1. Story Web
Age: 9 to adult
Players: Whole group
Time: 10 – 20 minutes
Skills: Storytelling, Speaking and Listening
Materials: A ball of string
Tell a story, weave a web.
Sitting in a circle, one person holds a ball of string and tells the first sentence of a story. She keeps hold of the end of the string and rolls or throws the ball of string to someone sitting on the other side of the circle. He adds a sentence to the story. He keeps hold of his part of the string and throws the ball on to a third player – and so on – and gradually a web is built up.
Director's tip
- It is worth taking a photo of the web at the end of the story as a reminder of how everyone worked together
2. Point of View
Age: 7 to adult
Players: Pairs
Time: 20 minutes
Skills: Storytelling, Role-Play, Speaking and Listening
Materials: Bell or whistle
Tell someone else's story, from a new point of view.
This exercise is a development of Tell It Again. Begin by dividing the group into pairs and asking each person to tell a short anecdote to their partner. It can be up to two minutes in length. Remind everybody to listen carefully to their partner's story. Give a signal to stop after two minutes and swap over so that each person tells and hears a story.
Now everyone finds a new partner. This time each person's task is to tell the story that they were told. However, there is one important difference: they must not tell it from the point of view of the main character. So if, for example, your partner tells you a story about the day they rescued a cat, you could tell the story from the point of view of the cat, or that of a bystander, or even a fictional character. Participants can embellish the story in any way they wish.
Director's tip
- The exercise demonstrates three important storytelling techniques: learning a new story, taking on a simple role and making the story your own.
David Farmer runs the website www.dramaresource.com – a site that offers a wide range of ideas, games and courses for drama practitioners. He is the author of several books including 101 More Drama Games and Activities, from which this game is taken.