Theatre games
for building acting skills or just plain fun!
family portraits
In this game, you will be making a tableau or still image. Have one person be the photographer. This person stands to the side of the stage or playing area. Everyone else goes on stage and takes poses like they are having their photo taken. Once everyone has frozen in this tableau, the photographer calls out the kind of family you are, such as the sad family or the movie star family. Everyone stays frozen until the photographer or another person not in the scene calls out a different kind of family.
​
An interesting tableau has people standing, sitting, kneeling, and lying down to create different levels. Since you will be frozen, you will want to be very animated. Be sure to stay as still as possible, even finding a place to focus your eyes so they're not moving.
​
Family type ideas: sad, happy, crazy, tired, old, young, cheerleader, sports, circus, royal, cold or hot, barnyard, tourist, loving, artist, fighting
​
*This game is a playground for the actor's imagination. It's a chance to listen, imagine, and work together as a group, strengthening your skills and engaging your creativity.
a box full of hats
Collect as many hats as you can from around the house and put them in a box or pile them on the floor. Each actor walks up to the box or pile on the floor with their back to the audience and selects a hat. The actor places the hat on their head, turns around to face the audience, and immediately becomes a character who might wear the hat. The actor then improvises a monologue in character using one of the following scenarios. Think about who your character may be talking to because this will help with your focus and dialogue. Here are some ideas for this game.
​
Returning home for the day, opening a surprise gift, meeting a new person, ordering a meal at McDonald’s, running into an old friend, running into an old enemy
build an animal
Build An Animal- This game will require a minimum of three actors.
Actors decide on which animal they will build. They then use their bodies to form the animal. For instance, if they choose an elephant, one actor can be the trunk, two actors can form the ears, others can be the legs. After they have formed the animal, they should walk around moving together as the animal would. For instance, an elephant moves slowly and heavily. It’s trunk swings back and forth and picks up pieces of hay to put in its mouth.