8/9/2019 Story Theatre Workshop
2/3
2) get them to want something desperately
3) make them suffer by obstructing them
4) force them to make moral choices5) torment them (spiritually,
physically or intellectually) and then trash them or
make them stronger
6) give the story structure by justifying the mysteries that
were introduced earlier
think the fisherman and his wife
fisherman goes fishing fish talks to him (mystery) wife wants
and wants fishermantormented
Listen, dont make assumptions, listen, dont preconceive,
listen
5 minute story
5 players each player continues player 1s story. Each have one
minute.
Platforms/ 2 lines: 1 person enters creates where by
establishing an action or routine2 person enters endows the first
dialogue 1 leaves
Tableaux: create objects
Boat, clock, horse drawn carriage, tree, house
Pictures 2 person scenario: 1 is astronaut, 2 is astronaut
running out of oxygen
1 is dog, 2 is dog walker1 is sibling with hose, 2 is getting
sprayed
Create setting: throne room, forest, hovel or hut, kitchen
Character transformation
Tell beginning of Brementown MusiciansFrom standing count
backward from 5 to 1 into a ball. Count forward from 1 to 5
transform from ball into a statue of character
Add movement as the character, add animal sounds, add animal
voice and dialogue (likean introduction) Give details
Do several characters Donkey/ farmer/ wife
Tell beginning of storyIn groups of 3 act/show the story
Side coach, fine tune
Transform other charactersTell the rest of the story
In groups create the story. Show us dont tell us.
This process can be used for almost all folktales, fairytales,
myths or legends. And Aesop
Fables.
8/9/2019 Story Theatre Workshop
3/3
Tableau or Tableaux
Vocabulary: tableau: a still picture that tells a story,
cooperation: working together.
Make a criteria list of what makes a good tableau: levels,
facial expression, gesture,
energy, focus ALWAYS ANSWER WHAT IS THE STORY!
Part of a Whole: One student begins to form a complex object by
becoming one
part of it in a frozen position. One at a time, other students
add on. Repeat using
another object. Examples: car, computer, amusement park ride.
Make it more
complex by adding sounds of a car engine that wont start; radio
turns on and
changes stations, windshield wipers begin, etc.
You can also do settings.
Give and Take: In groups of 5-6, students freeze. Then one
person starts a
movement (stop moving) and another student starts to move, etc.
etc. Only one
person can move at a time, do NOT go in order.
Same as above, only the student moving does not give up the
movement; another
student takes over the movement. The original student must then
freeze. Again,
only one person moves at a time.
C. Give and Take: students can either give up the movement or
have it taken from
them.
Action/Reaction Tableaux: In back to back pairs, students are
given action
situations.
Examples: one person is falling off a cliff, the other tries to
save them, Kitten in a
tree/ firefighter, kid with water hose/being sprayed,
Doctor/Patient getting shot,
two astronauts on space walk / ones air hose is being
blocked.
Rotate pairs.
Group tableaux: In groups of 6-8, students create tableaux in
context. Examples:
group stare at a fire down the street. Stares at a fire in their
house. Groups stare
at rainbow, then stare at a UFO. Groups stare touchdown, groups
stare at the
opposing team scoring the winning touchdown.
Group setting, characters, and tableau: Choose a setting with
lots of people.
Create a scene with large groups, one by one, each person enters
the scene as a
specific character and freezes
Have them story board a familiar story like a comic strip.
