A Guide to  
Theatresports  
 

Written by 
2018 Mac.Rob Drama Captains 

Samantha Congdon & Michelle Phan 

 

   

 
 

Introduction 
You have this guide and rule book about theatresports in your hand and you might be 
wondering, what is Theatresports? Theatresports is an event in which 2 teams of 4 compete 
against each other in certain improvisation drama games. To engage the audience and to keep 
things new, fresh and fair, prompts and topics are given by the audience and the teams will have 
to act out scenes according to the prompt and conventions of particular games. Narrative is of 
the utmost importance in theatresports and while it might sound easy to some, if you ask me, it 
most certainly isn’t because it depends on teamwork, creativity and improvisation skills. Keep on 
reading for some general rules and specific conventions of some of the theatresports games 
commonly played at Mac.Rob. 

   

1 
 

General Rules 
Players should avoid certain topics when participating in games. If a team player is caught 
swearing, speaking or acting out obscene or crude acts for example sexual themes, then that 
teams score will be drastically reduced. 

Tip: ​Always accept an offer that is made. 

Tip: ​If you have said an offer three times and no one takes it, drop it and continue in another 
direction. 

Tip: ​Listen to each other and develop the scene as a team. Avoid having two narratives in one 
scene, always make sure there is only one main focus. 

Tip: ​Enjoy yourselves on stage, that always translates really well. 

   

2 
 

Death in a Minute (1 min) 

The audience provides a location in which a 1 minute scene is set. The teams gets 10 seconds to 
plan. One player must die within the minute. THE DEAD STAY DEAD.  
 

Tip: ​Players can transform into another character but please make the transformation clear for 
both the players and the audience. 

Tip: ​Keep screaming to a minimum. 

Commercial (1 min) 
The audience provides a product (existing or non-existing). The team gets 10 seconds to allocate 
roles and plan. The players choose roles in a commercial such as the host, the satisfied 
customer, the demonstration and jingle composer/singers. They form a 1 minute commercial to 
sell the product. 

Poem (1 min) 
The audience provides a prompt starting with “The day I ...” . The rhyme scheme for the poem 
must be ABAB. The first two players move the plot of the poem along while the other two focus 
on rhyming. Rhythm is also a contributing factor to the quality of the poem, which is often 
neglected, so please try to keep the rhythm consistent. 

Tip: ​Have longer lines so the other players have time to rhyme or come up with a plot.   

3 
 

Expert Doubles (2 min) 

The audience provides an expertise in which the interviewee will be the expert of. This scene is 
an interview played by 4 players, playing 2 characters, the interviewer and the interviewee. Each 
character consists of one player, who does the voice, holding their hands behind their back. 
Another player stands behind such player and provides the ‘hands’.  
 

Tip: ​Both hands and voice can make offers, and when there is one please take it, voices do not 
have to necessarily dominate the scene. 

Diminishing Scene (2 min)  

The audience provides a location. A 1 minute scene is performed, which is then reduced to 30 
seconds, then 15 seconds, 7 seconds and finally 3 seconds. The plot of the scene must not be 
lost. 
 

Tip: ​Have significant lines and movements throughout the 1 minute scene which is easily 
replicable in the diminished scenes. 

   

4 
 

Slow Motion Commentary (3 min) 

The audience provides an extreme sport. This scene is a commentary of an ‘extreme sport’ in 
which two players will act as commentators and two as competitors. The competition will be 
acted out in slow motion. There are conventions such as birds eyes view, fast forward and close 
up, in which the commentators can request to have.  
 

Tip: ​Both commentators and competitors can make offers, and when there is one please take it. 

Tip: ​Competitors should ensure they are being very physical to avoid a static scene but also 
remain moving in SLOW MOTION. 

Typewriter (3 min) 
The audience provides the first line of a story which the players will build upon. One of the 
players is the Narrator. They have a (mimed) typewriter and starts the scene by reading aloud as 
they type. As soon as the Narrator has given a few elements, the players take over and start 
playing the scene. At any point, the Narrator can take over again, perhaps switch to another 
location, introduce new character, provide tilts or flashbacks. 

   

5 
 

Space Jump (4 min) 

The audience provides a ‘how to’. One player starts the scene by enacting a ‘how to’. The 
adjudicator calls out ‘Space Jump’ where they deem appropriate. The second player builds 
another scene based on the frozen position of the first player. The other 2 players enter the same 
way. Once all 4 players are in the scene, as soon as ‘Space Jump’ is called, player 4 leave the 
scene and the scene is returned to the one which player 3 initiated and continued. The other 2 
players leave in the same manner. The scene ends with player one wrapping up their ‘how to’ 
scene. 
 

Tip: ​Please do not enter the scene with a question. Always start with a clear prompt that the 
others can clearly understand and be on board with. 

Tip: ​Do not make your fellow players inanimate objects please. That will limit any dramatic 
potential there is. 

6 
 

Final Note  
 

Lead, follow, or get out of the way. ~ Laurence J Peter 

 
Have fun, that is essential to Theatresports! 

   

7