Here's how to play...
FIRST
Choose one volunteer to tell their own version of a fairy tale. Let's use Goldilocks and the Three Bears first. Everyone except the storyteller should lie down on the floor and close their eyes. Then the storyteller should tell the story while everyone imagines what the characters in the story are like.
To read a silly version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, click here.
THEN
Everyone get up and stand in a circle. Decide who will play which characters in the story. For the Goldilocks story you will need Goldilocks and Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear. If there are not enough parts, other people can play scenery (for example they could be the big, medium-sized, and little stuff in the bear's house). Sometimes two people can share one part by taking turns (play the game twice). If people can't agree on the cast then the storyteller should choose who they want to be the characters (after all, it's their version of the story so they are like the director). Then, the Storyteller should pick scenes from the story that happen at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the story. The rest of the group should make frozen pictures in the center of your circle ("Tableaux") to show those scenes. For example, make these tableaux with your actors to show the main action points of "Goldilocks and the three bears:"
1: The Bears Leave Home
2: Goldilocks enters and eats the entire little bowl of porridge
3: Goldilocks sits on the little chair and breaks it
4: Goldilocks falls asleep in the little bed
5: The Bears discover their ransacked house (first the bowls, then the chairs, then the beds). Goldilocks wakes up and she runs out
THEN
Perform the whole story together (the Storyteller should not tell the story like they did before, let the action of the actors tell the story). Make sure to show all of the tableaux you created and move from one to the next. When everyone feels like they know what happens pretty well...
THEN
Pretend the Storyteller has found an evil remote control, and you are trapped in a giant VCR! Do the story again (slowly!). Then, whenever they want, the Storyteller can make the story go in reverse, slow motion, fast forward, or back to normal by calling out "reverse," "forward," "fast forward," "fast rewind," and "slo mo." Actors should listen to the Director carefully so you know what control is being used! The Storyteller should make sure the actors have time to move to each tableaux at least once through.
THEN
Choose a different story and storyteller!
Kitty Wants a Corner No Worries VCR Nightmare
Conductor (Mr. Holland from Mars) Status Poker
| home | one | two | lots | resources | links | about | comments |