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    Drama Games for Rehearsals
    Drama Games for Rehearsals
    Drama Games for Rehearsals
    Ebook264 pages1 hour

    Drama Games for Rehearsals

    By Jessica Swale

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    About this ebook

    "
    'I wish I'd had this book when I was starting out as a young director... I cannot recommend it highly enough.' Marianne Elliott, from her Foreword
    This dip-in, flick-through, quick-fire resource book in the bestselling Drama Games series offers dozens of ideas and exercises to energise and inspire a bold, creative rehearsal process for any play, of any period or genre.
    Aimed at directors of all levels, it covers every aspect of rehearsal, including:


    - Warm-up exercises to prepare the body, voice and mind, and to create a strong ensemble
    - Ideas for approaching the text, tackling the 'Story of the Play'
    - A wealth of games for unlocking the 'World of the Play', including developing characters, finding a physical style, understanding genre and investigating themes
    - Suggestions for exploring sound and music, whether for use in the production or simply to encourage a sense of fun in rehearsals
    This essential 'go-to' book will provide you with a host of original and illuminating games, perfect for the play you're rehearsing, be it Shakespeare or Greek tragedy, a Restoration comedy, physical theatre, Modern Naturalism – or even a brand new play.
    Marianne Elliott, one of the most innovative and exciting directors working anywhere in the world, describes it as a 'beautiful, and very clearly written book' which will become her 'constant companion in future'.
    "
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNick Hern Books
    Release dateOct 27, 2016
    ISBN9781780018355
    Drama Games for Rehearsals
    Author

    Jessica Swale

    Jessica Swale is a writer and director, and the Artistic Director of Red Handed Theatre Company. Her first play, Blue Stockings, premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe and won her a nomination for Most Promising Playwright in the Evening Standard Awards 2013. Other plays include Nell Gwynn and Thomas Tallis (both Shakespeare’s Globe); All’s Will That Ends Will (Bremer Shakespeare Company); adaptations of Far from the Madding Crowd, Sense and Sensibility (Watermill Theatre) and The Secret Garden (Grosvenor Park); and a new play, The Mission, about illegal adoptions in the 1920s. She has directed a number of award-winning productions for Red Handed, which is dedicated to creating new work and rediscovering forgotten plays. Recent productions include The Rivals starring Celia Imrie, the London premiere of Palace of the End by Judith Thompson, and the first major revival of Hannah Cowley’s The Belle’s Stratagem, which won her a nomination for Best Director at the Evening Standard Awards. Other direction includes Bedlam (Shakespeare’s Globe); Sleuth (Watermill); Fallen Angels (Salisbury Playhouse); Winter (TNL, Canada); The Busy Body, Someone to Watch Over Me (Southwark), The School for Scandal (Park Theatre); and productions at RADA and LAMDA. She was Max Stafford-Clark’s Associate Director at Out of Joint from 2007–2010. She is an associate artist with Youth Bridge Global, an international NGO which uses theatre as a tool for promoting social change in war-torn and developing nations. She has written three titles in Nick Hern Books’ popular Drama Games series: Drama Games for Classrooms and Workshops, Drama Games for Devising, and Drama Games for Rehearsals.

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      Book preview

      Drama Games for Rehearsals - Jessica Swale

      PART ONE

      GETTING STARTED

      In which we warm up

      Whatever the genre of play you’re rehearsing, whether it’s a classic comedy or a new drama, don’t underestimate the value of a good warm-up. An actor has three tools to work with: body, voice and mind. Each can feel equally cold at the beginning of a long day’s rehearsal. Coupled with that, if the company haven’t worked together before, nerves may be running high. Either way, launching straight into Scene One won’t do anyone any favours.

      In this section you’ll find warm-up exercises for body, voice and mind, followed by a selection of ensemble games.

      Physical Games are warm-ups to energise the body and help players tune in to physicality in preparation for work.

      Vocal Games begin with simple technical exercises for vocal and breath control, before moving into singing and sound games to get the vocal cords buzzing.

      Focus Games are all about the mind and imagination. They are quick-thinking spontaneity games in which the actors move out of the purely physical into the realms of character and scenario.

      Finally, in Team Games you’ll find exercises to help bond the group, either through physical proximity (Adele’s Super-Hugs) or through working together inventively (The Boogie Pyramid or Top Knot). If you’re running a workshop specifically on ensemble-playing or trust, you could use these exercises to form the core of your session.

      Physical Games – Warming Up the Body

      1. Elastoplast

      A variation on classic ‘It’ with added physical challenges.

      How to Play

      Ask everyone to spread out and find a space. Choose one player to be ‘It’. Like conventional ‘It’, the person who is up must try and tag someone by touching them. However, in this version players have a lifeline: plasters!

      If someone is tagged, they can buy themselves an extra life by putting a ‘plaster’ (their hand) on the place where they were tagged. They then carry on playing, though they mustn’t move their hand. If they get tagged again, they must use their other Elastoplast (their other hand) as a plaster, like the first. By this point they’ll be running with the handicap of having both their hands attached to their ‘wounds’.

      When a player is tagged a third time, they must freeze and wait to be rescued. To rescue someone, two other players must come and lay a free hand on them, holding their hands on the frozen player for three counts. Then the player is ‘healed’ and thus free to go again. If, however, someone is tagged mid-rescue, then they become ‘It’ too. Game play continues until everyone is either ‘It’ or frozen.

      The Aim of the

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