GAMES ORGANIZED ALPHABETICALLY
(You can reach the games organized by subject by clicking on the words:
GAMES ORGANIZED BY CORE CONCEPT.
SEARCH FOR A GAME BY SCROLLING THROUGH THE PICTURES BELOW.
THEN CLICK ON THE PICTURE FOR DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS AND A DEMONSTRATION VIDEO.
CLICK TO SKIP TO:
A - C
BODY WALK
Students explore character movement as they walk with different parts of their body leading—parts named by the game leader.
CHANGE 3 THINGS
Students try to identify three small changes their partners make in their appearance.
CHARACTER PAINTING
Three character qualities are “painted” on an actor who then demonstrates them.
CONCENTRATION CLAPS
A concentration game played in a circle requiring precise rhythm and rapid response.
CONCENTRATION POINT
A very simple concentration exercise that stresses focus and listening.
COUNT TO TEN
With eyes closed, students count to ten as a group with only one student speaking at a time.
DROP AND GIVE ME 10
Students go from standing to lying on the floor and back on increasingly shorter counts.
E - H
EMOTIONAL FRIENDS
A group of actors perform a scene in a series of emotional states supplied by the game leader.
FAIRY TALE TABLEAUX
Actors create three tableaux to capture the beginning, middle, and end of a fairy tale.
FAMILY PORTRAIT
Actors pose to represent specific types of families suggested by the game leader.
FIVE THINGS
Actors are given a category and must quickly name five things that fit.
FREEZE TAG
Two actors improvise a scene until a third actor calls freeze, takes one of their places, and starts a new scene.
FREEZE WALK
Students walking in a circle attempt to stop, start, and change direction at precisely the same moment
GROUP MIND
Students mirror each other’s movements, changing from one movement to another spontaneously.
GROUP SCULPTURE MASTERPIECE
One by one, students form and add to a group sculpture based on a prompt from the game leader.
HITCHHIKER
Actors pretending to ride in a car pick up the character quirks of one hitchhiker after another.
HOTEL DESK
Actors adopt strong specific characters and interact with a hotel desk clerk.
K - M
THE KNOT
Students hold hands across a circle to create a “knot,” and then try to untangle themselves to form a single circle without letting go.
MACHINE
Actors work together to create a single machine with mechanical movements and sounds.
MAGIC CLOTH
Students take turns interacting creatively with a piece of cloth as though it were a prop other than cloth.
ME MAY MA MOE
A simple vocal warm-up exercise.
MIME EMOTION
Students take turns acting out an emotion without words for other students to guess.
MIRROR
In pairs, one student mirrors the movements of the other as precisely as possible.
MIRROR TABLEAUX
Teams of students compete to see who can most quickly assume the exact positions modelled by a leading group.
MORPH THE MOTION
Students receive and mimic a rhythmic motion and sound, then change or morph it into a different motion and sound before passing it on.
MOTIVATED MOVEMENT
Actors are given three actions to perform on stage and must improvise the motivation behind each action.
N - R
NAME GAME WITH GESTURES
A game for learning names in a group by connecting each student’s name with a specific action improvised by that student.
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
A concentration exercise where students must maintain frozen positions while a leader tries to catch them moving.
101 WAYS TO PAINT A WALL
Students mime painting a wall, each using a unique and creative method.
PAPER BAG SCENES
Small groups of students improvise scenes using random objects in a bag as their props.
PASS THE GIFT
Using mime, students take turns opening an imaginary gift of their choosing.
PROPS
Students take turns using random objects as props—but different from the objects they actually are.
RAISE THE STAKES
A small group of actors improvise a scene with escalating levels of emotional intensity.
RANT
Actors in a line rant about a given topic, all speaking at the same time.
S
SCENE SETTING
Actors improvise a mimed scene that includes both characters and scenery, building it one actor at a time.
SIREN
A simple vocal warmup.
SLEEPY COWBOY
Actors create a character based on a single adjective and a randomly assigned vocation.
SOUND BALL
Students pass an imaginary ball around a circle with improvised sound effects.
SPACE WALK
Students imagine walking and moving through a series of suggested environments.
SPLASH
A creative warm-up game for learning names.
STAGE CONVENTIONS
A lesson in how to stand and move on stage in order to stay open to the audience.
STAGE DIRECTIONS
A lesson explaining the parts of the stage and stage directions.
STORY CIRCLE
In a circle, students tell a story as a group, with each student adding one sentence at a time.
T - Z
TABLEAUX
A lesson in how to make good stage pictures.
TEXAS SHAKEDOWN
An energizing physical warm-up.
THROW YOUR VOICE ON HAH
A lesson in vocal projection and breath support.
TONGUE TWISTERS
A simple vocal warm-up.
WALK THIS WAY
Students cross the stage embodying the physical traits of characters assigned by the game leader.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
Pairs of actors challenge each other to rapidly mime actions they suggest.
WHAT’S BEHIND THE LINE?
Actors deliver a line with the subtext appropriate for a character in a specific situation.
WHO’S LEADING?
Students in a circle mirror the actions of one student, while a second student attempts to identify the leader.
YES/AND
A pair of actors improvise a three-line scene by accepting and adding on to their partners ideas.
ZOOM CAR
A multi-leveled warm-up game that requires concentration and quick responses.
Curtains Up Curriculum by Friends of the Groom Theater Co. is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Curtains Up is a training program designed for young actors sponsored by Friends of the Groom Theater Company.
It is available to the general public for free under the terms of the Creative Commons License above.
TO REACH THE FRIENDS OF THE GROOM WEBSITE, CLICK ON THE LOGO BELOW.
