Workshop 4

Newspaper Theatre

1) Crossed Dialogue

Two people start a phone dialogue.

- Hello! Who 's speaking?
- Who do you want to speak with?
- I want to speak with “name”, that person who is always “insert an adjective or characteristic”
- This person then answers the phone with this characteristic and starts the whole process again
calling some other person to participate

TIPS:
❖ The person should try to answer while performing the characteristic with 100% intensity.

2) Dance with pauses

With music playing, everyone dances freely. When the music stops, everyone should freeze
staying in the position they were when dancing. The music turns back on and everyone returns to
dancing. Stop the music and everyone stays still. This time when the music starts again, everyone
should move closer to the camera and dance only using their arms. When the music starts again,
the group should only dance with their faces, and after that their eyes. Finally, everyone should
return to dancing with the whole bodies.

3) Boxing fight with affects

The facilitator asks for two volunteers to help explain the game. Two people should stand a few
metres apart and they need to react to the punches of the other person – as they are a distance
apart, there won’t be any physical contact. The movements can start slow to give sufficient time
for the other person to pay attention to how they react to the punch. Still using the volunteers to
explain, show that the same approach can use to show how we react to affection, with one person
showing affection through their movements and the other person reacting.

Tips:
❖ From time to time the facilitator can ask people to change pairs
❖ The exercise works best when one person attacks and the other person focuses on how to react
as it is difficult to focus on attacking and reacting at the same time. After a time, they swap roles.
❖ Each participant can discover and use new attacks or ways to show affection, creating clown-
like scenes
❖ Make sure that distance is maintained between the pairs throughout the game
❖ To do this activity online, the host or co-host should number each participant (using the three
dots on each participant’s screen) and divide the group using the numbers. Ask each participant to
‘spotlight’ their partner’s screen by clicking on the three dots on their partner’s screen and
selecting ‘Pin/Spotlight’ so they only see their partner’s screen. Participants using mobiles should
touch the screen of their partner to make sure they can only see their partner’s movements.

4) Rashomon in the news

A piece of news can be told in many ways. Inspired by Akira Kurosawa's film, in which the same
story is told by three different characters, showing that there isn't just one story, but rather three
different perspectives and each one changes the plot. News on social media and the media works
that way. Who tells the story? Whose interests are involved in this process? What is the
perception point of each one about a fact?

In this game the same situation is improvised by three different characters followed by an analysis
with the group about what they noticed. For example:
- This man stole a bean bag: Shop security guard, Witness, Man.
- She slapped him in the face: The woman, The man, A neighbour who heard.
- Coronavirus is a Chinese virus: A Chinese person, An American person, A person who’s afraid
of getting coronavirus.
- The noise comes from the neighbour's house: Mother trying to make a baby sleep, A gossipy
neighbour, The neighbour where the noise came from.
- A shop owner was mugged: Shop owner, Defense witness, Police, Mugger.

Tips:
❖ We suggest that a search of current news in the media be made with the group and that this
game is repeated to critically observe each piece of news.
❖ It is possible to make scenic creations with this game.
❖ After the game, it is important to conduct a reflection relating the experience to the production
of news. It is a good time to discuss fake news. Is it possible to establish neutrality in the
production of the news? Are there private interests in how a story is told?

5) A small news item

The group chooses a small news item (this can be a video, meme etc) to work on together. The
whole group reads/watches the news item. Divide into small groups and each group chooses
which technique they will apply to their scene. At the end everyone presents their creation that
was inspired by this news item. The format of the presentation can vary – from gif, scene, social
media video etc.

Newspaper Theatre Techniques

1. Simple reading of the news: reading through the news item with the whole group
2. Improvisation: the group improvises a scene based on the news item. They could improvise,
for example, what happened after what has been told, or the motives or scenes that happened
beforehand
3. Reading with rhythm: every rhythm has meaning, stimulates certain emotions, images or
ideas. To read with rhythm is to interpret a news item, utilising the emotions generated from
the rhythm itself.
4. Reinforcement: in this technique, a well-known news item is used – this could be jingles,
slogans, gifs, memes etc. The group could also create their own jingle, gif, slogan etc.

6) ‘Pill’ Reflection
This is a form of reflection that we use when there is not much time. Going round the circle in order,
or in numerical order if online, we ask that each participant make a ‘pill reflection’, that is, something
short, brief, with just a few sentences, but that effectively summarises what they found to be most
mobilizing for them during the workshop.
7) Word of the Day
Each person says a word about how the workshop went. The group chooses one of these words, or
even a word that has not been said yet, that best represents all the words spoken by the collective.
When doing the activity in person the group then, usually in a circle, gets closer and speaks
enthusiastically, celebrating the word chosen by the group. When working online, choose a word
and then ask everyone to move just out of view of the camera and then ‘reappear’ on screen and
celebrating the work by saying the chosen word with enthusiasm.

Workshop Series Created By:

Dr Kelly di Bertolli
Email: kellydibertolli@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-di-bertolli-45949920/

Luana Mincoff (MA)

Email: luanamincoff@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lua-mincoff-23218015/
Facebook: @lua.mincoff

Dr Victoria Jupp Kina

Email: victoria@socialresearchreimagined.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-jupp-kina-phd-02766b57/
Twitter: @vicjuppkina