An immensely valuable resource book for drama leaders, House of Games is a how-to book for building up drama troupes and keeping them creative. House of Games is sure to take its place alongside the most established drama method texts. Following on from Keith Johnstone’s famous Impro and Augusto Boal’s Games for Actors and Non-Actors, Chris Johnston’s book provides ideas and guidance for drama groups of all kinds.

Creating Improvised Theatre: Tools, Techniques, and Theories for Short Form and Narrative Improvisation This book is an updated version (and in english) of the french book Jeux et Enjeux (2018). This book provides a modern view of improvised theatre based on the rapid evolution of this art form, shedding new light on classic theories as well as developing lesser known and emerging techniques, such as the Trance Mask. Instead of simply referencing classic theories, the book revisits them and places them in the context of contemporary improvisation techniques. Designed as a practical support, this guide contains over 130 exercises that allow its theories to come alive in workshops, rehearsals, and performance. The book is divided into four sections: * Nuts and bolts: The fundamental tools of improvisation to explore how to be spontaneously creative, build with your partner, and learn from masks to discover your scene instant by instant. * Short form: Techniques for scene work and short form performance, including how to get the most out of a scene, remain connected to the relational stakes, provoke change (physical, status, and emotional), and maintain a playful attitude. * Narrative improvisation: Theories to help navigate long form narrative-based shows with “narrative…

For 20 years, Piolo Juvera has dedicated himself to the art of theatrical improvisation, which consists of telling, acting and singing stories. Stories and songs that have not been previously written or planned, which are created on the spot based on contributions from the public. In this book he shares how the teachings of “Improv” can be applied to one’s own life, which is the maxim of improvisations. The skills that must be developed to accomplish these stage feats are the same ones that the author chose as his life philosophy and that he now addresses in the book: listening, acceptance, decision, adaptation, speaking loudly and clearly, being in the here-and-now, play seriously, follow fear, fail in new ways, be the protagonist that your story needs, use error to your advantage. Improvisation is not an indecipherable entelechy. It can be an art. But it is also a technique. It has a methodology and rules that anyone can learn. The first and most important of those rules: the YES-AND. I say “YES” to your proposal “AND” I add something to make it ours. Commonly loaded with comedy, theatrical improvisation can also surprise us with stories that move and excite, that inspire…

Improv for Democracy: How to Bridge Differences and Develop the Communication and Leadership Skills Our World Needs While much has been written about what democracies should look like, much less has been said about how to actually train citizens in democratic perspectives and skills. Amid the social and political crises of our time, many programs seeking to bridge differences between citizens draw from the surprising field of improvisational theater. Improv trains people to engage with one another in ways that promote empathy and understanding. Don Waisanen demonstrates how improv-based teaching and training methods can forward the communication, leadership, and civic skills our world urgently needs. Waisanen includes specific exercises and thought experiments that can be used by educators; advocates for civic engagement and civil discourse; practitioners and scholars in communication, leadership, and conflict management; training and development specialists; administrators looking to build new curricula or programming; and professionals seeking to embed productive, sustainable, and socially responsible forms of interaction in and across organizations. Ultimately this book offers a new approach for helping people become more creative, heighten awareness, think faster, build confidence, operate flexibly, improve expression and governance skills, and above all, think and act more democratically.

On he walks on a empty stage. A player comes with. The director calls out. to the audience. what have they goin’. The crowd cheers. Now. the stage is set… they walk off again and

This guide provides educators, professionals, and parents with an easy-to-follow and comprehensive approach to utilizing improvised theatre as a tool to teach social and communication skills to individuals on the autism spectrum. Opening with the philosophy of the curriculum and the considerations of mental health, play, and environmental factors on individuals with autism, the book then breaks down specific activities, suggests course sequencing, and explains how each activity works and applies to desired outcomes. Packed with dozens of activities and explanations, the book includes all the information necessary to design a full curriculum or create an at-home learning program for parents. By combining the fun and engaging atmosphere of improvisational theatre with the systematic teaching of social skills, professionals and parents can cultivate learning in a way that keeps students engaged while providing long-lasting improvements in social interaction, self-confidence, and communication.

A MASTERFUL BOOK ABOUT BREATHING LIFE INTO ART AND ART INTO LIFE “Stephen Nachmanovitch’s The Art of Is is a philosophical meditation on living, living fully, living in the present. To the author, an improvisation is a co-creation that arises out of listening and mutual attentiveness, out of a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity. It is a product of the nervous system, bigger than the brain and bigger than the body; it is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter, unprecedented and unrepeatable. Drawing from the wisdom of the ages, The Art of Is not only gives the reader an inside view of the states of mind that give rise to improvisation, it is also a celebration of the power of the human spirit, which – when exercised with love, immense patience, and discipline- is an antidote to hate.” Yo-Yo Ma, cellist

Improvise!: Use the Secrets of Improv to Achieve Extraordinary Results at Work (Max Dickins) Improv performers look like creative geniuses, coming up with brilliant comedy on the spur of the moment. But they rely on some simple rules and techniques – ones which anyone can learn, and which can help us offstage to think creatively, collaborate with others and communicate with impact. Improvise! will show you how to handle whatever comes your way at work – from giving confident presentations and handling difficult conversations to coming up with great ideas and persuading others to make them happen. Comedian and improvisation for business coach Max Dickins combines examples from the world of work with exercises from the stage to teach you how to achieve extraordinary results with what you’ve already got.

In this volume, Atuel publishes a new contribution by Jorge Holovatuck to the amazing problem of the formation and training of the actor. A factory of theatrical games and exercises crowns Holovatuck’s extensive career in the practice and research of theater pedagogy. Under the epigraph of Jean Paul Sartre, “We must expand the field of the possible”, Holovatuck expands in this book the knowledge and strategies that he developed in the Manual of theatrical games and exercises. Each unit of A factory of theatrical games and exercises carries out provocative theoretical-practical approaches and includes a stimulating proposal of “Activities” that can be applied in the workshop or theater school. It is a book designed for the action of the reader, to whom Holovatuck leaves the last word. Raúl Serrano, Hollovatuck’s teacher, writes in the prologue: “The author aims to imbue the technique itself with creativity without the terms being antagonistic. The idea of the artist pedagogue is presented in a very different way from that in which it is normally understood. “It is not about the artist who necessarily becomes a pedagogue, but rather the pedagogue who raises his aim and converts his classes into true creative events.” The material…

This best-selling book by Viola Spolin offers the most comprehensive theater instruction for all types of students, from small children to young adults. It includes over 130 theater games, plus exercises and instructional strategies. First developed by Spolin, the originator of modern improvisational theater techniques, these games have been tried and tested for over fifty years.