I like this game so much that I took its essence and constructed an improvised musical bearing the same name. Family Drive playfully assigns relationships and emotional centers to a carload of characters, resulting in surprisingly complex and rich journeys that can really go the distance.
The Basics
Four players serve as the norm as this configuration also easily fits into an improv car. For the setup, each improviser obtains a random role in the family (broadly and inclusively defined). Each character then receives an unrelated emotion or mental state, and a unifying destination or reason for the drive can also be elicited. A scene is played in which this patchwork of personae all shares a car and hits the road.
Example
Four chairs are deployed to construct a basic sedan as the lights rise to reveal Player A doing one last maintenance check.
Player A: (an irritated grandfather) “Where is everyone? We agreed to be out of here by 10 am, sharp.”
Player B bounds onstage holding their backpack and a teddy bear – they are a giddy grandchild.
Player B: “I cannot wait! Five whole hours with you in the car, grandpa!”
Player A: (seeing B’s backpack) “I explicitly told everyone to bring their luggage downstairs last night.” (He begrudgingly goes to open the trunk.)
Player B: “I’ll just put it under my feet, grandpa. I don’t mind. It’s full of joke books for the trip anyway. I know how much you love my jokes.”
Player A grumbles while Player C, a lovesick middle-aged parent, dawdles to the driver’s seat.
Player A: “I thought we agreed last night that I’d do the driving. I’ve mapped out the fastest route that should keep us out of any traffic jams…”
The Focus
While you might acquire a destination for your passengers, as is the case with all improvisation, this scene is really about the journey first and foremost. When the characters are vivid and reactive, it’s unlikely your audience will care if the car makes it to the Saint Louis Gateway Arch or not!
Traps and Tips
1.) When getting the relationships…. it’s useful for someone to keep an eye on the big picture. If possible, it’s advisable for a host or other non-playing cast member to assist with this duty. Don’t be overly literal or restrictive with your definition of family but do be wary of constructing a carload of characters with too many unhelpfully missing links. In this way, having a grandparent without anyone they are a grandparent to can prove challenging, or not having anyone who could legally operate the car, or having a cast of complete strangers. Strategic mischief is another matter entirely. If you have three strong and clear relationships, for example, it can be nice to throw in a little curve ball as the fourth, such as a hitchhiker, a foreign exchange student, or random Uber passenger.
2.) When getting the emotions… endeavor to err on the side of contrast and variety. These scenes can easily expand into lengthier explorations, and it’s nice not to have several characters painting with a similar set of colors – happy, jolly, and excited, for example, might feel oddly alike as you roll into your third minute. You can explicitly have your audience help you avoid this issue by carefully phrasing your ask-for prompts: “OK, the grandfather has an emotion that feels a little negative. What’s something on the more positive side of life for this next character?” More than one internally focused choice (perhaps lovesick in our framing illustration) can discourage energized interactions as well, which are key to building scenic energy and longevity.
3.) When playing the emotions… seek to exploit variety in intensity, tactics, and tones. Player B’s giddiness toward their irritable grandfather should probably feel at least a little different than the way they engage with their lovesick patent. Don’t fall into the trap of playing your one emotion in the same one way – at least let it have peaks and valleys. Also, avoid naming your or anyone else’s state of being – “Grandpa, why are you always so irritable?” – as this will feel like bringing a sledgehammer to a sushi bar. I wouldn’t strictly consider this game as an endowment exercise, but it shares some foundational techniques. So, if I know the grandparent skews irritable, it’s fun to offer this improviser some obvious (and not-so-obvious) opportunities to model that energy. Complementary offers are extremely helpful in this regard.
4.) When staging your car… show care where you place each chair. Be mindful of inherent sight lines and any subsequent challenges. Even if you place the car on an aesthetically pleasing angle or extend the distance between the two back seats, there will usually be at least one chair that is a little problematic. Select and adjust your stage picture accordingly. It’s unkind to stick your smallest or least vocal emotion in the bad seat (likely our lovesick character) and then just leave them there. If you’ve received a larger or more aggressive energy, taking a weaker position will probably still serve you and the scene as your emotion will more easily prompt an array of reasons to make yourself seen and heard. And don’t forget that you can at least occasionally swap seats around (and even tag out the driver), especially if this will help more evenly share the focus and fun and therefore help tell a more cohesive and polished story.
In Performance
For my Family Drive: The Musical, I inserted some various song structures and opportunities into the mix and kept the basic inspirational frame intact. If you’re aiming to craft a fuller one-act, there’s plenty of room for the characters to evolve beyond their initial temperament (and the story will probably demand at least one significant inversion or transformation). Actually, that same philosophy holds true just to a lesser degree for the end of a smaller single scene as well. In either case, the deceptively simple combination of a strong relationship and emotion can jumpstart surprisingly exciting road trips.
(I think I may have used the above image before for another blog entry but it’s sadly the only good photo I have from Family Drive: The Musical!)
Cheers, David Charles.
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