I am quite fortunate that most of the drama groups I have taught are drawn from a single, or perhaps two combined consecutive school years. I find this quite useful when planning a session because I know that, broadly speaking, I am tailoring the material to a group who are at a reasonably similar stage in their development.
However, this has not always been the case! I remember one session when I was working on shopping improvisations with mixed groups of nine- to 11-year-olds. I came to a sub-group who were explaining to me their scene based around a magic carpet ride and a castle. All very well I thought, as I started to ask them about the characters they were playing. Suddenly, one 11-year-old piped up, 'Alex, I want to be a transexual!' The room fell silent. It was one of those brief moments where it feels like the world has frozen and everyone is watching you to see what your reaction will be. What should I do, I thought? Censor the 11-year-old, do something to distract the others? To be honest it wasn't the idea that worried me, more what the nine-year-olds were going to say to their mums.
Different wavelengths
This incident taught me that even within a similar age band, group members can think along very different wavelengths. This problem increases, the wider the age range within the group. Another factor I take into account when preparing material is the group's level of experience. Have they done much drama before? I find I spend a lot more time on listening and teamwork skills with groups that are fairly new to drama.
I also have to consider the level of interest of the individuals who make up the group. Some attend because they are interested in learning more about acting and performance, and others because it's a fun activity to do with their friends. I have to take all of these factors into account and attempt to 'pitch' my material according to several audiences within the group. I have found the key is to devise exercises that are flexible enough to allow everyone to participate, but also give enough leeway for group members to find a level they are comfortable with.
The chair game
This is an example of an exercise I have used successfully with people from eight to 70.
* The group sits in a circle and a chair is placed in the centre.
* A group member is picked to sit on the chair.
* Another participant is chosen from the circle and enters the circle to start the scene.
In this scene, they desperately want to sit in the chair occupied by the other group member, however, the occupier has no intention of moving. The second person has to use every means that they can think of to get the other to vacate their seat without touching them or the seat in any way.
* When the person in the chair thinks the second person has done something that really would make them move, they leave the chair. The second person then sits down and a third person begins the next version of this scene.
Continue until every one has had a go at playing both parts.
Children in school years 4, 5 and 6 seem to like the competitive aspect of this exercise. In this age range, the occupier of the seat very rarely gives up their chair voluntarily, so it may be a good idea to establish a time limit for each turn. The fact that the person who wants the seat cannot touch the occupier forces them to come up with a reason, or series of reasons, to try to make them move. The rolling nature of these scenes also has the advantage of allowing the players to experience the scene from both viewpoints.
With school years 7,8 and 9, I might focus more on the character of the two participants. By this age, the children will usually approach the scene with more developed reasoning and arguments. The occupier will sometimes move if a given reason is strong enough. With this age range, the exercise works well as a way to learn about supporting each other as performers, even if they are in opposition within the context of the scene.
For school years 10,11 and beyond, the exercise can be used as a warm up, or precursor to sessions based on character objectives and how they inform what happens in the scene.
These age bands are in no way meant to be definitive, as every group has a different dynamic. I have on occasion introduced the idea of a character's objective within a scene to groups of 10-year-olds. It is how an idea is framed, rather than the idea itself that is important. On the face of it this scene is merely a debate between two people who want to occupy the same seat.
The impossible master
This is another exercise that I find is well received by all ages.
* The group is divided up into pairs, designated A and B.
* In the first round all the A's are the masters and the B's their servants.
* In a time limit, say two or three minutes, A has to give as many jobs as possible to their servant.
* B has to obey this continuous stream of instructions; they should be kept continuously moving without a pause.
* The exercise is repeated again with the partners swapping roles.
This game not only gives a chance for the quieter members of the group to assert themselves over the more confident, but also provides an introduction to work on character status. The pairs could be enlarged to a status chain, with instructions being passed up and down a line of participants.
You could also try reversed status scenes where the servant is the character in control, or even scenes where the process of reversal from high to low status occurs as part of the action - the possibilities are endless.
All of the basic elements of drama: Plot, Character, Status, Movement, Objectives, Improvisation, Memory of Emotion and so forth can be introduced to virtually any age through the use of similar approaches to drama games and exercises. This gives those children who want it, slightly more challenging activities, while still making the session accessible and fun for everyone else.
No complaints
As for my magic carpet group, wisely or unwisely, I let their scene run its course. The nine- to 11-year-olds enacted their ride to a far and distant land, during which the girl did nothing more outrageous than play a boy who was pretending to be a girl (quite post- modern for an 11-year-old I thought), the expected complaints from angry parents never materialised and I lived to fight another day.
Why not collect Alex Marker's series on running drama sessions and keep the articles in a file? The first, entitled 'In on the act' was in Out of School, 13 March 2003 (telephone 01454-64248 for back issues). There will be five more features in the series.
Alex Marker co-ordinates the Questors Youth Theatre, a professional youth theatre in Ealing, London. He runs a school drama club in Neasden, London, and has led drama-related workshops in other schools and colleges.
MY FAVOURITE GAME
ZIP, ZAP, BOING!
Over the coming months I am going to ask some of the young people I teach for their favourite drama games. Sam, age 12, selected the game below 'because it's fun and has a lot of energy. If you do an early class it wakes you up. I also like it because it's more competitive than many other games.' You might know this game by another name, but this is how we play it. The participants stand in a wide circle and the game is about quick reactions, high energy levels and picking up cues from other group members.
* The idea is that an imaginary ball of energy is continually being passed around the circle.
* To do this there are three words and accompanying actions to remember.
The first of these is 'Zip'. You accompany this word with a passing gesture to the left with your right arm, or to the right with your left arm, depending on which direction you want to send the energy round the circle.
* The energy flow can only change direction if someone shouts 'Boing', this action is accompanied by a star jump, which rebounds the energy back to the person who sent it.
* To stop the imaginary ball from rallying backwards and forwards there is a third action, 'Zap'. Zap sends the energy across the circle to any chosen player; you signal this by pointing both hands at them. The recipient then decides whether to 'Zip' or 'Zap'.
* You cannot 'Zap' the people either side of you, because this would be a 'Zip', and neither can you 'Boing'a 'Zap'.
* I usually start the game with just 'Zips' and 'Zaps', and then introduce the 'Boings'. Once the group has got used to the actions, we speed it up.
The really competitive element comes into play when I get ruthless and whittle away the participants who put the wrong word with an action, hesitate for too long, or don't play with enough conviction. Eventually you are left with three participants (so no 'Zaps') who, using just 'Zips' and 'Boings', can be reduced to two winners.
