Absurdist workbook (in progress)

In this workshop series, you’ll be playing a sequence of drama games. You won’t be told the final style we’re aiming for until the end. Trust the process: play boldly, reflect honestly, and notice how it feels to work in these unusual ways.

---

Session 1 – Breaking Language & Logic

1. Gibberish Conversations

Task: In pairs, have a serious conversation using only gibberish.

You can’t use real words.

Use tone, rhythm, gestures, and facial expression to show meaning.

Reflection:

How did you try to make yourself understood?

Did your partner “understand” even without words?

---

2. Broken Telephone (Illogical Version)

Task: Play “Chinese whispers” — but each time, deliberately misinterpret the sentence.

E.g. “The cat is on the roof” → “The hat is on the soup.”

Reflection:

How did the meaning change?

Was it frustrating, funny, or both?

---

3. Circular Conversations

Task: In groups of 3–4, hold a conversation about something trivial (e.g., lunch, the weather).

Every line must bring you back to the starting point.

The conversation must go on… and on… and on.

Reflection:

How did it feel to circle back endlessly?

Was there humour in the repetition?

---

---

Session 2 – Waiting, Ritual, Contradiction

4. Waiting Without Purpose

Task: In pairs, imagine you’re waiting for something important — but you don’t know what.

First in silence.

Then add small, meaningless bits of dialogue.

Reflection:

What did you notice about the feeling of time passing?

Did you feel tension? Boredom? Comedy?

---

5. Illogical Questions & Answers

Task: One partner only asks questions, the other only answers — but answers must never make sense.

Q: “What time is it?”

A: “The fish wore a hat.”

Reflection:

What happened when logic disappeared from the dialogue?

Did it create humour, frustration, or confusion?

---

6. Status Freeze (Contradictions)

Task: Create freeze-frames of everyday scenes (e.g., job interview, dinner).

Add dialogue that completely contradicts what your bodies show.

Reflection:

What effect does it create when words and actions don’t match?

Did the audience laugh or feel uncomfortable?

---

---

Session 3 – Absurdist Structures

7. Repetition Improvisations

Task: In pairs, you may only use 1–2 lines (e.g., “Shall we go?” / “We can’t.”).

Build a whole scene using repetition, tone, and physicality.

Reflection:

How much meaning can you create from so little text?

Did it ever feel pointless? Funny? Strange?

---

8. The Endless Game

Task: In groups of 3–4, invent a “ritual game” with rules.

The rules keep changing arbitrarily.

The game must continue without an end.

Reflection:

How did it feel to play a game that never finished?

Did the “rules” give it meaning — or not?

---

---

Final Reflection – The Reveal

You’ve just explored:

Nonsense language

Circular conversations

Waiting without resolution

Contradictions between words and actions

Repetition and ritual

Meaningless games

This is the world of Theatre of the Absurd.

Last questions:

Which activity felt the strangest to you? Why?

Which activity was the funniest? Why?

How do these games comment on human life, routines, or communication?

---

Extension

Performance challenge: In groups, create a 3–5 minute sketch using at least two techniques from the workbook.

Journal challenge: Write about how Absurdist theatre might reflect the human condition.

---

Absurdist Theatre

a progression of 8 games

each explained with mechanics, learning goals, and how it links to the next:

---

1. Gibberish Conversations

How it works: In pairs, students have a conversation but may only speak in gibberish (nonsense sounds). They must rely on tone, rhythm, and gesture to convey meaning.
Skill focus: Removes reliance on logical language; emphasises rhythm, sound, and body language.
Why first: It loosens them up and disrupts their instinct for logical dialogue.
Progression to next: Having discovered “nonsense speech,” they can now explore how meaning shifts when logic is stripped away.

---

2. Broken Telephone (Illogical Version)

How it works: Like “Chinese whispers,” but each student must deliberately misinterpret or distort the message before passing it on. Example: “The cat is on the roof” becomes “The hat is on the soup.”
Skill focus: Breakdown of logical communication, playful distortion of meaning.
Link forward: Shows how language can disintegrate, preparing for games that explore futility and circularity.

---

3. Circular Conversations

How it works: In groups of 3–4, students hold a conversation where each line must somehow bring the conversation back to the starting point. Example: they argue about where to go for lunch, but it always circles back to “Maybe we should just stay here.”
Skill focus: Repetition, circularity, futility.
Progression: Students see how conversations can loop pointlessly — a hallmark of Absurdist dialogue.

---

4. Waiting Without Purpose

How it works: In pairs, students are told: “You’re waiting for something important. You don’t know what. You must keep waiting, even if nothing happens.” No dialogue at first, just physical action.
Skill focus: Stillness, awkwardness, anticipation without resolution.
Link forward: Introduces the core Absurdist theme of waiting for meaning. Next, add dialogue to see how characters fill the emptiness.

---

5. Illogical Questions & Answers

How it works: One student can only ask questions, the other can only answer — but the answers must never logically connect to the questions.

• Q: “What time is it?”
• A: “The fish wore a hat.”
  Skill focus: Disjointed dialogue, randomness, frustration, humour.
  Progression: Builds confidence in playing with illogic and keeping a straight face.

---

6. Status Freeze (Contradictions)

How it works: A freeze-frame exercise where a pair improvises a situation (e.g. job interview, lovers quarrel), but their words contradict their physicality. For example: sitting in defeated postures while saying “I’ve never felt stronger in my life.”
Skill focus: Disjunction between action and language.
Progression: This deepens the Absurdist sense of dissonance between what’s said and what’s shown.

---

7. Repetition Improvisations

How it works: Two actors are only allowed to use one or two lines (e.g., “Shall we go?” / “We can’t.”). They must build an entire scene using repetition, changes in tone, and physicality.
Skill focus: Rhythm, futility, comedy through monotony.
Progression: Prepares them for Absurdist scripts that use limited language for big effect.

---

8. The Endless Game

How it works: In groups of 3–4, students invent a game or ritual (e.g., clapping, chanting, passing an imaginary object) that seems to have rules, but those rules keep changing arbitrarily. The game must continue forever without conclusion.
Skill focus: Arbitrary rules, futility, invented ritual.
Culmination: They have now touched on key features of Absurdism: nonsense language, circular dialogue, futility, waiting, arbitrary ritual, contradictions.

---

Final Step: Revelation & Connection

After these games, you reveal: “Congratulations. You’ve just been working in the style of the Theatre of the Absurd.” Then show them extracts from Beckett, Ionesco, or Pinter — they’ll recognise the patterns they’ve already experienced in their bodies.

---

W