QuickTips Index

Improv Game: Sit, Stand, Lean
A very phsyical and very funny improv game involving three performers.

Drama Class for Tweens
A guide to teaching drama class for 2nd through 5th grade. Most students this age are very outgoing and wildly imaginative. Make use of these qualities, and praise the students whenever they exhibit creativity.

What is an "Ask For"?
Ask Fors are requests for suggestions from the audience. Improv actors receive some of their best material when the crowd shouts out simple, zany, and/or creative ideas. Here's a list of original ask fors.

Stage Directions - Stage Right and Stage Left
How do you tell the difference between stage right and stage left? Upstage and downstage? Here is a handy diagram that clearly details the different stage directions.

Yes And - Improv Game
The improv game "Yes And" follows a vital rule of improvisational theater: Never deny your fellow actor. Instead, you should be willing and able to accept the ideas the character conveys.

"Antigone" Study Questions - Characters and Themes
Antigone Study Questions - Characters and Themes of Antigone by Sophocles

Improvisation Game: "Foreign Film"
In this improvisation activity two onstage actors ask the audience for a location. Once a setting has been selected, the scene can begin. The onstage actors speak in a fabricated language.

Improv Game: "Surprise Guests"
A fun improv game, great for drama students or party-goers.

Improv Game: Taxi Cab
An amusing, high-energy improvisation activity for ages 7 to 99. (Well, okay, I guess one-hundred year olds can play too!)

Improv Game: "Off - Script"
This amusing improvisation game involves one performer with a script and a second performer with a wild imagination.

Warm Up Activity: Emotion Orchestra
An excellent warm-up activity that gets performers to vocalize, emote, and pay attention.

Deus Ex Machina: The Lazy Writer's Guide to Conclusions
In greek drama, playwrights often ended the play with a god or goddess floating down to the stage, solving all of the characters' problems. This became known as deus ex machina.

Improv Game - Genre Switch
Improvisation game - perfect drama activity for improv actors who want to play around with different genres / styles of storytelling. Ideal for anyone seeking an easy, fun improv game.

Choose the Right Setting for Your Play
Oftentimes, aspiring playwrights make the mistake of creating plays with vague, uninteresting settings. Or, they do the opposite and write a play that has so many different settings that it might prove impossible to produce.