Sound and Motion Circle

Player A makes a gesture and sound to Player B on their right. Player B repeats the same gesture and sound back to Player A, then turns to Player C (on Player B’s right) and makes a sound and gesture to them. This continues around the circle, changing as it goes.

There are two ways to play this game. In one version, the receiving player mirrors the sound, then reacts to it, making a different sound and gesture to the next player. The new sound and motion should somehow draw its energy from the incoming sound.

The other way to play it – more interesting, I think – is that the receiving player tries to mirror exactly the sound and gesture they see, and then makes the same sound and gesture to the next player. Because the copies won’t be perfect, the sounds and gestures will gradually change, and drift away from the original, in a “Broken Telephone” way.

In the second version, players should try to mirror the sound and motion they just heard, not the one they saw earlier on the other side of the circle. This is an interesting metaphor for what often happens in a scene, where a player may respond to what was said a few lines back, rather than what just happened moments ago.

Another interesting problem that sometimes arises is that players, who know the sound is “supposed” to morph as it works around the circle, will try to help the process along by deliberately introducing a bigger change. This is usually quite obvious. Again, it has parallels in scenic work, where players will also try to take control of a simple, organic process.

(Also known as Accepting Circle.)