Balladeer

• Objective: One person sings a ballad while other players act out the song as it is sung
• Instructions:
  • One singing improviser, two or three actors, and one accompanist needed
  • The singer sings a ballad based on an audience suggestion, painting a story
  • The actors play what the singer is singing about, in slow motion
• Example:
  • Singer: “Can I get a suggestion of anything at all?”
  • Audience: “Bike”
  • *Accompanist starts playing*
  • Singer: “Once there was a bike so looooooong”
  • Actors: *Pantomime getting on a long bike*
  • Singer: “And a bike rider so strooooooong”
  • Actors: *One flexes to indicate they will play the biker*
  • *Keep the ballad going until some narrative climax occurs*
• Notes:
  • The singer should give rich imagery and action in their song.
  • The actors should be a bit dramatic in their acting and should pay attention to all the details conveyed by the singer.
  • The singer affects the actors, but the actors should influence the singer, too.