Spontaneity
Awareness
Transformation

GAMES

SOME SPOLIN GAMES USED IN PERFORMANCE:

(NOTE: NOT ALL GAMES LISTED APPEAR IN EVERY SHOW)

The Games:

EMOTIONAL SYMPHONY is like a shot of adrenalin giving instant energy to the players and connecting them with the audience. Each player is assigned an emotion by the audience. The ensemble is then conducted through an opening “overture.”

GIBBERISH RELAY is another high energy game involving the entire cast immediately as the player in the middle must translate back and forth between players on either side who speak in gibberish.

INTENSIFY EMOTIONS. The audience suggests who and where two players are, and, a third player calls out new emotions which they must incorporate.

ANIMALS. After the audience assigns each player an animal, the players must explore the animal physically, verbally, then interact with each other as animals, and finally bring the animals up into human forms with attitudes and traits intact.

CAMERA. Here the focus is on focus. As two players do a scene of the audience’s choosing, a third player calls out “camera” alternating between the two players, “both camera” or” no camera.” The players much shift between giving full mental and physical attention, like the lens of a camera, to each other.

CONTACT. Players do a scene in which dialogue can only occur when some form of physical contact is made.

DUBBING. In much the same manner that a foreign film appears on late night TV, two players take a film genre and a relationship and do a scene from a movie, while two other players dub in their voices live.

WHO AM I? A player is sent out of earshot and upon his return must interact with fellow players until he is aware of the famous or occupational identity the audience has chosen for him. Who am I?

GIBBERISH/ENGLISH. The audience suggests who and where two players might be, while a third player/sidecoach switches them unexpectedly between English and Gibberish throughout the scene.

GIBBERISH INTERPRETERS. Two players take turns giving a speech on a subject of the audience’s choosing. One player orates in gibberish. The other interprets in English.

HOLD IT. Each player is given a “life script” like” the grass is always greener.” The group then incorporates that script into their characters as they go through scenes as children, teens, middle-agers, and finally elderlies.

INTERMISSION. The players retreat to the sidelines for a few moments to towel down, consume beverages and gossip, while the audience does the same thing.

MADRIGAL. A small group of players with musical accompanyment improvise a 90’s rendition of the medieval ditty which often communicated on subjects of public concern.

MAGIC MUSIC. The audience selects a physical task for a hidden player to do upon his return to a prop-littered stage. By singing a children’s song louder for warmer, and softer for colder, the player is guided into completing the task. This is often repeated with an audience volunteer!

POETRY. There are many styles of poetry. Limericks, haiku, rhyming, non-rhyming, jazz-like free-style, etc. Based on a first line from the audience, each player improvises a poem in his own particular style.

SCENE ON SCENE. The principle of “Give-and-take”is the foundation that Spolin games are built on. In scene on scene, two players on one side of the stage reminisce based on a relationship the audience gives them, while two other players on the other side of the stage enact various beats or moments of the reminiscence.

SINGING DIALOGUE. Two players do a scene based on the audience’s suggestion of who and where they are. All the dialogue is sung!

SLOW/FAST. Two players, given who and where they are, begin a scene. A sidecoach freezes them at one point and they must goback and repeat the scene in slow motion, and then again in fast motion. Then they are allowed to continue the scene to completion.

STAGE WHISPER. Two players must do a scene entirely in stage whisper after the audience suggests characters and a setting fraught with impending danger or require secretiveness.

BUILDING A STORY The entire cast is seated on stage and tells an improvised story, relay-style, based on an audience title.

BUILDING A SONG The entire cast is sings a song, relay-style, based on an audience title.

TRANSFORMATIONS. Two players begin a physical activity of the audience’s choosing. Through a series of movements, changes,verbal and non-verbal interactions with each other and other players who join in, they eventually transform their activity into a group involvement, which the audience has also chosen.

WHATS BEYOND? Usually three players begin a scene. At some point action is frozen and one player is sent out. Audience members help conjure up some secret that the two remaining players have discovered about the third. They then interact with the returning player until he understands the “what’s beyond?“

"Make the invisible VISIBLE!" - Viola Spolin

“…when intuition enters into our work we must know how not to interfere.”
- Constantin Stanislavsky

"The integrated human being will come to technique through experiencing, for the creative impulse makes its own technique--and that is the greatest art. When a child has the creative impulse to paint, he paints; he does not bother about technique. Likewise people who are experiencing, and therefore teaching, are the only real teachers, and they too will create their own technique."
- J. Krishnamurti
from Education and the Significance of Life.

Recent Comments

Steve

July 21, 2014 | #

Gary,

Thanks for your thoughtful response. When writing such a blog piece or responding with comments it is hard to find the right prose to convey a clear and complete message without writing a novel. I guess that is a weakness or limitation of written language as a communication medium, particularly when it is not the length of a novel (even then, I’m sure “Truth in Comedy” is not a great reflection of Del Close’s work and talents). It’s the same as in an office environment – emails are a tawdry replacement for a conversation.

The problem with me expanding on Keith’s teaching is that it is like taking a masterpiece of Rembrandt and making a black-and-white photocopy. You may get the idea but you’ll lose a lot of the detail, and some of it is important. I have had the opportunity to work with Keith a number of times but am more influenced through extensive teaching with his protege, Patti Stiles – herself a brilliant teacher. It’s also been several years since I performed on stage so detail can be lost over time. And I have never had training with someone who worked with Spolin – the closest to that type of lineage was via Randy Dixon (another great teacher). It’s also difficult to know what kind of improvised theatre Keith likes as I got the impression he only liked it when he was directing. 🙂

So with that in mind…

Theatresports is an example of the ‘Chinese Whispers’ effect of imitating Keith’s work without understanding the context of why he created the format. He wanted people to be as passionate about theatre as they were at a sporting event. Hence, theatre sports was born. But the competition is for the audience, not the players. It is to provide those watching to have an emotional investment in the scenes, in the show, in the players. The players themselves are only playing competition – not actually competing against each other. Devices such as judges and horns were created for specific reasons. For example, one benefit of having judges was the ability for them to draw heat/emotion from the audience; one benefit of having a horn is to ‘kill the scene before it dies’. If people are concerned about ‘winning’ or ‘stage time’ then it goes completely against what Johnstone was trying to create (and teach). Other formats such Gorilla Theatre and Micetro have ‘playing competition’ but were created to address different needs/desires. I assume you already have some understanding of this given your previous post.

The training game ‘Yes and…’ is again an example of ‘Chinese Whispers’ if not taken in the right context. Keith identified several ways in which actors reacted out of fear/self-censorship. Fear is a killer of spontaneity and being present in the moment. He used words such as blocking, wimping and shelving to to describe these behaviours. The ‘No’,’Yes but’, ‘Yes and’ constructs are essentially beginner games to demonstrate such behaviours. Once the principles are understood one can then move to ‘yes lets’, ‘happy nopes’, ‘dolphin training’ (the latter two I learned via Patti Stiles) and other games. It’s easy to pick up “Impro for Storytellers” and play games he has created, but if you don’t understand WHY he created them then you don’t receive the insights he was trying to teach. Many were all about addressing fear and helping actors be in the present/moment.

I get the impression that Johnstone, given he was a theatre director and playwright, had more focus on storytelling (in comparison to Spolin). Hence, his work related to the ‘circle of expectations’ and ‘platforms and tilts’ helps to provide mechanisms for an improvisor to create a cohesive narrative; once learned they can become second nature (or intuitive). Even his work on status is relevant to narrative. But much of his training, particularly for the beginner, is focused on spontaneity – being in the moment. This should not be forgotten.

An example of this (not applied on stage), Keith was once interviewed over the phone. While being asked questions on the telephone he was filling out a crossword puzzle so as to provide a more spontaneous and honest response to questions. About half way through the interview a sound technician commented on some scratching sounds – due the pencil he was using – so he stopped filling out the crossword. According to Keith’s account the second half of the interview was not nearly as strong as the first half.

Although I have done very limited mask work, it’s also important to consider Johnstone’s work and thinking in this area. Perhaps it is an area where Spolin and Johnstone converge in their thinking (even if not obvious), as mask work touches on a more primordial form of improvisation – something that tribes/pre-industrial cultures have been using for millenia. For example, taken from Psychology for Performing Artists (Glenn D. Wilson):

“Many drama theorists (for example, Cole 1975) maintain that shamanism is the central ingredient to theatre. The essence of true drama, they say, is not just the reproduction of mundane social reality, but the presentation of a different order – one that is supernatural, surreal, or ‘marvellous’.”

To me the format of a Harold lends itself closer to this type of experience more than a format like Theatresports – but the difference lies more in the show format than in the teaching methods or intentions. Maybe after all that rambling I have finally discovered a point to this post; perhaps the two are compared more by show formats they inspired rather than their teaching methods?

It’s also worth keeping in mind that Jacob Moreno was working in Vienna decades before both Spolin and Johnstone, so there are other ‘schools of improvisation’, methods and thinking to explore.

Gary Schwartz

July 19, 2014 | #

Steven,
I agree Keith and Viola are after the same thing. The approach differs dramatically. As founders of two different schools, their work immediately becomes subject to adulteration and Keith’s has too. Luckily he is still around to set people straight. Even Keith states that he cannot bear to see TheaterSports.
What Improvisation is according to the likes of Keith and Spolin and Spolin’s disciples like Del Close, has been interpreted and often are deconstructions. i.e., oversimplifications to achieve a certain result, neither Spolin or Johnstone desires. I point it out in this list. Keith and his disciples, I’m sure work to correct it as best they can. I too am trying via http://www.spolingamesonline.org. I freely admit this is my interpretation of Spolin’s ideas, but I worked with her the longest and do my best to be faithful to the principles she taught me.

I admire Keith’s honesty and vision. Johnstone’s path to the source of spontaneity is different than Spolin’s. It relies on a different concept of intuitive response, a different theatricality and understanding of the profundity of things like The Space. Competition is addressed in TheaterSports as a convention for the audience, but it’s often misunderstood and results in incorporating conventions like judging, picking apart narrative, and creating theater. Other Johnstone constructions address this. TheaterSports is to Johnstone as Second City, IO and UCB are to Spolin.
Since I am not a disciple of Keith’s my understanding is limited to reading his books, taking one day-long workshop with him and being in a TheaterSports based troupe for eight years.

I maintain that Spolin’s approach to the intuition and the unknown as applied to theater is more direct, albeit less understood in its practice.
I will admit to simplifying both Johnstone’s ideas as I know them and Spolin’s to create a provocative discussion.

Much light needs to shed on both philosophies to arrive at the elusive, evanescent thing that is at the core of Improvisation.
I would love to have you write more on what you believe Keith Johnstone is after, philosophically and practically.
Thank you for your post.

Steve

July 18, 2014 | #

This by in large is a piece worth reading but the work of Johnstone is severely misrepresented to the point of being unrepresentative (i.e., false representation).

The table of comparisons is either a distortion or dumbing down of Keith’s teaching. It’s also a misunderstanding of how Theatresports is taught by Keith, as competition is for the audience not the players.

To paraphrase someone who worked with both Keith and Del Close (how lucky is that!), they have/had the same core values but approach them in different ways. If one connects more with one particular approach, it does not devalue or invalidate the other. It is a personal journey – much like a spiritual path is different for different individuals.

Having said that, I love the Follow the Follower game and the principles underpinning it. It is one of the most powerful theatre games I have learned and use it outside of the context of theatre.