Last time, I wrote about Three Pictures. This time we’re going to dive into one of my favorite improv games – Freeze and Justify. It’s one of my favorites, but it’s also one that so many people mess up. And mostly that’s because they forget about the second – and most important – part of the game. Repeat after me: You MUST justify!

Freeze and Justify

How it works:

Everyone stands in a circle. The playing area is the center of the circle. Yes, this improv game is theatre in the round. (Which makes me realize I should do a series about the different types of stages.) Two people are in the center of the circle and will create the first scene. The scene can be about literally anything, but here’s the key part. The person who starts the scene should choose an opening line that establishes two things:

1. The relationship between the two characters.
2. Where they are.

They continue the scene for a little while until one person (usually the teacher) yells “Freeze!” The goal of the person yelling freeze is to capture the actors in the most interesting physical positions possible. After they freeze, someone else from the circle taps the shoulder of the person who has been acting the longest and takes their place, assuming the exact same physical position of the person replaced. The newcomer starts a new scene that establishes a new location and a new relationship between the two characters, taking into account the the physical position they have copied. That’s the tricky part and the part that most people skip. You have to justify this (hopefully) goofy position you are starting the scene with.

Example:

Say two people are frozen and the one who has been there the longest is patting the ground with her hand. The newcomer comes in and says, “Sit right down here and let me show you how to fish like you have never fished before!”

Immediately, we know the location – near a body of water where fishing is possible – and the relationship – the expert fisherman and the novice. Plus, the actor used the physical position as part of the scene. Perfect!

The Why:

This exercise teaches students a number of important skills.

1. It teaches actors to be conscious of their body and what story it could be telling. It’s important for actors to make specific choices in terms of body placement and actions to tell the story or illuminate the character they are portraying. This game forces actors to think about this in a very specific way.
2. Like most improv games, it teaches teamwork. The actors have to work together to create an interesting scene.
3. It teaches storytelling. By forcing the actors to create a relationship and a place with one opening line, it offers actors the opportunity to practice creating the beginnings of story. Who knows? One of these beginnings may lead to writing a whole play based just on the relationship between two characters and an interesting location.

This a fun game and theatre kids generally love it. However, it’s very easy to get away from the three most important tenets of the game – justifying the physical position and establishing a place and a relationship. Oftentimes they need to reminded and given the chance to start again. If you let it go and don’t enforce those tenets, you will get far less interesting scenes, the game will drag, and they’ll have a lot less fun. And they won’t learn as much.

Note that there are lots of variations of this game. This is my favorite version.

Next up: Location Creation

And sign up your kids (if you have any) for a theatre class!