GIVE AND TAKE:
Give and take encompasses many aspects of theater, but is
best explained as the style with which the actors move the focus of what is happening on stage. It means that all focus is given to the person or persons performing, speaking or making a presentation. Students will be asked to give until it is their turn to take the focus away and bring it to themselves. Taking should be done succinctly and with purpose, or
else not at all.
In a stage environment, Give and Take is essential to creating the reality of the script, following of cues (both spoken and movement) and in enhancing the lines and movements of others. Give and Take is a constant exercise for the theater. Once it is introduced, it is always a goal.
In this game only one player is allowed to "take" a time. Taking involves movement, sound, or both. The object is to "take" while at the same time focusing on the other players in the game to ensure that when they "take" you are ready to "give." To give means, in essence, to stop taking, which in a real scene means to stop drawing attention to yourself and to facilitate the movement of focus to the player who is now taking.
Proficiency at this game is CRITICAL to effective improvisational performance. The concept of "give and take" is the foundation upon which all other games (and real theater) rely.