STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

• Start with one student coming onto the stage and making a simple repeatable gesture accompanied by a sound. The student should continue repeating the sound and gesture rhythmically—as though they are part of a machine. 

• When the student has a rhythm going, another student can come up and join with a different movement and sound, responding to and connecting with the first student. 

• One by one, the other students can join the growing “machine,” with each new student contributing their own unique noise and motion as they connect to the others. Continue until all the students are part of one large machine.

• Emphasize the importance of trying to make a variety of  contrasting rhythms and sounds; and encourage the students–as they join the machine–to find a body position that puts them on a different level from the actor they are next to. You can also add a chair or a block for students to stand on or sit on to create additional levels.

variation: machine with controls

• Once the students have created a machine, the teacher can pretend to have an imaginary remote or other controls, and explore starting and stopping the machine, changing its speed and volume, and even letting the machine run down and start again. 

• When the machine stops, stress that the students should “freeze.” 

Variation: Types of Machines

• One you’ve practiced making a machine a few times, decide on a type of machine and have everyone create it together.

• For example: “I’d like to see a Christmas machine.” The actions and sounds—or even words—the students make as part of the machine should all relate to Christmas. One student might pat his stomach repeatedly as he says “Ho-Ho-Ho” like Santa Claus. Another might blink their eyes and make flashing motions with their hands as they sing “Twinkling Lights, Twinkling Lights, Twinkling Lights.” A third might mime opening a box repeatedly while saying, “A gift! For me? A gift! For me?”  Stress that the students must still make their movements connect to one another. 

MORE DRAMA GAMES AND THEATER ACTIVITIES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
BODY SCENERY - Students work together as a team to create objects with their bodies
FREEZE WALK - Develop group awareness, concentration, and listening skills through this movement exercise
GROUP SCULPTURE MASTERPIECE - Build a group sculpture one pose at a time while practicing stage composition