Frantic Assembly Warm Up © Digital Theatre+
Have you noticed it yet? That drop in engagement as the end of the year approaches?
With a handful of weeks left to go until the winter holidays, Digital Theatre+ is here to help you keep morale high. Unlock access to our library of fun drama games and warm-up activities (guaranteed to give your classroom a much-needed energy boost), starting with these practitioner-led examples...
Devising with Stan's Cafe
Led by UK theatre company Stan's Cafe, this activity gets students thinking about improvisation and the nature of devised theatre – and uses the same exercises the team employed to create their production, Good and True.
To start, ask your students to write as many questions as they can in five minutes. Students should write each question on a separate slip of paper, and avoid quiz-type questions like 'What is the capital of France?'. Instead, ask them to think of open-ended questions.
After five minutes, put these slips of paper into a container.
Then, split your class up into pairs (or groups of three), and have each group grab a fistful of questions from the container. Encourage students to start an improvised conversation by asking a question from the container, then coming up with follow-up questions and answers as they continue.
Stretch: If your students are feeling confident with this simple questioning, encourage them to flip who is asking the questions. For example, could they answer a question with another question?
Support: If your students are new to improv, remind them that they can return to the pre-prepared questions any time their improvised conversation has run out of momentum!
Watch the whole workshop series with a free trial to Digital Theatre+.
Making Work with Frantic Assembly
In this workshop, the cast of Frantic Assembly's Othello demonstrate a short, high-intensity Tabata-style warm-up for your students to recreate in the classroom!
Set up eight exercise 'stations' in your space. Try to make sure each station uses a different part of the body – but don't worry about fancy equipment; these exercises could be as simple as a series of stretches or running on the spot.
Each exercise should last 20 seconds, with a 10-second break in between, and you should encourage your students to support one another through the training. Remind them that if they have to step out of the circuit for a moment, that's ok! The most important thing is that they step back in.
Please note: This e-learning series is not available to customers in the UK. Get in touch to find out more.
Watch the Frantic Assembly team walk through their Tabata exercise circuit...
Using Mask with Vamos Theatre
Ready to go beyond the games and warm-up activities? Start with this series from Vamos Theatre, the UK's leading full mask theatre company.
Across six short episodes, Using Mask in Drama offers your students a lively introduction to the basic techniques of full mask theatre, from characterization, to focus, and internal monologue. Each episode includes short exercises, discussion prompts, and performance snippets – making this the perfect transition from drama game to practical workshop:
- Put your students into pairs, and label them either 'A' or 'B'.
- Student A should begin to walk around, while Student B follows behind, trying their best to copy the exact walking style of Student A. How long are their steps? How do they swing their arms?
- Once you feel that your students are confident in this activity, ask Student A to step aside and simply watch as Student B continues to mimic their walk.
- Ask Student A and B to switch positions. Now, Student A should copy Student B's walk.
- Finally, in 30 seconds, ask each pair to discuss what they noticed about their own walk (from watching), and their partner's walk (from copying it). If students feel confident, encourage them to share their thoughts with the rest of the class.
This exercise is one of many in Unit 1 of Using Mask in Drama. Unlock trial access here.
Book a demo to explore these practitioner-led drama games (and much more)...
Already a customer? Sign in here!