Focus Games for Drama Class

One of the foundations of acting is the ability to focus/concentrate/be present in the moment. With so many distractions in our society today, students are losing the ability to simply be present with one another. Starting a rehearsal or drama class with a game that requires deep focus can help actors enter into a more clear, present state and can lead to more productive sessions. Here are over 70 drama activities that can help the members of your group achieve a more calm state of mind.

Here are some examples of focus games:

Balloon Dance

Play some classical music if you have it. Have players scatter around the room and toss a number of balloons into the air, sending them in the direction of the players. Encourage players to move in slow motion-this is NOT a competitive, fast game! The players must keep the balloons in the air, touching them with any part of their bodies, not just hands, as if their bodies were part of the balloons they’re touching. Invite students to think of their bodies as balloons, inflated, flying through the air alongside the actual balloons.

Hypnotist

Put half of the class onstage sitting in a row of chairs facing the audience. Choose one player to play the hypnotist. The hypnotist improvises a relaxation exercise designed to lull the players into an hypnotic state, and then issues a series of commands that the players must carry out while seated and with their eyes closed. Before every suggestion, the hypnotist counts to three and snaps his fingers. If he DOESN’T, the players who move anyway are ‘out,’ because they were not truly hypnotized!

Examples of suggestions:

• You are freezing in the arctic and struggling to stay warm.
• You are in a pitch black room and trying to find your way out.
• You feel like you are going to sneeze, and trying to hold it in.
• You are listening to the most beautiful music you have ever heard.
• You are on the world’s most thrilling roller coaster.