion• What is a tableau? (The full name is “tableau vivant,” or “living picture” – a frozen, silent scene meant to tell a story visually.) • What are the rules of tableau? • The scene must tell a story visually, without movement or sound. • And yes, of course students can blink and breathe! This silly question always seems to come up when I teach tableau. • How do you create a tableau scene? • What is the purpose of tableau? How could it be used in a theatrical production? Directions• Divide the class into small groups of four or five. • Determine which student in each group will be the “director” (tallest/shortest student in the group, next student to have a birthday, etc.). • Select a photo that has a similar number of people as students in each group. (If the photo has the same number of people as group members, the director will also be part of the tableau. If there is one less person in the photo than in the group, the director will not be in the actual tableau.) All groups will use the same photo. • Groups will have three minutes to replicate the photograph in tableau. However, only the directors may look at the photo that the groups are replicating. The directors may go back and look at the photo as many times as they need to, and can use different means of directing the other group members (demonstrating physically, describing/explaining verbally, physically “moulding” their teammates, etc.) – other than actually showing them the photo. • Once the group’s director has given a student a direction, they must follow the direction, even if they feel silly! Remember, tableau scenes are frozen pictures, so no wiggling and giggling! • Have students focus on showing details in their tableau scenes – such as facial expressions, postures, positioning of their hands and fingers, facing in the correct direction, and more. Creating a strong tableau scene takes more than just standing in a frozen position! • Once the three minutes are up, have all the students hold their frozen positions so you can look at each group. It is important for all the groups to freeze at the same time so the groups don’t try to change their work when they see what the other groups have done. Walk around to each group and observe their attention to detail. If you want, take digital photos of each tableau so you can show the groups what they actually looked like. (That is the tough part of tableau – your students can’t actually see what they’re doing.) Compare each group’s tableau attempt with the actual photo they were imitating. Point out what each group did well and what they could improve on for next time. If you wish to make the game into a competition, announce which group was the winner! • Repeat the exercise with a new photo and new directors. You may also wish to swap out the members of the groups to mix things up! Click here for a free post-game reflection.