Tool: Role-play
A role-play is a way of practicing life skills and stimulating imagination
A role-play is a way of practicing life skills and stimulating imagination. Adolescents can use the role-play approach to improvise and to explore different situations, ideas and possibilities.
Adolescents are more likely to be creative with role-plays if there are consistent rules and cues. As they become more confident, adolescents can take turns to direct the action, using the cues below. (These can be changed to words that are more culturally familiar if that’s helpful).
Action!
The volunteer actors begin to improvise and act.
Enter!
A new character enters the scene.
Freeze!
All of the actors stop moving and speaking while the audience discusses what has happened. This can be an opportunity for audience members to give the actors advice on what to do or say at this moment in the action.
Swap!
After a freeze and some discussion, an actor can be replaced by another adolescent.
Rewind!
After a freeze and some discussion, the actors go back to an earlier moment in their improvisation and continue with a new approach (possibly one suggested by the audience).
Pause for applause!
After a freeze, or at any moment, the audience can show appreciation and encourage the actors by applauding them.
Curtain!
Use this cue to end a scene when it seems appropriate.
Always end with applause from the audience and an opportunity for the actors to bow.
Variation: fishbowl role-play
Imagine the role-play takes place in a large fishbowl where the adolescents are both the audience and potential actors. While the actors perform the role-play in an inner circle, the others stand or sit in an outer circle and can jump in and swap places with an actor. (But make sure that the actors in the inner circle are ready to change places). In this way more adolescents can participate in the role-play and make it livelier.
Remember, role-plays are not acting competitions. The goal is to experiment with different ways of handling situations.
Highlights
A role-play is a way of practicing life skills and stimulating imagination. Adolescents can use the role-play approach to improvise and to explore different situations, ideas and possibilities.
Adolescents are more likely to be creative with role-plays if there are consistent rules and cues. As they become more confident, adolescents can take turns to direct the action, using the cues below. (These can be changed to words that are more culturally familiar if that’s helpful).
