TPPP GAME and reflection

During my IB Theatre classes at the moment we are trying to prepare for the PPP and the TPPP by bringing in all the work they have done and all the productions they have experienced. To encourage as much talk and students making as many connections as possible I created a practical game that helps students reflection and make connections between aspects of practical work and theory.

The stimulus I used to start reflection was watching DV8’s ‘The Cost of Living’ and then starting conversations about aspects of that they have taken away.

The GAME

1. The stork

Students stand with someone of a similar height. Right hand on right shoulder, stand on their left leg and flap their left arm as a wing. While in this position they talk about two key things that they took away from the production they watched. These can be things they will use, impacts made on them, characterization they liked etc.  If you have a large class then they can repeat the Stalk a few times with different partners.

2. Cat and mouse

In pairs students aim to jump across the room. The mouse jumps first and says one aspect of the production (for example, the use of make up and masks) the cat then tries to jump to join the mouse, or further, and says how that aspect connects to work they have done in class or another production they have seen during the course. The winner is the first to reach the other side of the room. Once they reach the other side they make their way back, switching roles.

a)    mouse – jumps first and says an aspect of the production

b)    cat – jumps to catch the mouse and makes a link with that aspect to something in the course

3. Ladies who lunch

Sitting in groups of about 5, students sit in a circle and hold a glass or wine or tea (imaginary). They go round the lunch table talking very intellectually about their theatre lives and telling what other people have done. If anyone, when it is their turn, makes a particularly good link between several aspect of practice and theory then the other members of the lunch table can say ‘cheers’ or propose a toast.

4. Valley – the nightingale

From the lunch table the students turn into nightingales and flutter to a high place in the room from which they will sing. They will sing the one thing that they heard around the lunch table that must be shared with the world. They must sing it several times to make sure they are heard.

5.  Vulture – what you can scaveRenge

One student lies on the ground as the carcass. The other students surround them an individually swoop in to take something out of the carcass. The carcass is the IB Theatre course. What they say is the key thing they think they have gained from: the course,; the current project or the production they have just seen. Students take it in turns  being the carcass, so they can hear different points of view

6. The scribe

Ten minutes or so are then given for quiet reflection and note-taking to record their thoughts on the exercise and possible things they may use in the TPPP or PPP.