Activity 2 : Theatre storytelling

• Creativity and Innovation
• Analysing and processing information
• Conveying and exchanging information and ideas
• Supporting others
• Collaboration with others in teams and networks

2-3 sheets of paper and pen OR whiteboard

Learners will participate in two theatre improvisation activities focused on storytelling

Introduction and Warm Up ( 10-15 minutes)

Host asks participants to gather around and sit in a circle. Host explains that for this activity they will tell a collaborative story. The story must have a beginning and an end. The first sentence of the story will be:

«Once upon a time there was a ___» and the story must end with «The moral of the story is___».

Each participant can add one word or sentence at a time. ( Educators should use their best judgment as to whether participants will be able to contribute a word or a sentence at a time).

Host should instruct participants to practice active listening, remember what has been said and add appropriate and relevant next parts to the story.

Host may have a short practice round until participants get the hang of the activity and then try the story again.

When host feels, the story is coming to a natural close, instruct the last participants to end the story with the closing sentence.

Main Activity : Three-line Scene (15 minutes)

Host explains that the purpose of the activity is to establish who the two characters in the scene are using only three lines. Host and participants together come up with a list of paired relationships and write them either on a piece of paper or on a white board. Some examples of relationships could be parent/child, doctor/patient, teacher/principal, cat/mouse, cheese/crackers etc. Host should stress that participants should use their bodies to convey meaning in equal capacity as their words. For example, in the case participants choose the cat/mouse relationship, physical embodiment of the animals would greatly assist the audience in understanding the relationship.

Hosts asks participants to sit as an audience and asks two participants to come up naming them Participant A and Participant B. Host assigns them one of the relationships in secret to the rest of the audience. Participant A and B must have a three-line conversation in which it is clear what those relationships are in turns of A, B and A. Once the scene is over, participant B sits down, Participant A becomes participant B, and a new participant is added as Participant A. Continue this way until all participants have had at least one chance to play both A and B roles.

Discussion questions following warm up activity:

• Did that story make sense? Why or why not?
• What could we have done better to ensure the story was consequential and logical?

Discussion questions following main activity:

• How did you find the difficulty of the activity? Was it easy to convey your relationship in just 3 lines?
• In the scenes where the relationships were quickly obvious, what strategies did the pair use to help convey meaning quickly?
• What strategies would you employ if you had another opportunity to do this activity? Why?

• Mixed age groups (participants A and B).
• Talk about the way age affects or not the way participants formed their stories. Is there a difference?
• Analyse the storytelling style of each participant. Does age affect how we tell stories?
• Mixed age groups (participants A and B).
• Talk about the way age affects or not the way participants formed their stories. Is there a difference?
• Analyse the storytelling style of each participant. Does age affect how we tell stories?