THEATRE GAMES:
Using them in an ESL classroom THEATRE VS. GAMES
What are the differences and similarities between theatre in general and the structure of games?
Make a Venn diagram with your group comparing and contrasting both themes. MASTERS OF THEATRE GAMES
Mijaíl Chéjov (Michael Chekhov)
– b. 29 August, 1891 in St. Petersburg, d. 30 September, 1955 in Beverly Hills
Quote: “Our artistic natures have two aspects: one that is merely sufficient for our ordinary existence and another of a higher order that marshals the creative powers within us.”
Book: On The Technique of Acting MASTERS OF THEATRE GAMES
Jacques Lecoq
b. 15 December, 1921 in Paris, d. 19 January, 1999 in Paris
Quote: “(Re)play involves reviving lived experience in the simplest possible way .”
Quote : “ The action of miming becomes a form of knowledge.”
Book: The Moving Body MASTERS OF THEATRE GAMES
Viola Spolin
b. 7 November , 1916 in Chicago, d. 22 November, 1994 in Los Angeles
Quote: “Approval/Disapproval is keeping you from a direct experience .”
Quote: “Games and story bring out self rather than ego.”
Book: Improvisation for the Theatre HIGHER ORDER LEARNING Andy´s Top 3 ESL Games:
Adjective Advert – Guess your classmate´s word based on their behavior
Ball Toss – ABCs, Improv story
Gesture/Gibberish Story - Police report GAME GOALS Give clear instructions .
Follow one idea - it´s all about the group .
Set limits to produce more language .
Mistakes are okay – they´re a part of learning .
What will the game teach the students?
How can you simplify or add a challenge for the level ? TOP 10 GAME LIST 1. Robots/ machines. Pretend you are a machine, each person is a part of the machine. Invent, what you are, what you do, which part are you and represent it. 2. Family Photos. Imagine types of photos and represent them too. Sara BonjochLlaquet 3. Mime It! One student gets a verb or a sentence and he/she must mime/act out the action/sentence without saying a word. The other student(s) must guess what they are doing. 4. 2nd Conditional Role-play. Ss are assigned a role (e.g. sex/age range, profession, well-known public figure, character in a film/series) that only they will know. The rest of the class will have a sort of “press conference” in which they ask them a series of 2nd conditional questions. They have to answer with something the person they are would say and the others have to eventually guess who they are. 5. Pictionary . Students draw actions / phrases / nouns etc for their team to guess . 6. Charades. Students mime films/ books/ phrasal verbs, actions etc for their team to guess 7. Guess Who? Students ask yes/no questions to one student who pretends to be a famous person at the front of the class. The first student to guess the famous person correctly wins. 8. Role plays of true stories eg. There was a report on two Man U fans going to Santiago in Chile instead of Galicia when their team was drawn against Deportivo la Coruña in the European Cup. Students play the: fans, taxi driver, check-in desk, security etc 9. Ball games eg. Ss stand in a circle with a ball. The word is January and the first student with the ball says the first letter and throws the ball to another student (they MUST make eye contact). The second student must say J-A and throws the ball to a third student etc. 10. Adjective advert. Guess your classmate’s adjective by watching their behaviour. English speaking theatre sources in BCN: www.joculartheatre.com www.barcelonaimprovgroup.com relevantbcn.com andytravis.net
Oxford TEFL YouTube – visit the channel Website – www.oxfordtefl.com
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