At Play

I've been teaching theatre for over 10 years now. This book is the one book that I carry with me to all of my classes. It is a great reference, not only with teaching theatre games, but in creating an ensemble, dealing with teenager issues, and creating theatre that is meaningful and powerful. It is the best investment I've made in a while, and I've been recommending it to everyone.

Since buying At Play: Teaching Teenagers Theater, I find I am using it a good deal in my lesson planning. From this book, I get ideas for adapting Viola Spolin-type drama games in ways that appeal to older students. Like Spolin, Elizabeth Swados introduces drama skills incrementally, isolating non-verbal games from verbal ones at first, so that students gain skills and confidence gradually and are not overwhelmed by their creative tasks. Although Swados's game instructions may be a little sparse for beginning drama teachers, she provides excellent examples, and employs a very common-sense methodology for introducing students to drama. The book is an excellent extension to other sources which provide detailed instructions for popular drama and improvisation games.

I looked at a lot of reviews before purchasing this book, and along with this book I also bought Gavin Levy's 112 Acting Games. I liked this book the best of the two (though both have strengths). I liked this book for two reasons. First I liked the clear explanations that came with the activities, including a little about the "aim" of the activity. Secondly, and more importantly, I liked the activities themselves. They seemed more mature than the activities in 112 Acting Games, and since I work with university ESL students, this was better for me. In the end, I think many of these activities have a nice depth and meaning to them that was clear to me. I would highly recommend this book for teachers working with junior/senior high school students or university esl students. Very nice book.

I help run a small theater group at my kid's middle school. I don't have any acting background, but wanted the kids to be able to do a play and get more direction than "talk lounder!". This book has a lot of exercises and games to do with the kids to get them thinking about timing, expression and movement and voice. Be warned to read before doing this with the kids, since it also explores much larger, more serious topics(prejudice, sex, drugs). However, there is PLENTY of stuff that kids can do at a younger age.

Beginning with her personal experiences and attraction to the world of the theater, Swados bridges the gap of her own life with the common experiences of a group of youngsters as they create their own musical theater piece about the dangerous world they inhabit and the small redemptions of daily life as they accomplish their goals. Specifically structured, the exercises begin with personal experiences and expand to include the group as a whole, each phase furthering the creative community: direction, voice, movement, characters, improvisation, discussion, time, space, music and choreography, the conclusion, their own show. This very accessible handbook is directed toward a specific audience, young people from twelve to the early twenties, ages mixed for maximum benefit from the experience. From middle and high school, young people can perform these exercises before their peers at public and private schools and local community centers, all directed toward channeling creative energy in a positive manner, the resulting performance a theatrical experience for the students involved. All of the categories outlined lend to the expansion of students' awareness, but a teacher/reader can improvise as necessary to accommodate his group for a performance outside of school, inside school, as a training ground for young actors in a dramatic school or community environment, even as exercises for a limited class time. In the context of the theater, mentoring focuses on the sense of family created by mutual experience, a spirit of togetherness that may yield lifelong friendships and artistic collaborations. This hands-on guide to theatrical performance is practical and effective; if followed, it will enrich the lives of students who participate in the process. Practical and specific, At Play is a valuable teaching tool; even more, it is the diagram for success in a field that enhances students' life experiences and collaborative endeavors with their peers, the result empowering. Luan Gaines/2006.