Drama & Improvisation

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Ken Wilson. Drama & Improvisation

Acknowledgements

Dedication

The author and series editor

Foreword

Introduction

How to use this book

1. Hello and welcome!

1.1 Hello, Anna! (Wrong name introductions)

1.2 Alphabetical order

1.3 Birthday connections

1.4 Flowing introductions

1.5 T-shirts

1.6 Your new book

1.7 Our new teacher

1.8 Learning English is like …

1.9 I’m the kind of person who …

1.10 Find someone who …

2. Classroom interaction and improvisation

2.1 Breathing and sound practice

2.2 Gifted athletes

2.3 Be someone else

2.4 Actions and locations: where are you and what are you doing?

2.5 Hobbies and locations

2.6 Find your answer

2.7 Blocking activities

2.8 Famous person interview

2.9 Secrets and lies

2.10 Duelling stories

2.11 Who’s that?

2.12 Fishbowl

2.13 Superhero, household object, and location

2.14 Tourist guide

2.15 Experts

2.16 Alphabet story

3. Fun and games

3.1 Typewriter game

3.2 Holding hands

3.3 Adjective mime

3.4 What am I wearing?

3.5 Yes/No game

3.6 Language rules race

3.7 Charades

3.8 Hot seat

4. Drama club

4.1 Door window

4.2 Move over if …

4.3 123–BANG!

4.4 Duck chicken

4.5 Murder

4.6 The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

4.7 What time is it?

4.8 Party guests

4.9 Foreign expert

4.10 A day in the life

4.11 Trip to America

4.12 The big question

4.13 Change emotions

4.14 Reporters

4.15 Television news

5. Working with scripts

5.1 Noisy neighbours

5.2 Last day at school

5.3 School friends

5.4 Bert and the bulldozer

5.5 The old days

5.6 Welcome to Mexico!

5.7 Arachnophobia

5.8 The restaurant

Sketches 1-8

Further reading

Отрывок из книги

During the 1990s, my wife Dede and I did a teacher development summer school in the middle of the Hungarian plain at a place called Bugac. The course was called Drama Plus and was attended by teachers from more than 30 countries. Many of the ideas in this book were developed with the participants at Drama Plus, who then tried them out on their own students when they went home. The information gained from this international exposure to the activities is reflected in the notes relating to the material.

I have also seen inspiring work done by extra-curricular English clubs that teachers with more energy than me have started in schools all over the world. Many of these teachers make drama and performance the focus of such extra English activities. In particular, I want to pay tribute to the students and teachers who attend the annual Teenplay Drama Festival in Arad, Romania, where I was lucky enough to be president of the jury on two occasions. The work done by the teachers and students in those groups is staggeringly good, and Romania is one of the many countries where an interest in English and an interest in drama, theatre, and performance seem to go hand in hand.

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The Comedy Store Players are a group of improvising comedy performers who are based at the Comedy Store in London. The group began in 1985, and the original line-up included Mike Myers, who was later to become internationally famous as the parody spy in the Austin Powers series of movies. Canadian Myers and an American woman comedian and actor called Kit Hollerbach brought North American improvisation ideas and taught them to an eager group of English actor/comedians.

Viola Spolin (1906–1994)

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