Three’s a Crowd

To begin this exercise split the group up into smaller groups of three.  You may want to do each group of three one at a time with the other members of the group as watchers.  You can do all the groups at once, but make sure that they are not close together.  This exercise is meant to be somewhat confusing and many people talking at once could make it even more so.  Put the three participants in a line like so:

Give the people on the ends two different topics to discuss with the person in the center.  Explain that the person in the center has the job of listening and conversing with both people at once.  Remind the people on the ends that they should avoid questions and try not to talk about the same thing as the other person on the end.  They should have the conversation with the person in the center as if the other person on the end did not exist.

Make sure that each person in the trio is able to be in the center.

In reverence, talk about what it was like listening to and participating in both conversations.  Did you miss important information?  Do you know what both people said?  Was it too complicated to keep up?  How was it different than a simple conversation with one person?

Adapted from:

Spolin, Viola. Theater Games for the Classroom: A Teacher’s Handbook. Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP, 1986. Print.

Great for the themes of: Simplicity, wisdom, and myth.  This could work with any theme if you provide it as the topic of conversation.