The Best Kinds of Theatre Games (and Why I Love Them So Much)

If you’ve spent more than five minutes in one of my theatre classes, you know one thing for sure: we play a lot of games.

And no—it’s not because I ran out of lesson ideas.

It’s because theatre games are one of the most powerful tools we have as educators and directors. They build confidence. They encourage creativity. They teach teamwork. They help students take risks, make bold choices, and discover what their bodies and voices can do.

Over the years, I’ve developed a few strong beliefs when it comes to theatre games:

Any game can work for any age—you just might need to adapt it a little. Preschoolers, teens, adults… the magic is in how you frame it, the pace you set, and what you’re focusing on that day. For younger performers you may need to break down the instruction or simplify, but the base of the game normally stays the same.

For the older performers it's all about how you explain and position the game. If performers believe they are in a safe space and will not be judged then even a game like duck, duck, goose can become a theatre game.

Not all theatre games serve the same purpose. That’s why I like to think of them in three big categories: Warm-Ups, Explore Games, and Audience Games.

Each one plays a different role in your class, and when you mix them together? That’s where the real magic happens.

Let’s break them down.

Warm-Up Games: Setting the Tone

Warm-up games are usually how I start a class—and for good reason.

These games help performers feel comfortable in the room, connected to each other, and ready to jump in. They set the tone for everything that follows. Sometimes we need focus. Sometimes we need big energy. Sometimes we need creativity turned all the way up.

Warm-ups can:

• Get bodies moving

• Wake up voices and brains

• Build trust in the group

• Create ensemble vibes

• Shake off nerves after a long day

• Create focus or build energy

And most importantly?

They’re FUN.

When students are laughing together in the first ten minutes of class, walls come down. Suddenly that scary idea of “performing” doesn’t feel so scary anymore. It just feels like play.

One of my favourite warm-up games is the theatre wave. Have one performer start a sound and action and every performer takes turn copying the sound and action.

It moves around the circle like a wave.

Once it gets all the way around the circle, the next performer creates a new sound and action and it goes around.

Everyone takes a turn.

Keep the pace quick and fun!

Explore Games: Learning Without Even Noticing

These might be my very favourite.

Explore games are the ones where performers are developing skills and characters… without realizing that’s what they’re doing. The focus here isn’t “do it right.” The focus is play.

Through these games, students might be:

• Building characters

• Practicing emotions

• Learning how to make strong physical choices

• Using their imagination

• Responding to others in the moment

• Discovering how status, relationships, or setting affect a scene

They think they’re just being silly.

You and I know better.

These are the games where creativity explodes. Where students surprise themselves. Where they try something new because the pressure is low and the curiosity is high. It’s joyful, messy, imaginative work—and it’s doing so much behind the scenes.

One of my favourite explore game is acting like different objects.

Its simple and easy. Have performers walk around the room and call out different objects then clap your hands or yell back to neutral in between.

Examples of objects to get started:

Bouncing ball

Tower of blocks falling down or being built

Tree in the wind

Train chugging down a track

Skis going down a hill

There are so many options, Have performers share their ideas as well.

Audience Games: Practicing Performing (and Watching!)

Then there are Audience Games—and these are so important.

These games give performers a chance to step in front of others in a way that feels safe, supportive, and low-pressure. Sometimes they’re improv-style games where students have to think on the spot. Other times they involve stepping away to practice for a few minutes, then coming back to share something prepared.

Audience games help students learn:

• How to be brave in front of people

• How to make choices and commit to them

• How to listen and react

• How to take direction

• What it means to be a respectful, encouraging audience

Because let’s not forget—being a great audience member is a theatre skill too.

Cheering for your peers. Watching closely. Staying focused. Celebrating effort. Creating a space where everyone feels safe to try.

That’s ensemble building at its finest.

One of my favourite audience games is enter the scene.

One performer starts with an action

Another performer must decide who that character is to them, where they are and what is the problem

They must say a line that shares all of that to the audience

The second performer replies with a line.

Its simple, fun and gets everyone thinking.

Why the Mix Matters

When you combine all three kinds of games in a class—warm

-ups, explore games, and audience games—you create something really special.

You start with connection. You play with imagination. You practice performing.

And before students even realize what’s happening, they’ve:

✔️ gained confidence

✔️ strengthened communication

✔️ taken creative risks

✔️ supported each other

✔️ fallen a little bit in love with theatre

Which… if you ask me… is kind of the whole point.

Whether you’re teaching tiny humans, teens, or grown-ups who secretly think they “aren’t theatre people,” games are the doorway in. They invite everyone to the stage.

And that’s why I’ll never stop playing them.