Using physical characteristics to create characters

The group walks around, exaggerating how it feels to lead with head, chest, pelvis, or feet and noting the character that emerges. Pairs then use those physical choices in short scenes, letting movement dictate status, worldview, and reactions.

• Your entire group should get onstage except for one person.

• Start walking around the room and acknowledge each other without speaking. You should try to notice, as you walk, which part of your body you naturally lead with. People tend to lead with their heads, chest, pelvis, or feet as they walk.

• Once you have all figured out what you lead with, you should exaggerate leading with that body part and play with how it makes you feel-what kinds of characters does it suggest to you? The person sitting out will then call out different body parts. The rest of the group will then simultaneously switch to the announced body part (head, chest, pelvis, feet, etc.) as a group. Each time a new body part is called out, allow yourself to discover a character based on how your movements make you feel. Then mingle with the other characters onstage, having two- to three-line exchanges with them.

• Now only two improvisers take the stage to use this same process to make character choices for scenes. Both improvisers should create characters by changing how they move physically. The improvisers can either choose a body part to lead with on their own, or another member of the group can give them suggestions. The two improvisers should walk around the stage in this new way until they “find” characters.

• The improvisers should once again be thinking, What kind of people walk this way? What do they enjoy? What do they hate? What kinds of things might they say? What is their status (high vs. low)? What is their worldview (optimist vs. pessimist)?

• Once both improvisers seem ready, have someone else from your group give them a one word suggestion to inspire a short scene.

• The two improvisers should be able to incorporate whatever they have decided about these characters into the scene, no matter what the circumstances of the scene are. If your scene partner is the first to speak, and verbally identifies you as a character different than what you have decided upon, you should abandon your character choice and go with theirs while maintaining your physical behavior. Example: Your movement caused you to feel like you were an old person who has difficulty walking. Before you can make this clear with dialogue, your scene partner interprets your movement as the walk of a toddler and labels you as such. While maintaining the same walk, you should play this scene as a toddler.