Phone Call Exercises
Below are Samples from “The Impro Teachers Kit”
When you pre-order this fantastic resource you you will automatically receive a 50% discount on that purchase, the complete section on Improvisation from “Organised Chaos: A Very Practical Guide to Drama Teaching” and these sample exercises from “The Impro Teachers Kit” in a form that you can print out and use as individual cards.
CALL CHAOS
Players are divided into groups of four. One of them is either a telephone operator in: a call centre ; a hectic newspaper editor’s office; a major travel agency; a hotel reservations clerk or something similar. If possible have three ‘ringible’ phones on a desk. If you don’t have wired phones, someone should be chosen to provide the sound effects. The person answering the phones is on his/her own today. S/he is harassed by the ringing phones and must cope as best as s/he can. All calls should be answered and dealt with in a calm controlled manner. The callers must have definite requests and/or complaints for the person to deal with and insist on prompt service.
CALL-SHOW HOST
Select one player to be a ‘talk-back radio’ disc jockey. Others in the group take turns at phoning up with their point of view on a range of topics.
Make a rule that no more than three people can be heard by the disc jockey at any one time. If the disc jockey cuts someone off, then there’s nothing they can do about it. S/he chooses which phone calls to accept and when to end them.
DEATH CALL
Players should work in groups of 5 or 6. The improvisation involves a group of people circulating the news about someone they knew well who has died. Groups are allowed 5 to 10 minutes to come up with a sequence of phone calls that not only reveal the fact that the person has died and the circumstances of his/her death but also reveals information about the sort of person s/he was.
HELP-LINE
Players are divided into groups of 4 or 5. One player is selected to be a counsellor in a typical phone help-line. The other players are callers. Allow 10 to 15 minutes to prepare the scene before presentation.
MARRIAGE CALL
Players work in groups of 5 or 6. Each person in the group has received an invitation to the wedding of someone they all know well. They contact each other by phone to discuss the compatibility or not of the couple getting married and/or the wisdom and timing of the forthcoming wedding. Groups are allowed 5 to 10 minutes to come up with an improvisation.
PHONES
Select 4 or 5 players. They begin a scene in which they are at a row of payphones. The first player starts an imaginary phone conversation and continues until s/he has established a clear direction for the conversation. S/he then lowers his or her voice and the second player begins a different phone conversation. When player two has established a topic, player three begins a new phone conversation and so on. When all players have established conversations, players change the focus at random. At an appropriate point in the impro or at the direction of the leader, players hang up one by one and end the scene.
PRODUCT SUPPORT
Players are divided into pairs. One player is selected to be a technical support person for a company. The other player is a caller seeking help with new product they have just bought. The person is not very smart and cannot seem to grasp what the support person is saying. The support person becomes increasingly frustrated but tries to maintain politeness and control. Allow 10 to 15 minutes to prepare the scene before presentation.
TELEMARKETER
Divide the players into pairs. One player is a telemarketer the other is a householder. The telemarketer should work out some questions and strategies to keep the householder on the line. The householder should decide what sort of character they are and how they might respond to the techniques used by the telemarketer. Allow 10 to 15 minutes to develop the scene before presenting.
THE DISMISSAL
Players work in groups of 5 or 6. A mutual friend or colleague is dismissed from their job. The players call each other on the phone to discuss the reasons for and fairness or otherwise of the dismissal.
For a complete set of games, exercises and resources for teaching improvisation look at “The Impro Teachers Kit”
Harry Tawse | 
July 19, 2009 10:34 am
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