Course info

Module Description and Objectives

Improvisation theatre

Dilemmas at work

This module will involve guided improvisation theatre games/activities to explore verbal and nonverbal communication tools. Students will develop awareness of status and power dynamic in daily situations, and experiment with techniques that will help them feel more relaxed communicating in a variety of work situations, some involving ethical dilemmas in the workplace. 

Language skills sought

Students will develop fluency and confidence when speaking, rising from greater awareness of nonverbal and verbal components of speech. Students will also learn to be better listeners, a hallmark quality a hallmark quality displayed by efficient team players and managers. They will learn to apply reactive and idiomatic language, and use effective fillers and feedback

Activities and Learning Styles

Action-based, hands-on learning through doing.

Improvisation games/activities, and scenes in pairs and groups. Most activities will not involve an audience as everyone will be taking part in games at all times.

Group discussions and debriefs.

Active participation as improviser and scene director during all sessions.

Application and assessment

1)      attain better adequacy between intention and intonation/body language

2)      acquire greater fluency in interactions and monologues

3)      develop better listening to partners

4)      apply all skills to a wide range of situations

Evaluation of Performance : What the student is expected to do in order to show acquisition of language skills

1)      active class/group participation in improvisation games and debriefs

2)      written report on the outcome of a situation involving an ethical dilemma in an improvised scene

Resources

Keith Johnstone

1979, Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre,

1999 Impro For Storytellers

KJ’s 2016 Ted Talk

https://youtu.be/bz9mo4qW9bc