Switch Change

This is a more complicated but equally entertaining version of Character-Switch. It requires four players. Two are in the scene, and two stand at the back. You also need a caller—usually fifth player, but you could use an audience member.

As with Character Switch, the game works well if you start by defining two characters who are very different from each other – eg, an American oil tycoon and a Cockney flower girl. If players have a favourite character, this is a good time to use it – it can be entertaining seeing others try to imitate the character.

If you start with a man and women performing, each playing a character of their own sex, it’s fun to see switches which force them to play the opposite sex.

An additional player or audience volunteer calls “Switch” or “Change.” A microphone helps. If you don’t have one, be loud. Players are often so wrapped up in their scene that they may not hear a call.

On the call of “Switch,” the two onstage players switch places, each playing the other person’s character.

On the call of “Change,” the players at the back immediately step forward and replace the player closest to them. Try to take over the scene seamlessly, continuing from the same word in the sentence where the previous person left off.

Variations

Adding a genre also works well—for example, a Switch-Change in a 1940s film noir detective genre, where the actor playing the hard-boiled detective must suddenly become the femme fatale.