Recently I taught an improv workshop at the local repertory theatre. We played many fun games, rapid games which sharpened our wits and made us laugh.
What made this workshop work so well was the bell.
Whenever the bell sounded, two things happened:
- Everyone onstage took a bow and went offstage, and
- Everyone in the audience clapped.
This gave a positive, uplifting, and successful finish to each game. Every skit was an intellectually and emotionally demanding experience. The frequent applause gave the actors the confidence to try again, and again, next time.
Improv games are really short. Sometimes you can do two or three in a minute. They do get longer, but I was working with dozens of teenage actors who hadn’t all met before. Short games let everyone have many turns, and try and try and try again.
This was my first time teaching anything theatrical in a decade, so it deserved some reflection. I recalled these life lessons, learned in my own youth through the theatre:
