Drama & Improvisation

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in

Oxford New York

Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto

With offices in

Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam

OXFORD and OXFORD ENGLISH are registered trade marks of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries

© Oxford University Press 2008

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

Database right Oxford University Press (maker)

First published 2008

2016 2015 2014 2013 2012

10 9 8 7 6 5 4

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press (with the sole exception of photocopying carried out under the conditions stated in the paragraph headed ‘Photocopying'), or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the ELT Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer

Photocopying

The Publisher grants permission for the photocopying of those pages marked ‘photocopiable’ according to the following conditions. Individual purchasers may make copies for their own use or for use by classes that they teach. School purchasers may make copies for use by staff and students, but this permission does not extend to additional schools or branches

Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale

Any websites referred to in this publication are in the public domain and their addresses are provided by Oxford University Press for information only. Oxford University Press disclaims any responsibility for the content

ISBN: 978 0 19 442580 3

Printed in China

This book is printed on paper from certified and well-managed sources.

During the 1990s, my wife Dede and I did a teacher development summer school in the middle of the Hungarian plain at a place called Bugac. The course was called Drama Plus and was attended by teachers from more than 30 countries. Many of the ideas in this book were developed with the participants at Drama Plus, who then tried them out on their own students when they went home. The information gained from this international exposure to the activities is reflected in the notes relating to the material.

I have also seen inspiring work done by extra-curricular English clubs that teachers with more energy than me have started in schools all over the world. Many of these teachers make drama and performance the focus of such extra English activities. In particular, I want to pay tribute to the students and teachers who attend the annual Teenplay Drama Festival in Arad, Romania, where I was lucky enough to be president of the jury on two occasions. The work done by the teachers and students in those groups is staggeringly good, and Romania is one of the many countries where an interest in English and an interest in drama, theatre, and performance seem to go hand in hand.

My co-directors at the English Teaching Theatre, Hazel Imbert and the late Doug Case, have both had a profound influence on my drama training ideas and written work. Both Hazel and Doug were wonderful working partners, and were instrumental in the development of many of these ideas.

I am also indebted to the many ETT actors whose ideas I have been able to adapt for this book. I have been fortunate to work with some extremely talented and energetic young actors. Apart from anything else, they showed me that good actors are incredibly hard-working and dedicated people.

I want to give a special mention to two of these colleagues: Joy Harrison, an actor-director with amazing energy and an endless fund of good ideas, who has accompanied Dede and me on various ELT drama training ventures; and Richard Vranch, who was a member of both the English Teaching Theatre and the Comedy Store Players and who introduced me to the work of the Players.

The Comedy Store Players

The Comedy Store Players are a group of improvising comedy performers who are based at the Comedy Store in London. The group began in 1985, and the original line-up included Mike Myers, who was later to become internationally famous as the parody spy in the Austin Powers series of movies. Canadian Myers and an American woman comedian and actor called Kit Hollerbach brought North American improvisation ideas and taught them to an eager group of English actor/comedians.

Viola Spolin (1906–1994)