JAN
24

Theatre games to help you warm up

“Now is the winter of our discontent.” 

By Wade Bradford 

Wade Bradford currently teaches English at Moorpark College and is the official “Guide to Plays and Drama” at About.com.  In addition to writing picture books and novels, Wade has written over 30 plays, including Downton Zombie and Stagecraft:  The Video Game, both available from Pioneer Drama. 

While Shakespeare’s ubiquitous phrase from Richard III actually speaks of an upturn in fortune for King Richard — an indication that his metaphorical winter is coming to an end — it’s nonetheless often attributed to the doldrums of the coldest, darkest of seasons.  And this frigid winter has already been one for the record books for many of us!

Thankfully, with the magic of theatre, we can stay warm and toasty.

While some see this time of year as a frosty wonderland, for the rest of us, it can make life bleak and depressing.  It's no wonder those Scandinavian playwrights, surrounded by frigid landscapes, were the masters of melancholy dramas.  If Henrik Ibsen lived in sunny Southern California, would he have written literature as somber as A Doll's House or as dreary as Ghosts?  No way.  Ibsen would have written plays about surfers.

Fortunately, with the bright lights of the stage (or at the very least the incessant glare of the florescent lights in the classroom), we can chase away the gloom.  Here are a few theatrical ways to make the winter blues go away and help us warm up...  literally.

Emotional Symphony

One of my favorite warm-ups, this group activity works best with one moderator and at least six people huddled together.  It’s definitely a “more-the-merrier” game.

How to play:  One person is “the Conductor.”  The rest of the performers stand in a group, as if they are a choir or, more specifically, a human orchestra.  The conductor then assigns an emotion to each performer.  When the conductor gestures at a person, or a group of people, they make sounds that convey the emotion.  The result is a silly symphony of all sorts of emotive sounds — joy, sadness, guilt, curiosity...  you name it.  It doesn’t take more than a few minutes until all of the performers are warmed up, no matter how cold it is outside!

My Cup of Cocoa

This is a variation of a memorization game enjoyed by my fellow drama geeks.  It’s especially a class-pleaser with a large group of younger students.  The original game was called “The World’s Greatest Sandwich,” but there’s no reason you can’t change it to everyone’s favorite wintry beverage.

How to Play:  Form a circle.  The first person begins by saying, “My cup of cocoa has marshmallows.”  The second person says the exact same thing and then adds to it:  “My cup of cocoa has marshmallows and rainbow sprinkles.”  The third person keeps adding a new item, and so on.  (Feel free to get ridiculous, like “My cup of cocoa has marshmallows, rainbow sprinkles, and pickles.”)

The activity — which provides practice in listening, focus, memorization, and creativity — leads to a lot of giggles, especially when the list gets very long and very silly.  When someone forgets an item on the list, everyone pantomimes drinking this bizarre cup of imaginary cocoa while sharing warm smiles all around.

Winter Olympics Improv

This improv activity is a take on the popular game called “Sportscasters,” but with a snowbound twist.

How to Play:  Two sports broadcasters introduce us to an unusual winter sport — something you wouldn’t expect to see in the actual winter Olympics.  What follows is an improvised skit in which some of the following can take place:

1. Interviews with the “athlete” characters, and perhaps their translators, if the athletes speak some nonsensical language of their fictional country.
2. An explanation of the rules of this newly invented winter sport which will, hopefully, be ridiculous and a fun challenge to follow.
3. A pantomimed performance of the winter sport, complete with colorful commentary from the broadcasters, and the occasional slow-motion and rewind gags to give the improvisers an additional challenge.

These are just a few of the limitless and laugh-inducing games that drama students can use to sharpen their skills as they both warm up and stay warm!