When working remotely, maintaining a high energy level and an elevated mood is significant to ensure the quality of work. Managers must make sure their team can achieve the same level of engagement and the camaraderie that comes from working collectively. This is especially critical after shifting to a remote or hybrid work model.
Virtual theatre games, in this instance, prove to be a critical tool when trying to uplift energy and moods from a distance. Games of such nature often improve teamwork, focus, and more. Below are virtual theatre games that you can play at work in groups.
Alien, Tiger, Cow
This is a theatre virtual game that a performing group can easily play with the help of a virtual conferencing platform such as zoom or more. This is simply a more active version of rock paper scissors. Ultimately, it replaces rock paper scissors with alien tiger and cow.
Instead of using your hands, this theatre virtual game invites people to use their entire bodies when imitating aliens, tigers, and cows. Furthermore, this game also differs from rock paper scissors in regards to the motive. In rock paper scissors, you are trying to get each other out so that you can win.
On the other hand, this is a collaboration and teamwork game, in which you are trying to match the body signals. Playing this game is simple, as all you have to do is turn your backs to the camera, and then jump up and around facing it on the count of three while picking the option of your choice.
This game also requires teammates to be looking at each other’s screens so you should have a gallery view option for this one. Your goal would be to try and anticipate what the whole group is going to do, and you have to go multiple rounds until every group member does it the same.
Hot Spot
This game can ultimately be an incredible way to warm up and refresh a group. The goal of initializing this virtual theatre game is to use the power of singing to warm up a team. In this game, a player begins by singing a particular song. The other members are then left to listen to the person singing the song and jump in by raising their hand.
The only reason they have to jump in is that they have found another song that somehow correlates to the previous lyrics, or it is somewhat related to it. The relationship between songs can either correlate with the previous topic or even a continuation of what is being talked about in the previous song lyric.
This highly engaging and enjoyable game continues until most of the team members have jumped in and contributed their part to the game. Singing out loud is proven to elevate moods and improve emotional health. Performing alongside a group can further increase benefits and infuse a level of teamwork into the mix.
Why Were You Late?
This is an improved game that you can easily play over a virtual platform. When playing this game, you have to assign one person as the late coworker and you have to send them away. If you are playing this game on zoom, you can send the particular person away by going up the top right-hand corner of their icon. You click on the three dots and you will find an option that allows you to “Send to the waiting room”
This will allow you to send them away so that they can’t hear what you are planning. Once you send the late coworker away on zoom, you and the rest of the group get to begin the discussion. If you are the facilitator of the game, then you will be the boss.
The first thing that a group will decide is the place of work, and the second thing that you have to decide with the group is the cause of the coworker being late. You can set this up as a scene and have the team explain to your frustrating anger as to why the particular person is late.
Once you and the team have decided why the person was late, then you can get the latecomer back to the group. This is then followed by you, (the facilitator) asking why the latecomer was not on time. You can then ask the boss about the questions in the group, while the rest of them are pantomiming the reasons why the person was late.
When conducting this virtual game, it is really important to be very clear about the order in which these prompts and questions will go. This is a fun game in which the latecomer will have to rely on the teams pantomiming skills, and the team will have to rely on the latecomer's sharpness to comprehend the actions and get figure out the right story.
On the Nose
This is a virtual theatre game that allows people to get their bodies moving and also offers an opportunity for people to partner work. This can be challenging to do on a virtual conferencing platform. However, a gallery view can help with the process.
In this game, one person in the group is the leader, while the rest are the followers. The leader has to move their hands, while the followers have to pretend that there is a string connecting their hands with the nose.
The person who is the leader, therefore, has the power to challenge the partners and make them do weird things by simply moving their hands. This is because the partners have to move their bodies and face according to the hand of the leader. Pinning the video can be helpful when playing this game.
Follow the Leader
This game is pretty much self-explanatory and incorporates team-building among team members. It does not require a large group of theatre artists to divide into smaller groups. This virtual theatre game puts an interesting twist on the conventional follow-the-leader game. While the ensemble follows the leader’s movements and actions, the person observing the group does not have to point out a flawed follower but instead has to figure out who the leader is.
To initialize this theatre exercise, you have to begin by assigning one person from the group to be the guesser. Once you have done that, you have to make sure you have blinded the guesser from the group’s discussions. To do this, you can either ask them to put on a blindfold or you can make them turn away from the group. Once the guesser cannot see the group’s activities, the team is supposed to choose a leader within the group.
After choosing a suitable leader, the leader will set the group's movements to follow. These discussions and planning are to be done discreetly by either using an online chat platform or passing it around on a piece of paper. The leader then initiates a motion while the rest of the team mimics the movements.
Keep in mind that all of this has to happen on a virtual platform, so each team member has to follow their colleagues so that the leader stays unidentified by the guesser. While all of this happens, the guesser looks on vigilantly from the screen to find the leader. A gallery view on zoom would facilitate this exercise fairly well.
Machine
This virtual theater game exhibits a need for teamwork and collaboration and perpetuates the need for focus. The goal of this game is for a team to embody a rhythmic machine that works effortlessly in synchrony with each other. The game begins with the first student making a noise and a gesture. When the student finds a rhythm, other team members have to start correlating to their idea and find noises and gestures that can tag along with the first movement.
You have to then assign numbers to the rest of the team members, and you can call their numbers out so that each team member can instantaneously respond to the gestures. A leader lowers and raises their hand to change the motion and speed of the machine. If both hands are raised, the machine is supposed to explode. This virtual theatre game can easily be performed with the help of any virtual conferencing application. However, it requires each student to either have wireless earphones for mobility or a good stereo system for voice quality.
Final Thoughts
Many virtual theatre games exist to help you organize for an ensemble. They require little effort and have a huge impact on each team member's focus, collaboration, energy, and mood. Not only that, but they are also pivotal in refining the improvisational skills of the teams.
