Three young students acting out a scene in an emotional state assigned by the teacher

EMOTIONAL
FRIENDS

CURTAINS UP ACTING STUDIO

EMOTIONAL FRIENDS: A DRAMA GAME for KIDS
Commit to the Emotion

A group of actors improvise a scene, committing to a series of strong emotional states supplied by the game leader.

 
 
 

Watch a Demonstration of
Emotional Friends:

Download Printable Instructions
 

Step-by-step Instructions

  • Select a group of 3 or 4 volunteers to stand on stage, and assign them a task to perform together. (e.g. preparing dinner, cleaning a house, washing a car, playing baseball, raking leaves, watching television, setting up a tent, planting a garden, etc.) 

  • Tell them they will be improvising a scene with dialogue as they do the task, but from time to time you will be calling out an emotional state for them to adopt. For example, you might say, “I want to see sad friends,” or “I want to see happy friends.”  They should continue working together to do the task, but strongly display the emotional state you name. 

  • Stress that–while they should fully commit to each new emotional state–they should still take care to listen to each other and to avoid talking at the same time. 

  • EXAMPLES:

Angry Friends Worried Friends
Laid Back Friends Sleepy Friends
Suspicious Friends Confused Friends
Confident Friends Surprised Friends
Disgusted Friends Depressed Friends
Joyful Friends Fearful Friends
Bored Friends Jealous Friends
Excited Friends Shy Friends
Ashamed Friends Loving Friends
Proud Friends Despairing Friends
Sulky Friends Selfish Friends
Generous Friends Hopeful Friends
Kind Friends Patient Friends
Optimistic Friends Pessimistic Friends
Passionate Friends Hostile Friends
Peaceful Friends Lazy Friends 

MORE DRAMA GAMES AND THEATER ACTIVITIES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
Family Portrait - Actors create frozen pictures depicting specific types of families suggested by the game leader.
Motivated Movement - Actors explore how a character’s emotions and objectives influence the way they move on stage.
Raise the Stakes - Actors improvise a scene, raising the emotional intensity each time the game leader adds a complication.

 
Browse Theater Games Encyclopedia
Curtains Up Creative Dramatics Curriculum
 

© 2023, Friends of the Groom Theater Company

 
 

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.