Make It Up as You Go
Make It Up as You Go
Make It Up as You Go
By Rylee Vogel
Improvisation is a critical skill for theater students to master because it helps create a
well-rounded and adaptable performer. Adding in improvisation exercises to your daily warm-up can dramatically help your students grow. Strong improvisational skills can help
boost confidence, communication skills, promote active listening, adaptability, and creativity (just to name a few).
Playing improv games breaks down barriers by allowing students to be silly or make
“mistakes” without judgement or consequence because there are no wrong answers.
Here are some general improvisational guidelines that will help develop these skills.
Additionally, attached is a free downloadable document of scene starters to for you and
your students to take advantage of.
1. Always say “Yes, and…”
When playing in a scene, it is important that it doesn’t get shut down before it begins. One
of the most common phrases teachers use is “Yes, and…”. This means that onstage, the
phrase “no” should never be uttered. Every idea that is spoken should be accepted and elaborated on in the scene. This allows the scene to flow and change easily and allows students to feel like their ideas are being heard.
2. Add information
In addition to accepting what one partner in a scene says, the other should actively
contribute as well. Improv is for the unserious. There are no bad ideas. Each line that is being spoken should add something new and exciting to the scene. A scene is a partnership that requires active listening and participation.
3. Avoid questions
This may come as a surprise; however, asking questions often slows the momentum and can stop a scene. This is because when a question is asked it removes the responsibility for one partner to add information to the scene and it creates an uneven level of contribution. It then becomes difficult to ‘yes, and..” and the scene stays on one point instead of moving onto the next.
By implementing these three “rules”, you will help your students create scenes that
promote active collaboration and will quickly build a fun new world. A frequently used
improv warm-up is to start with a scenario, character, and a situation. Once the scene has
been established, students can then elaborate and change the scene. For warm-up
purposes, it may be helpful to limit the scene to one to two minutes. This teaches shortform
improv skills. Attached are potential scene starters for this activity. Feel free to mix
and match the characters, locations, and situations! Have fun!
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE SCENE STARTERS!
Submit the form below to download a free set of scene starters to use with your classes during improvisation lessons.
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