Skit Ideas for Theater Classes
Everyone enjoys a lively comic sketch. Companies like the Upright Citizens Brigade and Monty Python have been entertaining audiences for years. You can help your students create their own skits with some exciting exercises. All it takes is concentration and imagination.
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Get Moving
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First, tell the students to walk around the room. They need to start the class by moving around, not looking into textbooks like they do for every other class. Getting them moving will stimulate them mentally and physically. Tell them to concentrate on different parts of their bodies. For example: tell them to let their noses lead the way as they walk. Then tell them to lead with their stomachs, their knees and, finally, their bottom sides. This is a humorous way to start class and help the students take on different characterizations.
Shrinking Box
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Put students into groups of two or three, and describe this scene: They are in a box. It's a very large box, and they're not scared of being in it. Slowly, the box starts to shrink. The students then must figure out and communicate how to get out of the box. They must pantomime the sides of the box closing in. Remind them that the box is slowly closing in, so the scene must be about them trying to get out of the box. Encourage and congratulate the success of unorthodox ways of getting out of the box. Take notes on this and all exercises to remember the best moments to make into skits.
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Here Comes Bobby
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Seat two students at a table as if they were having dinner. Choose a student to play Bobby, their waiter. Tell the students at the table that they are waiting for their waiter, whom they always have when they come to this restaurant. Tell them to describe the waiter to each other. By the time they've said enough things about Bobby, the student playing him enters the scene displaying all the attributes the other students just described. Substitute the name Bobby for Bunny if the student is a girl.
Melodrama
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Give a group of students a task to do, such as making a bed or doing their homework; however, tell them they must perform this action or actions as melodramatically as possible. If they are happy about doing a task, they must be exuberant about it. If they are disappointed or sad about a task, they must wail in despair. Experiment with different scenes and record the best moments. You cant turn these scenes into full skits later on.
Review
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Review the improvisation and the games with your students, and ask them which scenes were really humorous. Ask them to write out a scene using what they learned from the exercises. Tell them to expand on details in their scripts, like who the characters are, where they are, how they got there and what they need to do to get what they want. Go over the scripts with them and help them expand their ideas into full skits. Choose a day for them to perform for their families so they feel a sense of pride in what they've created.
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References
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