How to Play
Think of a symphony with people’s emotions instead of musical instruments. That’s why it’s call Emotional Symphony.
Players line up at the front of the stage. One player acts as a conductor facing the players (with his or her back to the audience).
Each player asks the audience for an emotion.
The conductor points to a player and that player makes sounds that reflect that emotion.
The conductor uses his/her gestures to mix the sounds, increases and decreases the sounds, explores rhythmic elements of the sounds and explore the range of the emotional sounds.
Variation
Play the game with different opinions about a single topic. Keep the emotional diverse.
Origin
I learned this from Jim Cranna who worked with The Committee in San Francisco in the ’60s. It was one of his favorite games to play. For those of you new to improv, The Committee was the group where Del Close was inspired to develop “The Harold.”
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