Original scientific paper
Improvisational Theatre in the Classroom
Željka (Nemet) Flegar
; Učiteljski fakultet Sveučilišta J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku, Osijek, Hrvatska
Abstract
The paper presents a historical and theoretical basis of improvisational theatre with a specific focus on its structure and guidelines. Due to the fact that the modern improvisational theatre of the twentieth century, built on the legacy of commedia dell’arte, was developed simultaneously and spontaneously in the United States and Great Britain within the educational system by Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone, improvisational theatre techniques are applied very diversely and can be used in the non-theatrical context as additional activities included in formal instruction. Accordingly, this work connects improvisational theatre methods with those of “critical pedagogy“, discusses the results of the research which links improvisational theatre techniques with modifying public speaking anxiety (PSA), observes improvisational communication practices in view of “acquisitionlearning hypothesis“ (Krashen), and presents the process and epistemic typology of “bodily poeticizing“ (Lockford and Pelias, 2004) which implies the influence of improvisational techniques on the development of the whole human being and their cognitive, affective, physical and vocal capacities. The theoretical background will be complemented by the overview of theatrical forms and structure of improvisational theatre, as well as the categorisation of presentational and storytelling (narrative) exercises and “games“, which are applicable in the educational context, into activities of transformation, association, building, word-at-a-time and interaction. Because the structure of exercises and games which encourage the acquisition of educational content and influence the development of presentational and narrative skills allows for the automatic adjustment between one’s own skills and the degree of difficulty of a task, such activities can be implemented in different educational contexts with participants of different ages. By fostering active communication, human intuition, spontaneity and focus, improvisational theatre techniques exhibit therapeutic properties and improve interpersonal relations within a group. As such, they initiate the development of free physical and verbal expression, transform “debilitating“ into “facilitating“ anxiety and are a successful communicational and psychological strategy in the classroom.
Keywords
improvisational theatre; Keith Johnstone; Viola Spolin; theatre games; public speaking anxiety; bodily poeticizing; spontaneous communication
Hrčak ID:
133855
URI
Publication date:
17.4.2014.
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