This simple series of exercises used to be a staple in my university Improv I course until I had to edit the accompanying lesson for time, but I still like the way it introduces different ways to combine activity and dialogue.
The Basics
Divide the class or ensemble into roughly equal sized groups (four or five players works well).
Round One
Players work in a team and mutually agree upon an object or product that might be constructed in a factory line. Students assume consecutive positions in the assembly process with each worker providing one action or component towards crafting or piecing together the final item. Each team can privately rehearse this process, seeking the greatest level of nuance and fidelity possible before groups silently perform one “production cycle” before an audience who then guesses the identity of the product. Feedback from this first effort should then be applied to the future iterations below.
Round Two
Teams of players repeat their factory positions but now add dialogue that only pertains to the activity at hand. A scene is created that consists of both the established detailed physical process and conversation connected to that specific physical reality.
Round Three
As players continue assembling their given product with focused mimetic detail, they must now craft dialogue exclusively about some discovered past event and refrain from talking about their work at all.
Round Four
Once again, the factory line is set in motion. Workers may now talk about some common event and the current activity as the needs and whims of the scene dictates.
Example
A team decides upon a bicycle assembly plant and assigns four workstations accordingly…
The Focus
While each stage provides a slightly different focus and lesson, the sequence offers a gentle entry into the world of crafting activity (the factory line) and improvising dialogue that may or may not be connected to that activity. Improv students are often warned against talking exclusively about the past (or future, for that matter), but this accessible game reveals the pleasant and helpful characters and relationships that can emerge from such banter.
Traps and Tips
1.) For round one… encourage players to really take their time on the physical elements of their factory line. Where do components and tools come from in the space? How does the product change in mass and shape as it moves from worker to worker? Most of us won’t necessarily understand the minutiae of assembling a bicycle, for example, but make bold and detailed choices regardless. How would you install or test a wheel to the best of your current knowledge and ability? If this first stage is half-hearted or approximated, the series will tend to feel juvenile. Players might find themselves organically helping each other or exchanging duties so it’ smart to pay close attention to other’s tasks as well as your own.
2.) For round two... it’s a little unnatural to talk exclusively about your activity, and the scene can become a little stilted after a sequence of “pass the wrenches.” An intriguing scene can emerge, especially in the hands of savvy players who place deeper meanings and more interesting shades in the subtext but, in my mind, this phase serves primarily to accentuate that dialogue rarely sizzles when it just announces what the audience can see for themselves. In this way, this step can provide a via negativa lesson (although I do like that it offers a chance for teams to use their language to solidify and clarify the production process). Generally, however, this stage reinforces the difference between activity (in this case, building and talking about making something) and action, which usually consists of the dramatic fight for something of personal value and worth. These scenes will usually achieve the former but not much of the latter.
3.) For round three... really embrace that the scenic dialogue will now only loosely (if at all) connect to the physical choices of the improvisers. It’s helpful for the past event to be something that everyone was at least tangentially involved in (even if it was a party, for instance, that one co-worker was pointedly not invited to attend). Scenes will struggle if every character chats about something that only they individually can riff on. If you’re sidecoaching the exploration, nudge players from activity talk if they slip into this as one of the neatest gifts of this version is how the emotions and context gained from the conversation can now infuse and enrich the previously mundane activity. If our “non-invited” coworker is forced to listen to how much their colleagues loved the party event of the year, that would likely affect the way they attached the bicycle handlebars and any other work-related interactions…
4.) For round four… enjoy putting the pieces back together at will. Hopefully, players will retain the wherewithal to avoid needlessly just talking about what they’re doing (a near cousin to the trap of commenting) but they can now naturally include work-adjacent chatter when it serves the arc of the scene: “We’re out of shipping boxes – I’ll be back in a moment with some more from the warehouse…” Obviously the focus of the dialogue could be a future event or some other obtained or found topic, but there is something helpfully unifying about setting a more singular goal, especially if you’re using this as an early foray into dialogue construction. A past event helps mightily in this regard as it usually provides a relatively level playing field in which every character can find an “in” and point of view. If scenes feel too mundane, encourage exploring more dynamic or emotionally charged character and relationship energies and objectives.
In Performance
If you or your improv troupe tends toward talking heads scenes, this is a nice and palatable way to introduce at least a little activity and (ideally) will remind players of the doors that open as a result of an increased commitment to embodied work in terms of subtext, staging, and organic focus shifts as the produced item moves from one set of hands to the next.
Cheers, David Charles.
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Photo Credit: Scott Cook
© 2024 David Charles/ImprovDr
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