- Age: 10 and up
- Number of participants:
8-40 (if there are too many people in the circle, some will not get
the chance to participate)
- Source: This variation
was taught to me by Jeannie LaFrance, Director of Act
for Action: Theatre for All in Portland, Oregon.
Many actors and theatre
students in America use this game. It is good for increasing improvisational
skills, stage presence, and commitment to a choice. Some use it as a form
of competition, to see who can come up with the most ridiculous or humiliating
instructions for their partners to follow. Although I have used “What
Are You Doing” in a warm-up situation, it was not until I met Jeannie
LaFrance that I learned a way to use this game for dialogue.
This is how
the game is traditionally played:
The participants
stand in a circle. One person moves to the center and begins pantomiming
an activity, such as building a sandcastle. It is important that the
participants really do the activity, and not just gloss over
the actions; be detailed in the way you are building the sandcastle.
A second person
enters the circle and asks, “What are you doing?” The first
person then responds, while still doing the original activity, with
another activity: “Brushing my hair.” The second person
then begins brushing her hair, and the first person leaves the center.
Another person enters
and asks, “What are you doing?” The person in the center,
while still doing her activity, replies: “Climbing a tree”
(or any other activity whatsoever), etc. etc.
Variation
by Jeannie LaFrance:
Ms. LaFrance uses
this variation in workshops on many themes. When I had the opportunity
to witness her work, it was on the subject of sexual and domestic violence.
She suggests when working on such a sensitive topic, that this exercise
be used with counselors and workers rather than with survivors.
After the participants
have played the game in the traditional way for a while, the facilitator
enters the circle and introduces a new concept: now all the activities
should have to do with the participants’ work (“updating
my website,” “running a meeting,” “opening mail").
After the participants
have played with that variation for a while, the facilitator enters
the circle once more and introduces another instruction: now all the
activities must deal with sexual and domestic violence, or whatever
the topic is at hand (“taking a friend to a women’s shelter,”
“covering up my black eye,” “finding a foster home
for a child,”).
Encourage everyone
to avoid "glossing over" actions. It is very important that
the participants be very specific when enacting the activities. Also,
when Ms. LaFrance is introducing a new phase of the game, she gives
everyone a few moments of silence to think of activities. Sometimes
she even lets the participants do some writing before the game to help
them collect their thoughts. Allow the enactments at this point to stretch
on a few more beats than in the first part of the exercise, so that
people can really explore the activities.
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