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North American (General)Transcript
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71 touch and go for this activity. Have your actor sits so that they are facing the stage area and ask to volunteers to come up on stage. You may want to have a chair toe available. Tell them that they're going to improvise a short scene. Let us say for a moment that one person is going to play the employees and the other person is going to play the boss who needs to let the employees go. There is a slight twist to this activity in that every time one of the actors speaks, he must touch the other in some way that is justified. So the boss might say, I'm sorry, Jane, we're going to have to let you go at this moment. She might choose to Pat Jane on the back. Jane might become very upset and start to cry on her, boss his shoulder and say, But why? So every time an actor speaks, he must touch the other person in some way that is justified. The actors also have to make sure that they alternate lines so that they both get equal time to speak. This exercise will be a great challenge for your actors. You may have the topics prepared, or you may accept suggestions from the audience, but try to choose topics that allow for physical contact. Some examples are a break up, an argument and a board meeting. Remember, if the topic is incredibly static, it may be very difficult for the actors to justify touch. Of course, this might just be the challenge you are looking for variables. You could try this activity with three or more players. Of course, this will make it more complex and challenging. You might want to give the actors a prearranged order before they begin discussion. Explain some of the challenges of this activity. How might the necessity of touch make the scenes more powerful? What were some of the ways the actors justified touching their partners? Why air the topic? Choice is very important for this activity.