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Exercises/Divergent Ideation/15 Theater Games for Drama Groups (Large or Small!)
Applied Improv ยท Divergent Ideation

15 Theater Games for Drama Groups (Large or Small!)

Theater games for groups are activities involving role-play that help develop essential skills like focus, listening, cooperation, and improvisation.

5 to 15 minutesTIME
Medium group (9-25), Pairs, Small group (4-8)GROUP SIZE
ActiveENERGY
In person, RemoteSETTING
High cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Participation Architecture This divergent ideation exercise strengthens Participation Architecture, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. Have the participants gather around in a circle
  2. Select a caller who will lead the circle in making sounds
  3. The caller will give a sound to make. For example, the caller can say "boom," "oops," or "aah"
  4. After the caller makes the sound, the next person clockwise will make the same sound. Other participants will take turns to make the sound as fast as possible in the same clockwise direction
  5. The round ends with the caller being the last person to make the sound.
  6. Then the next person standing beside the caller becomes the next caller and gives a new sound to make. Other participants will take turns to make the sound as fast as possible in the same clockwise direction
  7. The game continues until everyone takes a turn to be the caller
  8. The goal of the game is to transfer higher energy around the circle. In a round, each subsequent player should increase their pitch higher until the caller ends off with the highest pitch.
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Prompts to use +

Have the participants gather around in a circle

Select a caller who will lead the circle in making sounds

The caller will give a sound to make. For example, the caller can say "boom," "oops," or "aah"

After the caller makes the sound, the next person clockwise will make the same sound. Other participants will take turns to make the sound as fast as possible in the same clockwise direction

Then the next person standing beside the caller becomes the next caller and gives a new sound to make. Other participants will take turns to make the sound as fast as possible in the same clockwise direction

The game continues until everyone takes a turn to be the caller

Run this with your AI assistant +

Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: 15 Theater Games for Drama Groups (Large or Small!). Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Have the participants gather around in a circle; Select a caller who will lead the circle in making sounds; The caller will give a sound to make. For example, the caller can say "boom," "oops," or "aah"; After the caller makes the sound, the next person clockwise will make the same sound. Other participants will take turns to make the sound as fast as possible in the same clockwise direction. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.

Origin unverified

  • Where we observed it: The current corpus has one observed source organization: TeamBuilding.com. (1 source observed, including TeamBuilding.com.)
  • What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
  • No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
  • Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.

Pairs well with