Day One Exercises

Morning Session
I. FEELING WHAT WE TOUCH
First Series: General Exercises
Columbian Hypnosis (w/ Variations)
One actor holds her hand palm forward, fingers upright, anything between 6 and 10 inches away from
the face of another, who is then hypnotized and must keep his face constantly the same distance
from the hand of the hypnotizer, hairline level with her fingertips, chin more or less level with the base
of her palm. The hypnotizer starts a series of movements with her hand, up and down, right and left,
backwards and forwards the partner must contort his body in every way possible to maintain the
same distance between face and hand, so that face and hand remain parallel. The hand must never
do movements too rapid to be followed, nor must it ever come to a complete halt. The hypnotizer
must force her partner into all sorts of ridiculous, grotesque, uncomfortable positions.
Variation #1: Hypnotism with two hands. Same exercise, but this time the actor is guiding two fellow
actors, one with each hand, and can do any movement she likes.
Variation #2: Hypnotism with the hands and feet. Like the preceding versions, but with four actors,
one for each of the leaders hands and feet.
The Greek exercise
One actor stands in the middle and at least seven or eight others stand around her. She starts a
movement and everyone else must use their bodies to help her complete this movement. For
example, if she lifts a foot, someone immediately places his body under this foot so that the actors
foot is supported. The overall effect should be almost as if the protagonist was weightless, in space.
She must always move slowly enough to allow the other participants (who must move quickly) time to
discover her intentions, which should not be spelt out.
The Image of the Hour
The Joker calls out a time of day, and the actors must do whatever movements their bodies usually
make at that particular time. The Joker runs through different times, different occasions, and
significant dates for example: Election Day, birthday celebration, funeral, etc.
Second Series: Walks
Slow Motion
The winner is the last person home. Once the race has begun, the actors never stop moving and
every movement should be executed as slowly as possible. Each runner should take the largest step
forward she is capable of, on every stride. When one foot is being moved in front of the other, it must
pass above knee-level. Another rule both feet must never be on the ground at the same time. This
exercise, which requires considerable equilibrium, stimulates all the muscles of the body.
Third Series: Massages
In a Circle
The actors sit in a circle, one behind the other, each person placing their hands on the shoulders of the
person in front of them, in order to keep roughly an arms length apart. Then, with their eyes closed,
everybody tries to find and massage the hardened points of the partners body, in the neck, around
the ears, the head, the shoulders, the backbone. Switch directions. Then ask everyone to lie back on

the person behind them, who must carry on massaging them, this time on the face.
Fourth Series: Integration Games
The Bear of Poitiers
One participant is designated the bear of Poitiers (a French town where this game is played). She
turns her back on the others, who are the foresters. The latter busy themselves with their forestry
tasks woodcutting, planting, tree-felling, etc. After an interval, the bear must give vent to an
enormous growl, whereupon all the woodcutters must freeze in their positions, not making the
slightest movement, absolutely motionless as if their life depended on it. The bear goes up to each
one of them, growling at will, using any trick she can think of to make them laugh, to make them
move, to reveal that they are alive. When the bear succeeds, the forester who has given himself away
becomes a second bear, and the two bears set off to do the same thing to the other foresters, who still
try not to move. Eventually there are three bears, then four, and so on.
Fifth Series: Gravity
Horizonality Sequence
Without moving the rest of the body, which should stay still, the actor stretches his neck and head
forwards and backwards. The movement should be executed on a single horizontal line. The actor
bends his neck to the left and right, keeping his head upright and moving it over his left and right
shoulders, still staying on a single horizontal plane. Same exercises for the thorax and the pelvis.
Verticality Sequence
The actor is seated on the ground, arms and legs spread wide, forming a right angle, dividing her
body vertically into two parts, each half having one arm, one leg, one shoulder, half the head, half the
pelvis, half the chest. She advances in this fashion on her hindquarters, leading first the right side of
her body forward then the left. The two parts of the body should be as dissociated as possible, the
movements isolated as much as possible. Having stepped forward, she goes back to where she
started from, in reverse.
Circular Movements
The actor moves forward by means of rounded movements only circular, oval, spiral, elliptical, etc.
The arms revolve at the same time from front to back, up and down. The head should describe curves
in relation to the ground, going up and down, never staying at the same level. The legs and the whole
body go up and down. The movement should be continuous, gentle, rhythmic, and slow.

Day One Exercises

Afternoon Session
II. LISTENING TO WHAT WE HEAR
First Series: Rhythm
Changing Rhythms
Using voices, hands and feet, all the actors set up a rhythm together. After a few minutes, they
change it slowly, till a new rhythm emerges, and so on, for several minutes.
The Machine of Rhythms
An actor goes into the middle and imagines that he is a moving part in a complex machine. He starts
doing a movement with his body, a mechanical, rhythmic movement, and vocalizing a sound to go
with it. Everyone else watches and listens, in a circle around the machine. Another person goes up

and adds another part (her own body) to this mechanical apparatus, with another movement and
another sound. A third, watching the first two, goes in and does the same, so that eventually all
participants are integrated into this one machine, which is a synchronized machine. The first person
to start the machine is also the person who can accelerate the rhythm and who will eventually stop
the machine. The aim of this exercise is to reveal inner rhythms, rather than external clich
behaviors. The machine can be an emotion, a city, a government office, a culture, etc.
Chain Rhythm Dialogue
In a circle, one person thinks of something he wishes to express and tries to translate what he has
thought into a rhythm of movement and sound (not simply mimicking the sound of the words!) The
person to his right, watches him and answers him, but addresses the answer to a third person (to
their right), who listens to him, and addresses a fourth person, etc. At the end, the participants tell
each other what they were thinking, reproducing their rhythm while giving the translation.
Second Series: Melody
Orchestra
Two groups of actors improvise two orchestras, preferably with improvised instruments, while one
actor invents a corresponding dance. He dances towards one of the orchestras, replacing someone in
it, while the instrumentalist becomes a dancer and dances in the direction of the other orchestra,
replacing another instrumentalist who becomes a dancer and so on. Every time a replacement is
made the rhythm must of necessity change.
Third Series:

Sounds and Noises

Sound and Movement

A group of actors vocalize a particular sound (the sound of an animal, of leaves, a road, a factory)
while another group does movements which correspond to the noises, in some way visualizing the
sounds. If the noise is meow, the representation need not necessarily be a cat, but whatever
visualization the actor associates with that particular sound.
Ritual Sound
Same thing (as the Sound and Movement exercise), except that the group which makes the sound
must restrict itself to the sounds of a particular ritual waking up in the morning, going home, getting
to work, a classroom, the factory, etc.
Fourth Series: The Rhythm of Respiration
Inflatable Doll
The actor pulls the stopper out of anothers body as if the actor was an inflatable doll full or air. The
part of the body un-stoppered can be the finger, the knee, the ear, etc. The un-stoppered actor acts
as if he was in the process of emptying; at the same rate as he breathes out, he deflates, until he falls
to the floor like an empty rubber doll. Then the first actor approaches the doll-actors empty body and
does the movements and sounds of someone filling up a balloon with an air pump. The balloon must
fill up with the same amount of air as the actor is pumping, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. After
the relevant time, without any motor movement (as if he was a real doll, a real balloon) he re-inflates
and his colleague helps him into an upright position. Once the body has been blown up again,
everyone plays like a child with their balloon-doll, which should bounce on the ground or off the wall
(but never walk).
Two Groups, Facing Each Other
Each group gives vent to a different sound, and tries to force the other group into submission.
Fifth Series: Internal Rhythms

Rhythmic Images (w/ Variation)

In the exercise-cum-game, an actor goes into the middle (of the circle) and the rest try to express
with their bodies, each in turn, a rhythmic image of that actor, of how they perceive him. After every
actor has had a turn individually, they all repeat their rhythms together. Then the actor can try to
integrate himself into this orchestra.

Day Two Exercises

Morning Session
III. DYNAMISING SEVERAL SENSES
The Blind Series
The Imaginary Journey
In pairs. The blind partner must be led across a series of real or imaginary obstacles found or
invented by the guide, as if the two of them were in the middle of a forest (or any real or fantastic
environment the guide has in mind: downtown in a big city, in a crater on the moon, a supermarket,
etc.) As in all the exercises of this kind, speaking is forbidden because it distracts attention from
images and sounds, from imagination. All information must be given by physical contact. Whenever
possible, the guide should make the same movements as the blind person, imagining his own story.
The guides should sow obstacles throughout the room chairs, tables, whatever is available so that
the obstacles are sometimes real, sometimes imaginary.
The blind person must try to imagine where she is. On a river, for instance? After a few minutes, the
exercise stops and the blind person must very quietly tell her guide where she is in the room, who is
next to her, etc. all the real information she has been able to gather. Then she tells her guide where
she imagined she was journeying and the guide tells his story, and they compare notes.
The Sirens Song
Each actor must think of an oppression she has actually experienced or is still experiencing. Then
everyone closes their eyes and assembles in the middle of the room. Whoever wants to start utters a
sound (a cry, groan, shout, lamentation, etc.) which must be the translation into sound of the
oppression she has in mind. The Joker takes this first person by the hand and leads her on a journey
around the room, eventually stopping in a corner. Same with the second person, who has started a
different sound. Three or four others follow, each in their own way, with their own call. It is important
for the Joker to choose quite different sounds to inhabit the four corners of the room. Then the four
let loose their cries together. Those remaining in the middle listen to the four and each choose the
sound which best suits their own oppression. Four groups form. After this everybody opens their
eyes, and they make four circles, and, in their separate circles, each person recounts to the others the
oppression she was thinking of, the episode which was in her mind.
The Space Series
Without Leaving a Single Space Empty
All the actors must walk around very quickly (not running) trying to ensure that their own bodies are
always more or less equidistant from everyone elses, and that they are all spread out over the whole
floor-space of the room. From time to time the Joker says Stop. At that moment everyone must
immediately come to a halt it should not be possible to see a significantly empty space in the room.
Then the Joker says, for example Three noses, seven feet, and everyone must get into groups where
seven feet and threes noses are touching, as quickly as possible. Again the floor-space must always
be occupied by equidistant groups. The game continues with the Joker using other random

combinations.
IV. SEEING WHAT WE LOOK AT
The Mirrors Sequence
The Plain Mirror
Form two lines of participants, each person looking directly into the eyes of the person facing them.
Those in Line A are the mirrors, and those in Line B are the subjects facing/using the mirrors. Each
subject undertakes a series of movements and changes of expression, which his mirror must copy,
right down to the smallest detail. The exercise is not a competition, nor is the idea to make sharp
movements which are impossible to follow. On the contrary, the idea is to seek a perfect
synchronization of movement, so that the mirrors movements may reproduce the subjects gestures
as exactly as possible. The degree of accuracy and synchronization should be such that an outside
observer would not be able to tell who was leading and who was following.
The Distorting Mirror
With the same partners (from the Plain Mirror exercise), each subject is allowed to do what feels right,
and at each new stimulus, the mirror answers, comments, enlarges, reduces, caricatures, ridicules,
destroys in sum, produces an image responding to the received image, but in a contrapuntal
relationship to it.
The Rhythmic Mirror
Both participants (subject and mirror) seek movements which have rhythmic affinities. Both must find
rhythms and movements of the body which both find pleasing, movements which can be slow or fast,
gentle or vigorous, simple or complex. The most important things are 1) that these movements are
rhythmical and identical, 2) that both partners feel good, at ease and happy in the execution of the
movements, and 3) that the whole body is involved in them.
The Modeling Sequence
Sculptor Touches Model
In partners, one participant as sculptor, one as statue, each sculptor starts using her hands to model
the statue he/she has in mind. To this end, she touches the statues body, taking care to achieve the
effects she is striving for, down to the smallest detail. (If touch is culturally inappropriate, sculptors
can use their own bodies to show the image or expression they want to see reproduced i.e. the
mirror model.) The Joker lets this first exercise last as long as is necessary.
Sculpture with Four of Five People
The participants divide into four or five groups, each group having one sculptor and a number of
statues. Each sculptor fashions the bodies of her colleagues into one significant image as if she
were saying, This is what I am thinking. When she has finished visualizing her thought, reifying it,
she takes the place of one of her companions in the sculpture, who in turn becomes a sculptor. This
new sculptor starts to work, as if she was thinking: This is what you were thinking, but take a little
look at my response, and she alters the work of the previous sculptor. All this is done without the
sculptor touching her statues.

Day Two Exercises

Afternoon Session
IV. SEEING WHAT WE LOOK AT (continued)

Image Game
Complete the Image (w/ 2 people, 3 people)
A pair of actors shakes hands. Freeze the image. Ask the watching group what possible means the
image might carry: is it a business meeting, lovers parting forever, a drug deal, do they love each
other, do they hate each other, etc.? Various possibilities are explored to show all the meanings a
single image can have.
Everyone gets into pairs and starts with a frozen image of a handshake. One partner removes himself
from the image, leaving the other with his hand extended. Now what is the story? Instead of saying
what he thinks this new image means, the partner who has removed himself returns to the image and
completes the image, thus showing what he sees as a possible meaning for it. He puts himself in a
different position, with a different relationship to the partner with the outstretched hand, changing the
meaning of the image, but conveying an idea, emotion, feeling this is a dialogue of images. The
partners take turns pulling out of the frozen image and then adding to it with a new complementary
idea. This exercise can also be facilitated for groups of three as well.
Complementary Activities
An actor starts any movement, and the others try to discover what she is doing so that they can then
engage in complementary activities. For example, the movements of a referee during a match are
completed by the defending and attacking players; a priest saying mass is completed with the addition
of an altar-boy and the priests congregation, etc.
Game of Mask and Ritual
Collective Creation of a Mask
A group of actors talk and move around. In the course of the conversation, an actor introduces some
characteristic or other of her way of walking, or talking, or thinking or one of her personal obsessions.
All the others try to discover this characteristic and reproduce it. Once unification has been achieved
on this first characteristic, a second actor adds a second characteristic which must also be assumed by
the rest and added to the first. Then a thirdand so on until in the end all the actors are performing
the same collectively created mask.
Exchange of Masks
The actors invent a character in the following manner. The actors start going around in a circle, in
their own persona. They concentrate on the changing positions of each part of their bodies. The hand
its swinging movement. The head does it accompany the movements of the feet or not? The
vertebral column is it curved or upright? The knees locked straight or bent double? And so on.
After close self-observation, they start to change. What if I was different? What if I had a different
gait? What if my head moved differently? Each person experiments as much as they want and then
constructs a mask, a physical character different from themselves. Next, sound is added in the
guise of language; no words are spoken, only the melody and the rhythm which suit this type of
character. The Joker warns, Get Ready. Each person chooses a partner; they talk (nonverbally) to
each other, they shake hands when they are ready to exchange masks, and then they do the
exchange. They choose new partners three times. The point of the game is then to find your original
mask again.
The Image of the Object
Homage to Magritte
The game consists of giving the group an object, which each actor in succession must discover a use
for, by the addition of his body to the image. What could this object have been? A piece of wood can
be a gun, a baton, a stake, a horse, an umbrella, a crutch, a cane, a ladle, a flagpole, a fishing rod, an

oar, a whistle, an arrow, a spear, a violin, a needle, etc.

The Invention of Space and the Spatial Structures of Power
Inventing the Space in a Room
Using their bodes and any of the objects from the previous sequence, the participants create an
environment in the room a boat, a church, a bank, a ballroom, a desert, the high seas, etc. One of
them starts it off and the others have to discover what he/she has in mind and follow and complete.
Photographing the Image
One actor makes an image with her body while everyone else is facing her, with their eyes closed.
The Jokers says open-close: like a camera, all open their eyes for a brief moment then close them
and reproduce what they have seen with their own bodies. Then two actors make separate images,
the same brief opening and closing of the camera shutter. The participants must remember both, and
show the first one and then the other. Then three images
Games Involving the Creation of Characters
The Childs Fear
Half the group writes their names on pieces of paper along with their primary childhood fear. The
other half of the group watches. The participants must play the character or thing which frightened
them most as a child, by moving around the space using only their bodies (no spoken language).
After a few minutes, the Joker tells them to look for a partner. Then they start dialogues with their
partners, but without saying anything which will obviously reveal their characters. The objective in
these dialogues is to frighten their partner, just as they themselves were frightened of the characters
they are playing when they were children. After a few minutes, Joker tells them to change partners
and new dialogues ensue.
When this is over, the Joker reads out the names of the participants one at a time, and those in the
group who were watching the game, as well as those who were playing it, must describe the
characteristics they saw in that person, trying to describe how the person behaved. Then the Joker
reads off the Fear the participant was enacting.
The chosen character must be concrete, a person, an animal, a tangible ghost, etc. For instance,
instead of fear of darkness, they must play the person or thing they are afraid of hidden in the
darkness. Even if the fear is something like fear of being struck by lightning they should try to play
the person (perhaps even God) who wanted to strike them. By playing the subject that we were
afraid of, we gain a better understanding of our childhood fears (which may still live inside us).
The Opposite of Myself
Same rules as in previous exercise. The participants write their names on pieces of paper, along with
a characteristic they would like to possess, which must be completely different from their actual
persona. During the playing, after a while the Joker must give the instruction Back to your normal
behavior and then Back to your opposite self.

Day Three Exercises

Morning Session
V. THE MEMORY OF THE SENSES
Reconnecting Memory, Emotion and Imagination:

Memory and Emotion: Remembering a Day in the Past

Each person must have by their side a co-pilot to whom they recount a day in their past (last week or
twenty years ago) when something really important happened, something which made a profound
impression on them, the memory of which provokes emotion, even today. The co-pilot listens while at
the same time creating another image in his mind. The co-pilot should help the person to link the
memory to the sensations by asking lots of questions related to sensory details. The co-pilot should
try to create the same event in his own imagination, with the same details, the same emotion, the
same sensations which will be different, of course, because they will be his own.
Rehearsal on the Stage of the Imagination
Everything you have done in imagination (in the previous exercise) must immediately be played on
stage. The other actors help, the protagonist (i.e. the storyteller in this exercise) and the co-pilot play
director, and you try to play physically everything that has been played in the imagination. In one half
of the room, the protagonist recreates the image of her story using actors from the group and in the
other half of the room, the co-pilot recreates what he heard and visualized in his mind using actors
from the group. Compare images.
IMAGE THEATRE
Image Techniques: Models and Dynamisations
Image of the Word: Illustrating a Subject with your Body
The Joker asks five or more volunteers to express a theme (chosen by the participants) in a visual
form. Each works without seeing what the others are doing, so as not to be influenced by them. One
after another they come into the middle of the playing space and use only their bodies to express the
theme they have been given. Without talking, they position their bodies in a still pose, to express
their opinion or idea or experience of the theme, as it strikes them there and then. When all the
volunteers have been into the space and shown their individual images, the Joker asks if anyone in the
audience can suggest an image different to those shown. The response is almost always in the
affirmative. After everyone has a chance to show their interpretation of the theme, the Joker changes
the theme and repeats the exercise.
Image of the Word: Illustrating a Subject using Other Bodies
The Joker asks a first volunteer to illustrate the theme proposed by the group, using the bodies of
other members of the group. This sculptor chooses who to use and places them in relation to each
other to form a single image composed of several bodies and, if desired, simple objects that are
available (chairs, table, etc.) She uses either the modeling mode, by which she physically manipulates
and moulds their bodies into the right shapes and/or the mirroring mode, whereby she shows them
with her own body the positions she wants them in, and they arrange themselves accordingly. The
one tool she may not use is the spoken word.
When the model is finished, the Joker initiates discussion with the group on messages projected by
the image. Other volunteers offer their image of the theme, using actors from the group and
discussion ensues. It is important that the person who is sculpting the image works fast, so that she
will not be tempted to think in words (verbal language) and then translate into images (visual
language).
Ritual Gesture
Every society has its rituals, and consequently its ritual gestures and signs. This technique tries to
uncover them. The point of uncovering each societys rituals is that they are the visual expressions of
the oppressions to be found at the heart of a society. Always, without exception, an oppression will
produce visible signs, always it will translate itself into forms and movements, always it will leave
traces. Just as it is possible to discover and discuss social oppressions in spoken discourse, one can
also achieve this end using image techniques.

The Joker asks someone to come into the middle and make a ritual gesture, that is, an action that
belongs to a ritualized social structure. The rest of the group observes the gesture. When anyone
thinks he has worked out which ritual it belongs to, he goes into the middle and completes this
gesture with another, equally ritualized. A second person, then a third, then all those who think
theyve understood the initial gesture, as well as the modified completed gesture, also go into the
middle and together form a large static image of the ritual suggested by the first gesture.
Ritual
This is a simple and effective technique that is extremely revealing. The Joker asks for a volunteer
actor to show the ritual of a specific person in their reality (e.g. mother, priest, beggar, etc.). The
actor, without words, shows what a ritualized day in the life of a mother, a priest, or a beggar would
look like. The exercise continues as long as there are new volunteers ritualizing a day in the life of a
specific character in their reality.
The important thing is always to look for the ritual that reveals the oppression: the ritual of arrival at
work, the ritual of the young man and woman in a bar or back at the apartment belonging to one of
them, the mothers birthday ritual, the police inspectors visit ritual, the ritual of the son asking his
father for money, the ritual of the penitent in confession asking for forgiveness, etc.

Day Three Exercises

Afternoon Session
IMAGE THEATRE (continued)
Images of Transition: the Technique in Action
Image of Transition
The group creates an image of the chose theme, arriving at a model that the whole group is willing to
accept. The subject matter of this model must be an oppression, of whatever kind, which the group
has suggested. Consequently this will be a real model of oppression. Then you ask the group to
construct an ideal model, in which the oppression will have been eliminated and everyone in the model
will have to come to a plausible equilibrium, a state of affairs that is not oppressive for any of the
characters. After this, you return again to the real image, the image of the oppression.
The Joker then poses the question to the group: How do we get from the real image to the ideal
image? Volunteers sculpt the transition images that represent the logical steps to get from the real
image to the ideal image.
New Image Theatre Techniques: The Cop in the Head
Dissociation Thought, Speech, Action
Someone gives an image of her oppression. This image can be realistic, symbolic, surrealistic
whatever; the important thing is that for that person, the image speaks. Over five minutes, all the
people in the image must voice their interior monologues, at low volume and without stopping i.e.
everything that comes to mind, as characters, not as individuals. In other words, speak everything
that the body, in that position, could think. The participants should try not to listen to what others are
saying. This exercise is helpful in rooting actors in the characters inner thoughts.
Somatisation
A scene is played and then replayed without physical self-censorship. The feelings the script
engenders in each character are shown corporeally. The idea is not to illustrate, rather to let come

whatever comes. The physical presentation should correspond mainly to the interior monologue and
not to the scripted dialogue.
The Three Wishes
The protagonist shows an image of an oppression as it is. The protagonist has a right to three
wishes. She has the right to modify the image three times (or more). She is to carry out these
wishes in her own order of importance. Each person she intends to change should offer as much
resistance as will challenge the protagonists strength and ability just up to their limits, without
overstepping these limits. Offer resistance which the protagonist will be able to overcome, but not too
easily; she should have to use all her strength.
The group analyzes what she did first, second, third alternatives are suggested. The Joker brings
the scene to life with dialogue and physical actions.
The Screen Image
The model: the protagonist constructs an image of her oppression, without worrying about making it
comprehensible. It can be symbolic, it can be whatever the protagonist wants but it must be true.
This dynamic image is played a number of times. Each time, each participant has the right to replace
the oppressed character and, within the dynamic of the image, try to break the oppression she has
seen. Each participant should project her own experiences onto the image she has seen, without
trying to understand what she has seen. What matters is that she be able to project her own
oppressions onto that screen.

Day Four Exercises

Morning Session
FORUM THEATRE
Theme Development
The group chooses a theme, or central idea, or subject matter. For this purpose, the group may divide
itself into several subgroups.
Image of Theme
Each subgroup makes an image of the theme, which is a general image, an abstract image all the
participants make comments on it.
Logical Movement of that Image
The actors inside the image, at a sign from the director, show the logical movement of that image
what movement would each of the characters inside the image probably make. Comments.
Improvise
The small group decides upon a story they will play and improvise alone and to do so they can use
rehearsal techniques such as Rashomon, Screen Image and all the others; then, they come back to
the general group and must show the following:
Image of the Things
Everything on the stage speaks. We can shut our mouth but not our body it will always be
speaking. On stage we are always saying things with our bodies even if we dont want to say
anything. So it is with the objects, the things on the stage. Not a single thing on the stage should be
there innocently, everything must have meanings, connotations, ideas, emotions.

Kinetic Image
Each actor shows, separately, the movements that their character makes in real life within the staged
location. Comments from the group on what they have felt and seen.
Image of the Chinese Crisis
The group must make the image of the Chinese crisis, that is to say, the image of the crucial moment
when the protagonist has to take the irreversible action or to say the irreversible word that will
determine the outcome of the scene.
Monologue of their Desire
The actors inside the image, at a sign from the director, should all at the same time speak the
monologue of their desire what each one of them desires in concrete terms.
Image of the Desire in Action
The actors should show in slow motion their desires in action.

Day Four Exercises

Afternoon Session
EXERCISES: Preparing for Forum Theatre
Stop! Think!
In the Stop! Think! exercise, at any given moment the director/Joker stops the rehearsal and shouts
Stop! Think! All the actors have to start speaking in an undertone at the same time, letting loose an
interior monologue of everything that is in their characters minds at that particular moment. Thus all
the actors talk in a continuous flow, making their thoughts explicit, until the director shouts Go on
at which point the actors pick up the scene exactly where it stopped, without a break. This can be
done as many times as necessary in any scene.
Rashomon
Each actor in a scene, as the character he is playing, makes an image of how he sees the other
characters. This image should not be naturalistic since it is designed to show the characters own
personal, subjective feelings, opinions, sentiments but it should be true, however deformed,
expressionistic, surrealistic, allegorical or metaphorical it may be. So the sculpting actor goes around
to each of the other characters and places them in poses and positions them and gives them
expressions according to how his character has experienced them during the scene.
Having completed the whole image, he must go, in character, and tell each one of the characters his
wills and desires towards or against them, energetically, over a period of one or two minutes. The
actors playing those characters remain motionless, just listening and hearing. After he has visited all
of them in this fashion, he goes back to his own place in the image and the other actors (also in
character), without moving, have the right to throw back at him their own wills, desires, sentiments.
Analytical Rehearsal of Emotion/Style
Actors rehearse a scene with a single pure emotion (or style) as the starting point. For example, the
actors play the scene first with hate, with a violent and terrible hatred contained in every line and in
every action. Then they replay the same scene with love alone. With Style, the actors decide to play
the piece in a different genre or style circus, melodrama, farce, sitcom, etc. Whether it is
appropriate or not, it is likely to generate new material or other possibilities.
Telegram
Each actor can pronounce only the most important word in each phrase of the dialogue, even though

he must think the whole phrase and beyond.

Artificial Pause
Repeated delivery of the same words and movements in the course of rehearsals and performances
tends to have a hypnotic effect on the actor, whereby his ability to perceive and be aware of what he
is saying gradually becomes weaker.
Consequently he puts it across in a correspondingly weaker fashion. Rehearsal with artificial pauses
entails forbidding the actor to speak immediately, or immediately to execute whatever action he has to
do. On the contrary, he has to insert an artificial pause of five to ten seconds, or longer. Thus the
actor loses the mechanical support which the rhythm of the text and action gave him, he has to forgo
the structural security of the piece, and his awareness and sensibility are reawakened.
The Reconstruction of the Crime
The actors rehearse a scene in front of the group. Whenever an actor comes to a moment she
considers important, she can turn to the audience and speak directly to them, in character, justifying
her actions in the scene i.e. I am doing this because of such and such a thing. When the actor is
speaking, everyone else in the scene freezes.
Play to the Deaf
This is the ultimate exercise for developing what we have earlier referred to as the actors
undercurrent. The actor must stay absolutely faithful to the piece and its rhythm, and think all his
lines, trying to bring out all that is contained in the undercurrent, without speaking a single word or
making a sound. To make this happen, he must apply all his concentration. What should be avoided
at all costs is that the exercise be allowed to turn into a mime exercise. Not a single gesture or
movement should be added to help the other actors work out where the dialogue has arrived at or is
heading. This is a workshop exercise, not a game; the actor must be genuinely transmitting at
undercurrent level.

SAMPLE Day One

Morning Session
Introduction of the Participants
Introduction of Theatre of the Oppressed
Expectations and Concerns vis--vis the Workshop
Overview of Training Schedule
I. FEELING WHAT WE TOUCH
This category deals with tactile sensitivity: our naked bodies are constantly touching the air,
our clothes, other parts of our own bodies and the bodies of others, but we feel very little of
what we are touching this series helps the actor to feel more of what she touches; also, it
is concerned with mechanized ways of walking and moving, with externalizing emotions,
with feeling and discovering new ways of structuring her muscles and helping the actor to
find new ways of expressing herself and acting on stage and in life.
First Series: General Exercises
Columbian Hypnosis (w/ Variations)

The Greek exercise

The Image of the Hour
Second Series: Walks
Slow Motion
Third Series: Massages
In a Circle
Fourth Series: Integration Games
The Bear of Poitiers
Fifth Series: Gravity
Horizonality Sequence
Verticality Sequence
Circular Movements
SAMPLE Day One
Afternoon Session
II. LISTENING TO WHAT WE HEAR
In this series the actors have to understand that it is important to find inner rhythms and
not to seek to make portraits of people, or even worse, caricatures. If one tries to show the
rhythm of love, hate, fear, I dont have to make faces, contortions or other grimaces, or
show ways of walking that are characteristic of particular people.
First Series: Rhythm
Changing Rhythms
The Machine of Rhythms
Chain Rhythm Dialogue
Second Series: Melody
Orchestra
Third Series: Sounds and Noises
Sound and Movement
Ritual Sound
Fourth Series: The Rhythm of Respiration
Inflatable Doll
Two Groups, Facing Each Other
Fifth Series: Internal Rhythms
Rhythmic Images (w/ Variation)

SAMPLE Day Two

Morning Session
III. DYNAMISING SEVERAL SENSES
Of all the senses, sight is the great monopolist. Because we see, we dont bother to
perceive the world outside through the other senses, which remain dormant or become
atrophied. The first part of this section is entitled The Blind Series. In these exercises,
we voluntarily deny ourselves the sense of sight in order to enhance the other senses and
their capacity for perception of the outside world just as people who really are blind can
accomplish feats of perception which astonish those of us who are sighted.
The Blind Series
The Imaginary Journey
The Sirens Song
The Space Series
Without Leaving a Single Space Empty (w/ Variations)
IV. SEEING WHAT WE LOOK AT
These three exercises help us see what we are looking at the mirrors sequence and the
modeling sequence. The exercises develop the capacity for observation by means of visual
dialogues between participants; obviously the simultaneous use of spoken language is
excluded. Symbolic gestures, such as those used to signify OK or Yes or No, should
be avoided, as should any sign corresponding exactly to the word(s) it replaces.
The Mirrors Sequence
The Plain Mirror
The Distorting Mirror
The Rhythmic Mirror
The Modeling Sequence
Sculptor Touches Model (w/ Variation)
Sculpture with Four of Five People
SAMPLE Day Two
Afternoon Session
IV. SEEING WHAT WE LOOK AT (continued)
Image Game
Complete the Image (w/ 2 people, 3 people)
Complementary Activities
Game of Mask and Ritual
Collective Creation of a Mask
Exchange of Masks

The Image of the Object

Homage to Magritte
The Invention of Space and the Spatial Structures of Power
Inventing the Space in a Room
Photographing the Image
Games Involving the Creation of Characters
The Childs Fear
The Opposite of Myself
SAMPLE Day Three
Morning Session
V. THE MEMORY OF THE SENSES
If I bang my hand, I feel the impact. If I remember banging my hand yesterday, I can
awaken in myself an analogous sensation. This series helps us to reconnect memory,
emotion and imagination when rehearsing a scene or preparing a future action.
Reconnecting Memory, Emotion and Imagination:
Memory and Emotion: Remembering a Day in the Past
Rehearsal on the Stage of the Imagination
IMAGE THEATRE
Dealing with images we should not try to understand the meaning of each image, to
apprehend its precise meaning, but to feel those images, to let our memories and
imaginations wander: the meaning of an image is the image itself. Image is a language.
The whole method of Theatre of the Oppressed, and particularly Image Theatre, is based on
the multiple mirror of the gaze of others a number of people looking at the same image,
and offering their feelings, what is evoked for them, what their imaginations create around
that image.
If an image is interpreted in just one way it ceases to be Image Theatre and becomes a mere
illustration of the words spoken. Additionally, a message does not exist without a sender
and a receiver. And both receiver and sender integrate and are contained in the message:
they are part of it. Thats why, in order to really understand a message, it is important to
receive and send it in different languages. An image is one of many possible languages,
and not the least of them.
Image Techniques: Models and Dynamisations
Image of the Word: Illustrating a Subject with your Body
Image of the Word: Illustrating a Subject using Other Bodies
Ritual Gesture
Ritual
SAMPLE Day Three

Afternoon Session
IMAGE THEATRE (continued)
Images of Transition: the Technique in Action
Image of Transition
New Image Theatre Techniques: The Cop in the Head
Dissociation Thought, Speech, Action
Somatisation
The Three Wishes
The Screen Image
SAMPLE Day Four
Morning Session
FORUM THEATRE
Forum Theatre consists, in essence, of proposing to a group of spectators, after a first
improvisation of a scene, that they replace the protagonist (or antagonist) and try to
improvise on his/her actions. The real protagonist should, ultimately, improvise the
variation that has motivated him/her the most. The Forum Theatre is extremely useful as
extraversion work for a protagonist who wants to try alternatives to her usual behavior.
Theme Development
Image of Theme
Logical Movement of that Image
Improvise
Image of the Things
Kinetic Image
Image of the Chinese Crisis
Monologue of their Desire
Image of the Desire in Action
SAMPLE Day Four
Afternoon Session
EXERCISES: Preparing for Forum Theatre
Stop! Think!
Rashomon
Analytical Rehearsal of Emotion/Style
Telegram
Artificial Pause
The Reconstruction of the Crime

Play to the Deaf

SAMPLE Day Five
Morning Session
FORUM THEATRE IN ACTION
Large Group Identifies List of Oppressions
Subgroups Select One Theme
Subgroups Develop Short Play around Theme
SAMPLE Day Five
Afternoon Session
FORUM THEATRE IN ACTION
Joker Basics
Joker Training:
Participant #1 Jokers a Scene
Participant #2 Jokers a Scene
Participant #3 Jokers a Scene
Participant #4 Jokers a Scene
Participant #5 Jokers a Scene
Participant #6 Jokers a Scene
Participant #7 Jokers a Scene
*At the end of each individual Joking session, the large group evaluates What worked
well with the participants individual joking style and How they could improve.
Discussion ensues on what makes a good Joker
SAMPLE Day Six
Morning Session
FORUM THEATRE IN ACTION
Large Group Reviews Remaining List of Oppressions
Subgroups Select One Theme
Subgroups Develop Short Play around Theme
SAMPLE Day Six
Afternoon Session

FORUM THEATRE IN ACTION

Review of Joker Basics
Joker Training:
Participant #8 Jokers a Scene
Participant #9 Jokers a Scene
Participant #10 Jokers a Scene
Participant #11 Jokers a Scene
Participant #12 Jokers a Scene
Participant #13 Jokers a Scene
Participant #14 Jokers a Scene
*At the end of each individual Joking session, the large group evaluates What worked
well with the participants individual joking style and How they could improve.
Discussion ensues on what makes a good Joker
SAMPLE Day Seven
Morning Session
(Depending on the time allotted to the trainer, any of the following activities can be
included.)
1. Conflict Resolution Skills for the Joker (Explanation: Forum Theatre can become quite
emotionally charged and knowledge of conflict resolution skills and mediation skills can be
very helpful for Jokers expecting conflict in the forum setting.)
2. Selling Forum Theatre to Colleagues/Strangers/New Contacts (Explanation: Forum
Theatre advocates frequently find themselves having to defend art-based peacebuilding
work, especially in countries where art has negative connotations. In Pakistan, this session
was essential for theatre activists due to the pervasive negative stereotypes surrounding
theatre and art in general.)
3. Working with NGO Organizers: The Basics (Explanation: In many countries, Forum
Theatre groups are invited by NGOs interested in exploring new ways of addressing local,
regional and national conflicts. This session addresses communication flow between
theatre activists and NGO representatives so that the Forum Theatre process can be as
effective as possible.)
4. Forum Theatre Summary (Explanation: This summary session is a must for every Forum
Theatre workshop. This enables participants to look back on the workshop and review the
new tools and skills that have been acquired and to address any unanswered questions.
Additionally, all trainers should provide a space for participants to evaluate the
effectiveness of the training so that trainers can receive advice for their next training.)

Circle Sculpture

Grade Level:

Grades 6 to 8

Grades 9 to 12

Subject:

Reading and Language Arts

Social Studies

Arts

Overview:

An introduction to the Theatre of the Oppressed

This lesson plan is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance magazine article "Flipping the Script
on Bias and Bullies"
Framework
"It isn't easy theater," director Jeannie LaFrance said. "But it's awesome."
She was talking about the Theatre of the Oppressed, a set of theatrical techniques that
challenge our most basic assumptions about drama. By blurring the line between actor and
audience, Theatre of the Oppressed can shake your students out of complacency and make
them feel empowered to confront injustice in an effective, nonviolent manner. These
techniques can attract students who wouldn't normally get involved in drama and
implementing them doesn't cost a lot of money.
It does take work. However, if you take the time to introduce these techniques and create a safe
environment for self-expression, you will find that students make rapid progress.
The four-day plan, based on the "circle sculpture" technique, gives you a step-by-step look at
how to introduce the Theatre of the Oppressed in your classroom.

Objectives
Students will learn the techniques of "circle sculpture" and perform as "spect-actors" in a
performance about a topic that is important to their community.
Materials

Chalk and chalkboard (or marker and dry erase board)

Newsprint or posterboard

Markers
A Note on Classroom Environment
The first step this multi-day lesson involves safety and trust building. Take special care while
guiding the activities to ensure that each student feels valued and heard, and that all opinions,
thoughts, and feelings are considered equal.
Remember, once trust has been established, the community's growth and learning can be both
rapid and deep. At the conclusion of these activities, students can emerge with a shared
experience that is powerful and transformational. Trust the process, your students and
yourself.
Process
Day 1
By deconstructing a quote from theater artist/educator Michael Rohd, and engaging in a warmup activity, students will begin to explore the techniques of the Theatre of the Oppressed.
Quote Activity
1. Write the following quote on the board:
"Theatre allows us to converse with our souls, to passionately pursue and
discover ways of living with ourselves and with others."
Michael Rohd, theatre artist & educator
2. Ask three or four different students to read the quote aloud.
3. Ask students to pair up and share with their partner an example of a play, movie, television
program or other performance piece they believe is an example of what Michael Rohd is
describing.
4. Brainstorm a list of emotions associated with their examples. Write the responses on the
board.
Explain to your students that the series of activities you have planned for them over the next
few days may bring up some emotions mentioned on the list. Let them know that you will do all
you can to create a safe space for learning. Encourage them to take personal responsibility for
doing their part to maintain that safe space.
Warm-up/Energizer
Warm-ups and energizers are essential in preparing students for theater work. They create a

safe space for self-expression and cause shift in the way students engage with a particular
theme.
Warm-ups and energizers not only get the group started, they foster a safe and playful
interaction among the participants. In addition, the group gets an opportunity to begin
participating in structured activities in which they will be asked to use their bodies in a new
way. This shifts them from their automatic responses and habits, and sets them up to engage a
topic from a new perspective.
Cover the Space
This movement activity will help students shift from the traditional classroom format. With the
exception of directions coming from you, this is a silent exercise.
Designate an open space. You may mark it off with physical boundaries like desks or chairs, or
you may simply designate the space.
Tell students to start walking around the space. Direct them to try to cover every inch of the
designated space. They should keep walking. No talking or physical contact are allowed. After a
few minutes, ask students to be aware of their bodies. Though they can't talk, they should look
at one another. Ask to them become aware of the floor, the space underneath their feet. After a
few more minutes, let them know it is their job, as a group, to ensure that the entire space is
covered at all times. Tell them when you call "freeze" they should stop. Once they have stopped,
give them feedback on how well they are covering the space, then "unfreeze" and resume
walking. Keep it going until you are satisfied that the group has become completely focused on
the task of "covering the space."
Follow-up questions for the class
1. How do you feel about the energy and focus you brought to the exercise?
2. What helped to keep you focused? What happened when you were not focused?
3. How did it feel to do this in silence? Were there times when you wanted to speak?
4. Did the group "cover the space?"
Framing the Issue
Everyone sits in a circle and brainstorms about an issue you will be exploring with the group.
For example, you can ask the group to share thoughts or concerns they have regarding the
increase in anti-black hate incidents across the country after Barack Obama's election.
You can either go around the circle or call on students to raise their hands. It's not a dialogue at
this point. People briefly say what's on their mind and others listen.
After hearing the thoughts and concerns just shared, you ask the group for single words that
come to mind around this issue. These can be themes or emotions (i.e., fear, anger, guns,
crime, jealousy, race, harassment).

You write them down as they're called out. Aim for a list of 30-50 single words. When you've
finished, read the list back to them. This list will serve as a blueprint for the rest of the activity,
but it is also one that you'll likely return to again and again.
Debrief
Students should return to pairs to share feelings raised by today's activities. After each partner
has an opportunity to share, ask the pairs to select one feeling word that captures some of what
both partners shared. They should write the word on an index card, without signing their
names, and turn it in. (You will add the words to the list created earlier.)
Return to whole group and thank everyone for their participation. Let them know when the
process will continue.
Day 2
Warm up/game
The Wind Blows
Start by having everyone sit in a circle of chairs. Pull one chair out of the circle so that one
person does not have place to sit. You may want to ask who would like to volunteer to pull their
chair out.
The object of the activity is to have one person stand in the center and share a statement with
the group a statement that is true for the student. For instance, if the student is nervous
about a test, she or he can share that. The statement doesn't have to be true for everyone, just
for the student in the center.
The statement must be shared in this format: "The wind blows if...(insert statement)". The
person in the center can share anything they feel comfortable sharing. For example, "The wind
blows if you are feeling happy today" or "the wind blows if you are the eldest in your family."
The "wind" has just blown, and the participants, like leaves, must find a new location if this
statement is also true for them. This is the opportunity for the person standing in the center to
take an open chair before another individual takes it. Whoever is left in the center, without a
seat, is the one who will share next.
You can play the game for 10-15 minutes depending on your group. As they find a rhythm, you
may remind them that they can share about experiences, likes and dislikes, family, etc.
whatever feels safe.
Follow-up questions
1. Were you surprised by the things people chose to share in the group?
2. If you were in the middle, how did you decide what to share?
3. Were you honest in your responses? Did you change seats each time the statement was true

for you?
4. How do you feel about being a part of this group right now?
Reframing the issue
Ask students to recall the community issue they explored in the last class session. Read
students a recent news report about that issue (for instance, if your class chose to talk about
racial backlash incidents following the election of Barack Obama, you might select a story about
one of those incidents.)
Ask each person to select a single word from the list they generated during the last class session
a word that characterizes what was shared from the news report.
Partner Sculpt
Everyone gets a partner. One partner will start as the sculptor, the other as clay.
Demonstrate to the group how to sculpt human clay. The sculptor can sculpt by touching the
"clay" and moving his or her partner into place or by mirroring and showing them the position
they should take. The sculptor cannot talk. The activity is silent.
You call out a word from the list and the sculptor uses the clay to create an image in response to
the word, to make a piece of art. The goal is not to illustrate the word or to play charades. It is
to shape, imagine, and create. The image can be realistic, abstract, concrete, or symbolic. There
are no right or wrong images! It doesn't have to have a "meaning". It can come from a thought
or a feeling.
After the sculptors have sculpted, they can walk around and look at others' images. There
should be a gallery of responses to the word. When every sculptor has returned to their image
you say "clay, relax" and the clay and sculptor trade places.
Go back and forth through a variety of words until you feel ready to move on.
Debrief
1. How do you feel about your participation today?
2. Did you prefer being the clay or the sculptor?
3. Were you able to express what you wanted through this exercise? Why or why not?
Congratulate the students on their hard work. Encourage them to talk to others about what
they experienced today. Remind them when the group meets again.
Day 3
Group Sculpt
Everyone gets into groups of four or five. Each group will pick someone to sculpt first.

You call out a word and they sculpt. This time they have more pieces of clay to work with.
However, just because they have more bodies, doesn't mean that they have to sculpt a realistic
story or scene. They can, but they can also sculpt abstract images. They have to sculpt quickly
and silently.
During each round of words, you can relax all the images but one and allow everyone to see
each other's work. You go around the room until each image has been featured and then move
to the next word. You want to make sure each group member has a chance to sculpt at least
once before moving on.
Day 4
Warm up/game
Shape & Number
Circle Sculpt
Everyone stands in a circle and three people get in the middle. You call out a word from the list
and the three people create an image on their own. They are all clay and they simply find a
position in relation to each other as you count to five. On "five," you call out "freeze" and they
hold whatever position they are in.
Explain to the rest of the group that they are looking at one out of an infinite number of
possible images for this word. They will now have a chance to re-sculpt that image as much as
they like. Anyone can step into the circle and re-sculpt. One at a time, the group tries to share
as many images as they can. They sculpt silently and pause a few seconds between images. This
continues until you stop the round and go on to a new word.
Debrief
Tips on Processing the Images
If you want to talk about an image, ask what people see. Whatever responses they give are
valuable. Make a point of not trying to have them answer in a certain context. Just ask what
they see.
Have people tell the story they see in the image. Push for as many different stories as you can
get.
As they walk around and look at images, remind them to see the images, not just glance at
them.
Resources
Michael Rohd. 1998. Theatre for Community, Conflicts and Dialogue. Heinemann.
Augusto Boal. 1992. Games for Actors and Non-Actors. Routledge
Augosto Boal. 1985. Theatre of the Oppressed. Theatre Communications Group