Description

This is a group exercise for building Characters . One player on a chair, up to 5 other players sit in front of her. The player on the chair starts by taking something out of a big mimed bag. She holds the object in front of her and names the object - anything that comes to mind is just fine (see Warehouse , Open Your Hand or Presents ).

The other players start asking the middle player questions about the object, why she has it, what it might mean to her. After a few questions, she is asked to take another object from the bag - again, this can be anything and need not be related to the first object that came up. This prompts more questions, and more objects.

Continue until we know the character that is sitting on the chair.

Notes

The idea of the exercise is to construct the character as a group. Both objects, questions and answers to the questions will provide cues to who the person on the chair might be. Avoid very leading questions, although any element in the questions should probably be accepted.

As soon as the person on the chair has an idea of who she might be, what her state of mind might be, how old she might be, what her Status might be, she should start showing these qualities, until she really `becomes` the character. Use voice and body language to express this.