Improving improvisation techniques in Drama

i Improvisation is a form of live theatre in which the plot, characters and dialogue of a game, scene or story are made up in the moment.

Part A: Warm-up activity Walking in the Space

Part B: Practising improvisation 'What are you doing?

Part C: Practising Improvisation Triggers

Time Frame: 40-45 minutes totalYear level: 5/6

Content description: Explore dramatic action, empathy and space in improvisations, playbuilding and scripted drama to develop characters and situations (ACADRM035).

Learning outcome: The outcome of this activity is that students will increase their spatial and physical awareness, and develop focus and creative thinking skills. It will get students warmed up, focused and ready for the following activities.

Ask the students to walk around in the space, encourage them to not just walk in a circle, side-couch possible movements. For example, skipping, side step, weave in and out etc.

Ask students to continue walking in the space, they must keep their eyes on two different people in the group and see if they can stay between them at all times, in a triangle shape.

Introduce a number of imagined states for them to respond to. For example: they are late for school and have just heard the bell ring, its raining and they havent got an umbrella, they are lost.

Time Frame: 10 minutes

Learning outcome: The aim of this activity is to develop an understanding of giving and receiving offers. An offer is a suggestion or an action that adds new information to the situation or scene.

Get the students to form a circle and select a volunteer to go into the middle

Ask the student (Person A) to mime an action such as: washing the floor or baking a cake. Then ask them to freeze.

Ask the next person (person B) to mime the same action with person A after they have established the mime, ask them to freeze.

Ask student A to leave the circle and ask person C to ask What are you doing? And join person B.

They activity continues as the same abobe until everyone in the circle has had a turn.

Time frame: 15 minutes

Learning outcome: Students will develop skills in improvisation by thinking on their feet and respond to situations on the spot.

Divide students into groups of 4/5.

Ask the first group to wait outside, one by one each student comes in and the teacher tells them their triggers how they respond to them. For example, the scene is set in a zoo and an argument commences when they fight over which animal to see, one of the triggers could be 'when you hear the name of an animal you must roar like a lion'.

Once the group all have their triggers they must come back into the room and give them a scenario for their scene. All students must not tell anyone their triggers and the group member must work out each others triggers so that they can set them off again.

They must then perform their scene in front of the class. Time them for one minute each.

Repeat as above until all groups have performed.

Time Frame: 15-20 minutes

At the end of the lesson, as a class discuss what they have learnt in the three activities. Ask them what their best aspects were and why.

Australian Curriculum, 2016,F-10 Curriculum, The Arts: Drama, Foundation to Year 10 Curriculum: Curriculum,Australian Curriculum, viewed 7 of April, 2016, .

Room, S 2015-, Improvisation Starters, Arts:Live, viewed 10 of April 2016,