Activities
A NO TO A “NO”
Number of participants
Objectives
● To increase storytelling capacity.
● To improve group cooperation.
● To tackle the understanding of boundaries and acceptance.
Where does the activity take place within the process (beginning, middle, end)
Duration
Material needed
Preparation
Prepare the room/space so that it is as spacious as it can be, without obstacles.
Step by step description
1. Ask the participants to stand and create a circle.
2. Select two participants who will have an acting role in the first scene.
3. Ask the others to define:
– Place
– Relationship between the two
– The person who is not allowed to say “no”
4. The two actors have to take into account what others have defined. The person who wasn’t selected for not saying “no” starts the scene with an idea. An important part of the idea is that it should include the other, for example, a suggestion of what they could be doing together.
5. No matter how outrageous the idea is, the person who is not allowed to say “no” must accept the idea and follow the lead of their co-actor.
6. Actors have a maximum of 5 minutes to conclude the scene.
7. When they finish the scene, they should reverse the roles of who is to say “no”.
8. Public sets a new scene and new relationship.
9. They act as a scene, with the other person permitted to say “no”.
10. After they finish two other actors should be selected and the exercises is repeated agains until everyone has a turn in both roles.
Closing up
After everyone has had a chance to act in both roles, ask the participants:
● In which situation they felt more comfortable. The person with an idea or the person who had to accept it?