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1. Individuals act out physical disabilities: blindness, hunched back, twitches, itches, etc. Develop given circumstances by writing down—Who am I? What do I want? Where am I right now? Why am I here? When is all this taking place? What other physical features describe me?—Voice? Clothing? Anything in pockets or handbags? How is my hair? What kind of shoes? etc.
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(Characters may also be developed through costume pieces, props, and/or games described previously.)
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2. What does this character want? How badly does this character want what he says he wants? Responses may be improvised or written down.
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3. Present an obstacle to the character. Change the obstacle. Make it external. Make it internal. Improvise.
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4. Put various characters together. Improvise. Pursue objectives.
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5. Devise a character based on objective. This is the embodiment of an action. Examples: Someone who wants to run away from home. Someone who doesn’t want to be lonely anymore. Someone who wants to get back at someone else. Someone who wants to win the love of someone else.
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6. Write a monologue addressed to the person who is hiring for the job perfect for you. You must have the job to support your family.
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7. Write a monologue for various characters: a rapper, a teacher, a garbage collector, a mayor of a city.
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8. Write a scene with two characters. Emphasize entrance and exit. (Where are they coming from? Where are they going? This is a way to specify action. When the action is complete, the characters exit.)
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9. Use handprops in a way in which they were not intended. Develop a scene with objectives, entrance and exit.
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10. Take one day’s entry from Latoya Hunter’s book. What does she want? What is her obstacle? Can you devise a scenario composed of character(s), objective(s), setting?
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11. Propose various scenarios for improvisation.
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12. Find visual representations that distinguish characters in frozen statues. Ex. Four characters are shipwrecked on a desert island. Three have given up hope of rescue. One character refuses to give up.
For other scenarios, seek out visual representations that embody actions in frozen statues.
Numerous other exercises and activities are possible. The key is in keeping the activities fun.
The final period is the Period of Completion. In this period, students will bring fleshed out scenes to class for other students to act. This is a workshop setting. Each person will have a chance to act and direct and watch. The writer must be able to observe his/her own scenes acted out. The actors and the audience may contribute ideas to the scene. Writers have the assignment of making a revised draft based on what they observed in class. In addition, students may choose to bring in scenes from well-known plays and act those out.
