The following is a choice board exercise about making difficult decisions in a theatrical context. Students will select one of the six activities below to complete them. Some of the options are written, and others are based on performance. There are also individual options, for partners and for small groups. It’s all up to you!
Ask students to consider the following when working on their creation:
- What is the decision that your character has to make? It’s clear?
- How can you raise the stakes of the decision?
- Are there consequences for decision making?
- How does the character make his choice?
- How can you show all this and stay within the word / time limit?
Feel free to adjust or skip the right options for your students. You can put them in a grid, in the dashboard mode of your choice, or present them in a list. Students will write and submit a reflection later (found at the link at the bottom of the article). Here are the options:
- Write a monologue (half a page or about 250 words) in which the character has to make a difficult decision.
- Create and make an individual mime scene (one minute) that shows a character making a difficult decision.
- Find, memorize and perform a monologue from a play or musical (one minute) in which the character makes a difficult decision.
- Read the following scenarios. Choose one and write a one-page answer on how to solve the problem:
- You are the stage director for a show that will take place that evening, at 19.00. At 10 o’clock, you receive a message from the main actor, who tells you that he broke (literally) his leg last night. What would you do?
- Run the sound card for a show and check the equipment before the show. For some reason, the sound card will not turn on. What would you do?
- You’re the assistant director for a show and you help with the casting. The director wants to assign your best friend as one of the protagonists of the series, but he also wants to assign your friend’s ex-partner as the other main role. What would you do?
- With a partner, create and make a series of five picture scenes, showing one character making a difficult choice and the other character reacting to it (either positive or negative).
- In a group of four, write and make a scene with four or more characters (maximum two pages) in which two of the characters are presented with a difficult choice. One character makes a choice, and the other makes the opposite choice. Use the other characters as appropriate.
Click here for a reflection and a column.
Kerry Hishon is a director, actor, writer and stage fighter from London, Ontario, Canada. She blogs at www.kerryhishon.com.
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