175 Theatre Games: Warm-up exercises for Actors

My middle school drama students love the games in this book. For example, to settle down before rehearsal, I might have them pantomime draw huge numbers from one to nine with an INDEX finger from ceiling to floor, then repeat using an elbow, and then their chin. Classic improv games are given thoughtful twists and alternate variations--all with notes explaining usefulness. Just following the innovations instantly expands one's drama program. Take it from me--a full-time drama teacher working with 175 kids a day in groups of about 30, and one who did a workshop with the great Viola Spolin--this book is a delightful must. Creative, innovative, inciteful, fun, educational, and very thoroughly organized and thought out. Break a leg!

A great reference for games in a pinch. Most I knew about, but there are some new ones. It’s still good to have the reminder of the familiar games as well.

As a teacher I feel like I've seen all these before. I was hoping for theater games that practice language for English Language learners. This book is more for ice breaker type, community building games.

These are tried and tested games that everyone in theatre ought to use at one point or another. So fun and a great tool to foster teamwork.

simple and easy to understand the games, it has many photos and pictures to understand games, very good!!It explains the aim of the games very well and classified the catagory well!

Excellent thatre groups/club tips and exercises- upper elementary through adult. I've used it for all ages!

thanx

Speech and Theatre teacher and director, Nancy Hurley has put her heart and soul into her book "175 Theatre Games: Warm Up Exercises for Actors" as well as an entire career's worth of knowledge and enthusiasm that will endow students and teachers alike with confidence building tools that will craft not only better actors but more articulate emotive individuals."175 Theatre Games" packs a lot of punch for a slim volume. Comprised of twelve different sections that concentrate on varied areas of development such as "voice," "teamwork," "improv," and "pantomine," the text features pages replete with black and white photos, sketches and detailed instructions that include `materials' and `preparation' and suggestions for play.In the game called "Character Walks," for example, Hurley prefaces her instructions with comments like "actor[s] take great care to make a character physically believable" before detailing the activity that will hone the skill she wishes her students to acquire. In this particular game, the students begin walking in one direction while in circle formation. As the teacher calls out commands like "walk like a movie star" or "walk as if you have just lost your dog" the participants change their gaits to reflect the attitude or character suggested by the teacher's phrase. Beneath the game rules, Hurley presents a number of simple examples (i.e., burglar, clown, old person ) that make it fairly easy to quickly collect a sizable list of varied character types that both the teacher and student will enjoy personifying.It is the joy of creating through imagination that Hurley celebrates so efficiently and effusively within the pages of her book. Surely, as a theater instructor, she has done her best and done it well in bringing both teachers and students exercises that they will enjoy performing and from which they will learn greatly.Bottom line? As Einstein suggests, imagination is surely more important than knowledge as knowledge is limited. Through her book, Hurely resoundingly agrees and provides the tools for a limitless cultivation of imagination that will indeed make better actors, but also train and keep the magic of childhood dreams and uninhibitedness alive as fodder for an infinitely bright and fruitful creative future. Nancy Hurley's "175 Theatre Games" rocks--she should contact the Nintendo people and turn her exercises into a  Wii  game! Nancy, if you do, I want 10%! Brava! Recommended.Diana Faillace Von Behren"reneofc"

Some good exercises but particularly aimed at young performers. Mature actors may need something that stretches them more although some of the exercises in this book could be extended to suit.