Theater Games for the Classroom: A Teacher's Handbook
by Viola Spolin
Northwestern University Press, 1986
Cloth: 978-0-8101-4003-5 | eISBN: 978-0-8101-6312-6 | Paper: 978-0-8101-4004-2
See other books on: Acting & Auditioning | Classroom | Spolin, Viola | Teaching | Theater
See other titles from Northwestern University Press
Cloth: 978-0-8101-4003-5 | eISBN: 978-0-8101-6312-6 | Paper: 978-0-8101-4004-2
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
This best-selling book by Viola Spolin offers the most comprehensive theater instruction for all types of students, from small children to young adults. It includes over 130 theater games, plus exercises and instructional strategies. First developed by Spolin, the originator of modern improvisational theater techniques, these games have been tried and tested for over fifty years.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
VIOLA SPOLIN (1906–1994), the originator of theater games, was introduced to the use of games, storytelling, folk dance, and dramatics as tools for stimulating creative expression in the 1920s while a student of Neva Boyd at Chicago's Hull House. During her years as a teacher and supervisor of creative dramatics there, she began to develop her nonverbal, non-psychological approach. Her books have been translated into Swedish, German, and Portuguese.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- CONTENTS
- Preface
- Chapter 1:
- WHY BRING THEATER GAMES INTO THE CLASSROOM?
- Games
- Play
- Freedom
- Intuition
- Transformation
- Three Essentials of a Theater Game
- Focus
- Sidecoaching
- Evaluation
- Approval/Disapproval
- The Game Format
- The Theater-Game Workshop
- Workshop Atmosphere
- Control
- Energy
- Day's Order
- Skills chart
- Sample Workshop
- Playing Area
- Teams
- Counting Off
- Fear of Participation
- Group Agreement
- Student Sidecoaches
- Designing Workshops to Meet Specific Needs
- Participation
- Problem solving
- Catalytic action
- Use of Supplementary Materials
- Workshop Checklist (A Review)
- Leader preparation
- Counting off
- Lead-ins
- Presenting the games
- Lessons
- Examples and comparisons
- Resistance
- Competition
- Audience players
- Calling “curtain!”
- Simultaneous play
- Repeating games
- Trouble-shooting
- Wrap-up
- Chapter 2:
- WARM-UPS
- Traditional Games as Warm-Ups
- Playground Games
- Object Relay*
- Swat Tag*
- Explosion Tag*
- Quick Numbers*
- Streets & Alleys*
- Streets & Alleys: Variations*
- Red Light (Cheese It)*
- Don't Let go*
- Chapter 3:
- RHYTHMIC MOVEMENT GAMES
- Ocean Wave*
- A Walk in the Moon light*
- Slow Motion/Freeze Tag*
- Rhythmic Movement
- No Motion*
- Chapter 4:
- SPACE WALKS
- Touch & Be Touched/See & Be Seen
- Feeling Self with Self*
- Space Walk #l
- Space Walk #2
- Space Walk #3: Skeleton
- Space Walk Blindfolded
- Chapter 5:
- TRANSFORMATION GAMES
- Making the Invisible Visible
- Space Substance
- Space Shaping (Solo)
- Space Shaping for Teams
- Tug of War
- Jump Rope
- Play Ball
- Playground
- Dodge Ball
- Involvement in Twos
- Involvement with Three or More
- Finding Objects in the Immediate Environment
- It's Heavier When It's Full
- Transformation of Objects
- Difficulty with Small Objects
- The Object Moves the Players
- Add a Part
- Chapter 6:
- SENSORY GAMES
- Single File*
- I See You*
- When I Go to California*
- Black Magic*
- Egyptian Writing*
- Three Changes*
- Observation Game*
- Who Started the Motion?*
- Sending Sight Out
- Seeing Through Objects
- Seeing a Sport: Recall
- Listening to the Environment
- Sending Hearing Out
- Chapter 7:
- PART OF A WHOLE GAMES
- Linking the Players
- Part of a Whole, Object
- Part of a Whole, Activity
- Part of a Whole, Occupation
- Part of a Whole, Relationship
- Chapter 8:
- MIRROR GAMES
- Reflecting and Sharing What Is Observed
- Adam's Sons*
- Mirror
- Who Is the Mirror?
- Follow the Follower
- Chapter 9:
- WHERE, WHO, AND WHAT
- Creating Environments, Characters, and Action through Play
- Where Games (Setting/Environment)
- Who Games (Character/Relationship)
- What Games (Action)
- Where Games, Demonstration
- Dog & Bone*
- Airport*
- Where Games with Diagrams
- Where Games with Props
- Exchanging Wheres
- Relay Where: Building a Set
- What Time Is It?
- Exploration of a Large Environment
- Where without Hands
- Showing Where without Objects
- Where with Help
- Where with Obstacles
- Where: Help/Hinder
- The Specialized Where
- Where Game (Scene)
- Involvement with the Immediate Environment
- Who Games
- New York (Lemonade)*
- How Old Am I?
- What Do I Do For a Living?
- Who Am I?
- Who Game
- Knocking*
- Who's Knocking?
- Showing Who through Use of an Object
- Changing Emotion
- What Games
- What Am I Eating? Tasting? Smelling? Hearing?*
- Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush*
- Identifying Objects
- Involvement with Large Objects
- Involvement without Hands
- What's Beyond: Activity
- Chapter 10:
- COMMUNICATING WITH WORDS
- Handwriting Large
- Handwriting Small
- Handwriting Blindfolded
- Dumb Crambo*
- Name Six*
- Singing Syllables*
- Kitty Wants a Corner*
- Isabella*
- Princess Thorn Rosa*
- Give & Take Warm-Up*
- Give & Take
- Give & Take for Reading
- Seeing the Word
- Mirror Speech
- Verbalizing the Where, Part 1
- Verbalizing the Where, Part 2
- Chapter 11:
- COMMUNICATING WITH SOUNDS
- Gibberish
- Gibberish Introduction
- Gibberish: Teaching
- Gibberish: Selling
- Gibberish/English
- Echo
- Mirror Sound
- Foreign Language Gibberish
- Gibberish Interpreter
- Extended Sound
- Chapter 12:
- MULTIPLE-STIMULUS GAMES
- How Much Do You Remember?
- Three-Way Conversation
- Three-Way Writing
- Drawing Objects Game
- Chapter 13:
- PUPPETRY
- Playmaking for Parts of the Body
- A Quick Curtain in the Classroom
- Feet & Legs Alone #1
- Feet & Legs Alone #2
- Hands Alone
- Exercise for the Back
- Total Body Involvement
- Puppets On Strings
- Parts of the Body/Full Scene
- Chapter 14:
- PLAYMAKING FOR RADIO, TELEVISION, AND FILM
- Radio
- Greek Chorus
- Vocal Sound Effects
- Poison*
- Television Screen
- Shadow Screen(Montage)
- Soundtrack
- Choral Reading
- Dubbing
- Chapter 15:
- DEVELOPING MATERIAL
- Improvisation
- Box Full of Hats
- Skits & Songs*
- On the Spot
- Charades
- Interpretation
- Building a Story
- Spelling*
- Vowels & Consonants*
- Building a Story
- Building a Story: Stop Mid-Word
- Building a Story: Reading
- Relating an Incident Adding Color
- Chapter 16:
- STORYTELLING AND STORY THEATER
- Building Larger Scenes through Theater Games
- Storytelling
- Storytelling
- Story Theater
- “the Three Little Pigs” (Skeleton)
- “the King's Drum” (Skeleton)
- Chapter 17:
- PLAYMAKING FOR AUDIENCE INVOLVEMENT
- Playing House
- Understanding the Audience
- Eye Contact
- Pitchman
- Deaf Audience
- Exits &Entrances
- Chapter 18:
- PUBLIC PERFORMANCE
- Developing the Scripted Play
- Choosing the Play
- A Timetable for Rehearsals
- The First Rehearsal Period
- Sit-down readings
- Walk-through rehearsals
- Stage movement (blocking)
- Where (the set)
- The Second Rehearsal Period
- The relaxed rehearsal
- General improvisation
- Nonstop run-throughs
- Biographies
- The Third Rehearsal Period
- The special run-through
- The performance
- Chapter 19:
- ROUNDING-OUT THE CHILD ACTOR
- Inner Action
- Stage Work
- Stage Picture
- Stage Whisper Warm-Up*
- Stage Whisper
- Rocking the Boat/Sharing the Stage Picture
- Contact
- Contact
- Conflict
- Role Playing
- Chapter 20:
- REMOVING AMATEUR QUALITIES
- The Amateur Actor
- Preparing The Player for the Stage
- Appendix 1:
- WORKSHOP SEQUENCES
- Appendix 2:
- SCOPE & SEQUENCE OF SKILLS
- Appendix 3:
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- A.
- Supplementary Materials and Teacher Resources
- B.
- A Short List of Good Books on Puppetry
- C.
- Stories, Legends, Fables, and Games
- D.
- Poetry, Writing, and Storytelling
- Appendix 4:
- INDEXES OF GAMES
- A.
- Alphabetical Index
- B.
- Games Cross-referenced by Curriculum Area
- Appendix 5:
- GLOSSARY
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