Kids playing the Yes-And Improv Game

YES/AND

CURTAINS UP THEATER

 
 

YES/AND: A DRAMA GAME for KIDS
Teaching Improv Skills

Pairs of actors improvise three-line scenes by accepting and adding on to their partner’s ideas.

 

Watch a demonstration of
the Yes/And Drama Game:

Download Printable Instructions
 

Step-by-step Instructions

  • Form two lines–one on stage right and one on stage left. 

  • The first person in each line should cross and meet in the center. The actor from stage right says a sentence that tells us where the two are and what they are doing, e.g., Stage Right Actor: (pretending to look through binoculars) “I just love bird watching in the woods.” 

  • The second actor accepts the first actor’s idea–that’s the “yes” part–and adds to it with their own sentence–that’s the “and” part.  The second actor should try to add a sentence that gives the audience more information. Maybe it tells us more about where the characters are, or who they are, or what their relationship is, e.g., Stage Left Actor: (pretending to look through a camera) “Me too, Dad. You spot them and I’ll take the pictures.”

  • The first actor accepts the second actor’s line and adds a third sentence–adding a bit more information, e.g., Stage Right Actor: “Look–right there. It’s a Yellow Bellied Sap Sucker! I’ve always wanted you to see one of those, son.” 

  • After this brief exchange, the actors continue to cross to the opposite sides of the stage and join the end of the line on that side. You can cycle through the actors on each side several times so each student gets a chance to say the first sentence of the scene, and a chance to respond.

 
 

MORE DRAMA GAMES AND THEATER ACTIVITIES YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
FREEZE TAG - Two actors improvise a scene until a third actor calls freeze, takes one of their places, and starts a new scene
WHAT ARE YOU DOING? - Pairs of actors challenge each other to rapidly mime actions they suggest
STORY CIRCLE - In a circle, students tell a story as a group, with each student adding one sentence at a time

 
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.