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Developmental Theatre: Fearless Creativity

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Theatre Games · Game Index

Physical Expression Mime low cohesion group Sample — pending final import

Puppets / Marionettes

Physical readiness, imagined body control

Source: Adapted from Viola Spolin, Improvisation for the Theater, p. 60

Preparation

  • Clear a space large enough for players to stand at arm’s length from each other.
  • Pair players. One in each pair is the puppeteer, the other is the puppet (or marionette).

Facilitation

  1. Puppets stand loose-limbed, waiting. Puppeteers imagine strings running from the puppet’s head, hands, elbows, knees, and hips up to their own hands.
  2. Puppeteers lift and lower the imagined strings. Puppets respond as if the strings were real.
  3. After a minute, prompt puppeteers to try walking their puppet across the room; then to try a small gesture — waving, bowing, picking up an imagined object.
  4. Swap roles.

Evaluation

  • Puppeteers: what did you notice about the puppet’s weight? When did the movement feel most alive?
  • Puppets: when did you have to imagine the string on your own, ahead of the puppeteer? What did that require of your body?

This is sample content — the real game text will be imported from the client’s Drive folder.