Object Game
A scene is built around one suggested object: performers mimetically establish its shape, weight, and typical use, then explore how it changes relationships and events. Good for training object work, coherence, and quickly finding a scene's focus.
Players
2–8
Difficulty
Beginner
Full description
Setup and Launch
Ask the audience to name an everyday object. Clarify: we play without real props, working mimetically and in agreement — the shape, weight, size, and "fate" of the object remain the same for everyone in the scene.
Give performers a short warm-up: take turns in silence showing the same basic gesture with the object (how it's picked up/held/set down). Then say the task is to first establish the norm of use, then boldly explore the object's unexpected effects on people, place, and situation.
Flow
-
Establish the object's reality. In the first actions, clearly set the physical parameters: how it's lifted, where it is, what it does to the characters' status and safety. Don't talk — show with the body.
-
Find the focus (pattern) of use. Notice the first unusual consequence of the object (mistaken application, superstition, power, dependency) and collectively support it through repetition and amplification in new circumstances.
-
Develop relationships through the object. Let the object reveal goals and conflicts: who needs it, who is deprived, who dictates the rules of handling. Dialogue serves action — less talking "about the object," more behavior with it.
-
Heightening and button. Accelerate the change of stakes: value increases, consequences widen, rules become stricter or more absurd. End with a clear "button" tied to the object (a break, a gift, a loss, a transformation) when the focus has peaked.
Key rules
Coherence over cleverness: size, weight, and position of the object don't "float"; if you change them — justify it in action.
Don't discuss the object — show its influence through body and behavior; words only clarify action.
Focus on one clear consequence of the object; avoid piling up gags and unrelated ideas, return to the found pattern.
When the scene stalls, shift the perspective: give the object a status/rule or pass it to another character so relationships shift.
Context
What to try next
Similar formats, so you can keep the rehearsal moving without stopping to search.
Items
A team round of quick gags around a given object: performers take turns stepping to center and delivering a joke or physical image, like in a "Duel." Useful for building…
Item-emotion
Two safe objects each get one vivid emotion; whoever touches an object instantly lives it. Use this format when you need to train instant emotional switching and make "c…
Animal Actors
A short-form game where actors play humans whose behavior and decisions are colored by traits of a chosen animal. Not animal impersonation — a subtle behavioral overlay …
Props
Short-form scene where each actor uses an audience volunteer as a live prop instead of objects. Trains physical invention, creative object work, and safe audience intera…
Zoom In / Zoom Out
A short-form game where the host's "Zoom in!" and "Zoom out!" calls send players instantly between full-size play and a finger-puppet miniature of the same scene — story…
Sideways
A scene game where the back wall becomes the floor and the real floor becomes a wall. Players sell the shifted gravity with full-body contact points, turning mundane act…