The following is a list of exercises that will help to strengthen your acting troupe in the fundamentals of theater. We started with getting your people comfortable with each other. Now we will introduce exercises to develop strong characters. Then ending with improvisation games!

OBJECTIVE GAMES

A characters objective is the most important element that an actor can have. If the character is not focused on a certain goal (what he/she wants: the objective), then the scene will be unfocused as well, and ultimately the entire play. Of course, having an objective is only part of it. If you find, as a director, that the scene still "needs something", then try having the actor take their objective and "raise the stakes". Raising the stakes, means making the objective even for vital for the character to achieve then previously. You will see how in the following exercises. Here a some good games to teach actors how to recognize objectives and raise the stakes.

Door Game: This game takes objectives and strips it down to the bare minimum. Take two people from your group. Show them a door, and tell one person that their objective is to get out the door. The other person's objective is to stop the other person from leaving. "GO!" Have everyone in the group experience this. It may start off slow, but as the game progresses, it should become quite exciting! Take care to stop the game if one group may appear to be in danger of possible injury. To further add to the game, assign a character to each person. For example, when I did this game, I was given the character of a policeman, and my partner a thief. Rather then just make a run for the door and my tackling him. I stood my ground, while the thief tried to weasel past me with smooth talking and distractions. Eventually he tried to make a break for it, but my vigilance prevented any escape! Make a character blind or lame, a king and peasant, etc. Your group should see how basic objectives are, how they can be accomplished differently with characters, and how important they are. Point out how interesting it was to watch, because the objectives where so clear and pursued so strongly.

Objective card game: This game ties in with the door game, and could be used as a substitute if a suitable area cannot be found. Take a deck of cards and scatter them on the floor. Select two people and send one out of the room, or at least out of visual and audible range. Tell the person with you that if they are able to pick up all the cards, you will give them one dollar. Have that person go get the other one, but stay out of the room. The person that just came in, tell them this- If they pick up all the cards you will give them $100,000. Bring the other person back into the room and tell them to pursue their objectives. Obviously one person should be more interesting to watch then the other. I'm sure you could guess which one: right! The one with more money at stake. Hey! There was the phrase: at stake. Both characters had the same objective- to pick up all the cards, but for one you raised the stakes! PS- Use a deck you don't care about as these could be in danger of getting a bit trashed! :-)

Status card game: Another important character development technique is status, or where does your character rank in regards to other characters.

To illustrate, take a deck of cards (the same one used in the above game if they are still in good condition!) and separate it into Kings, Queens, Jacks and numbers. What you will do is take about 5 people and give them a card. Have them hold the card on their forehead, facing out, so they cannot see what card they hold, but everyone can. Tell them that each card represents a individual in a kingdom, with the King and Queen being the highest, and the common people ranking in order numerically. IE: a two would be a beggar, while five and six a working class. Then have them interact, and watch what happens. You should find that the King and Queen receive the most adoration, the numerical cards in the middle (5,6,7) should be cordial to each other, while the beggars (2) would be ignored. Stop the round after a couple minutes and ask each person if they can guess what number they were. Talk about how they felt and what happened. Observe how status effected interaction and objectives.

Card Combinations:

• K,Q,5,6,2
• K,Q,2,2,2
• K,Q,K,Q,2

Last Round: Give one person (you'll know who) the JOKER card and watch what happens!