Using emotions in drama is fundamental to the development of characterisation, storytelling, and performance skills. By engaging with a wide range of emotional stimuli, students learn to inhabit diverse emotional states, deepening their understanding of human experience. This comprehensive guide offers a structured approach to integrating emotional exploration into the Drama classroom, providing teachers with various activities that encourage students to connect with, express, and reflect on their emotional responses in a creative environment.

The guide is divided into three distinct categories: Drama Games, Improvisation Exercises, and Extended Activities, each designed to target different aspects of emotional expression and development. The activities range from simple, immediate exercises like “Emotion Statues,” which focus on physicality, to more complex and layered exercises like “Emotion Layering,” which require students to navigate and portray multiple emotional states simultaneously.

Accompanying these activities is an alphabetically ordered table of 150 emotions, each with a brief definition, offering educators a valuable resource to inspire and challenge their students. This guide aims to equip drama teachers with the tools to foster emotional intelligence, creativity, and expressive capability in their students, ultimately enriching their dramatic practice and performance skills.

Using Emotions in Drama: 10 Drama Games

Emotion Snap

• Objective: Quickly identify and express emotions.
• Description: The teacher prepares a set of cards with different emotions written on them. Two students face each other with a deck of emotion cards. They take turns flipping a card and must quickly express the emotion on the card through facial expressions and body language. The first to accurately express the emotion wins the card. The game continues until all cards are used, and the student with the most cards wins.

Emotion Charades

• Objective: Guess emotions through silent performance.
• Description: Similar to traditional charades, but with a focus on emotions. A student picks an emotion card from a stack and acts out the emotion without speaking. The rest of the class guesses which emotion is being portrayed. This game encourages students to think about how emotions can be expressed non-verbally.

Emotion Circle

• Objective: Encourage quick emotional transitions and group dynamics.
• Description: Students stand in a circle, and one person starts by stepping into the middle and expressing an emotion through a short phrase or gesture. The next person in the circle quickly steps in, “overriding” the first emotion with a contrasting emotion, and so on around the circle. The challenge is to transition quickly and keep the energy flowing.

Emotion Pictionary

• Objective: Visually express and identify emotions.
• Description: In teams, students take turns drawing an emotion on a whiteboard or large piece of paper, while their teammates try to guess the emotion. This game combines artistic skills with emotional understanding and encourages students to think creatively about how to depict emotions visually.

Emotion Relay

• Objective: Pass an emotion through a group in a fun and engaging way.
• Description: Students form two lines. The first person in each line is given an emotion by the teacher. They must turn to the next person in line and pass the emotion through a gesture or facial expression, who then passes it to the next, and so on until it reaches the last person. The last person must guess what emotion was passed. This game is fast-paced and emphasizes teamwork and communication.

Emotion Detective

• Objective: Identify hidden emotions in a group.
• Description: One student leaves the room while the rest of the class decides on an emotion to display subtly. The “detective” student returns and must identify the emotion by observing the group’s behaviour. This game teaches students to pick up on subtle emotional cues and work together to convey a unified emotion.

Emotional Statues

• Objective: Freeze in position to reflect an emotion.
• Description: The teacher calls out an emotion, and students must immediately freeze in a statue that represents that emotion. After a few moments, the teacher or a chosen student walks around the statues, tapping one to “unfreeze” and bring the emotion to life in a short, exaggerated movement. This game is quick, engaging, and helps students think on their feet.

Emotion Speed-Dating

• Objective: Quickly switch between different emotions in short interactions.
• Description: Students form two lines facing each other. Each pair has 30 seconds to interact while expressing an assigned emotion. After 30 seconds, one line shifts down, and new pairs are formed with a new emotion to express. The game is fast-paced and encourages students to quickly adapt to different emotional contexts.

Emotion Clap

• Objective: Respond instantly to emotional prompts.
• Description: Students stand in a circle, and the teacher stands in the centre. The teacher claps and points to a student, calling out an emotion. That student must instantly express the emotion through a facial expression or gesture. The teacher continues around the circle, speeding up the pace to increase the challenge. This game helps students improve their reflexes and ability to express emotions under pressure.

Emotion Musical Chairs

• Objective: Combine the excitement of musical chairs with emotional expression.
• Description: Like traditional musical chairs, students walk around a circle of chairs while music plays. When the music stops, they must quickly find a chair. The twist is that each time a student sits down, they must express a specific emotion assigned by the teacher (e.g., joy, anger, surprise). This game is lively and combines physical activity with emotional expression.

Using Emotions in Drama: 10 Improvisation Exercises

Emotion Under Pressure

• Objective: Practice sustaining emotions under challenging circumstances.
• Description: Students are given a seemingly simple task (e.g., solving a puzzle, packing a suitcase) but must complete it while maintaining a strong emotional state (e.g., panic, joy, sorrow). The challenge lies in sustaining the emotion throughout the task and allowing it to influence their behaviour. This exercise can be extended by adding external obstacles or interactions with other characters, intensifying the pressure.

Emotion Shifts

• Objective: Explore fluid emotional transitions.
• Description: In pairs, students improvise a scene where their emotional state must shift every time a bell rings, a light flashes, or the teacher gives a signal. The shifts should be smooth and logical within the context of the scene, requiring students to think quickly and adapt. After the improvisation, pairs can discuss how they managed the transitions and what strategies they used to stay in character.

Emotion Pairing

• Objective: Develop contrasting emotional dynamics.
• Description: Students are paired and each assigned a contrasting emotion (e.g., one is calm, the other is furious). They must improvise a scene where these contrasting emotions drive the interaction. The exercise explores how emotions clash, blend, or transform within a relationship and how characters might influence each other’s emotional states.

Emotion Heightening

• Objective: Explore escalating emotional intensity.
• Description: Students begin an improvised scene with a mild emotional state (e.g., slight annoyance) and gradually heighten it to an extreme (e.g., full-blown rage) as the scene progresses. The focus is on the slow build-up and the subtle cues that signal the increasing intensity of the emotion. This exercise teaches students to control their emotional expression and avoid jumping too quickly to the extreme.

Emotion Substitution

• Objective: Explore how emotions alter context.
• Description: Students are given a neutral scene (e.g., ordering coffee, meeting a friend) and assigned an unexpected emotion (e.g., fear, love, anger). They must play the scene with this emotion, revealing how it changes the interaction and the subtext of the dialogue. Afterwards, the class discusses how the chosen emotion influenced the scene and how different emotions might lead to different outcomes.

Emotion Soundscape

• Objective: Explore the auditory expression of emotions and how sound can evoke emotional responses.
• Description: Students are divided into small groups, and each group is assigned a specific emotion (e.g., fear, happiness, tension). The task is to create a “soundscape” using only their voices, body percussion, or found objects. Each group should focus on how to use sound to convey their assigned emotion without using any words. After the groups have created their soundscapes, they perform them for the class. The rest of the class listens with their eyes closed and tries to identify the emotion being portrayed.

Emotional Confrontation

• Objective: Explore direct emotional conflict.
• Description: In pairs, students are assigned conflicting emotions (e.g., one feels betrayed, the other feels guilt) and must improvise a confrontation based on these emotions. The focus is on maintaining the integrity of their emotional state while responding to the other’s emotional cues. This exercise helps students explore the complexity of emotional conflict and the power dynamics involved.

Emotion Memory

• Objective: Draw on personal emotional experiences.
• Description: Students recall a past emotional experience and use it as a foundation for an improvised scene. They are encouraged to relive the emotion in a different context, helping them connect personal feelings with character work. This exercise deepens emotional authenticity and helps students explore how their personal experiences can inform their acting.

Emotion in the Moment

• Objective: Stay present with an emotional state.
• Description: Students are placed in a high-stakes situation (e.g., receiving devastating news, making a life-changing decision) and assigned a specific emotion (e.g., desperation, joy, confusion). They must improvise the scene while fully committing to the assigned emotion, staying present and reactive to the unfolding events. This exercise sharpens students’ ability to remain emotionally engaged and spontaneous.

Emotion Echo

• Objective: Practise emotional mimicry and reaction.
• Description: In pairs, one student performs a short emotional monologue, focusing on a specific emotion (e.g., sorrow, anger, excitement). The other student then immediately improvises a response that either echoes or contrasts with the original emotion. The exercise explores emotional influence and reaction, encouraging students to listen deeply and respond authentically to their partner’s emotional cues.

Using Emotions in Drama: 10 Extended Tasks

Emotion Diaries

• Objective: Develop emotional depth and continuity in character.
• Description: Students create a diary for a character, writing daily entries that explore the character’s emotions over time. These diaries can cover significant life events or mundane daily activities, with the focus on how the character’s emotional landscape evolves. Once the diaries are complete, students use them to inform improvisations or scripted scenes, ensuring that the character’s emotional journey is consistent and rich.

Emotional Journey Mapping

• Objective: Understand emotional arcs in narratives.
• Description: Students map out the emotional journey of a character throughout a story, play, or film. They identify key moments where emotions shift, intensify, or diminish, and explore the causes and effects of these changes. The map can be visual, with peaks and valleys representing emotional highs and lows. Students then use the map as a guide for rehearsals or improvisations, ensuring that their portrayal of the character’s emotional arc is coherent and impactful.

Emotion and Setting

• Objective: Explore the impact of setting on emotion.
• Description: Students are given a setting (e.g., a deserted beach, a bustling city, a dark forest) and must create a scene where the setting influences their characters’ emotions. They explore how the environment might heighten feelings of fear, calm, excitement, or loneliness. The exercise can be extended by changing the setting mid-scene, forcing the characters to adapt their emotions to the new environment.

Emotion and Object

• Objective: Use objects as emotional triggers.
• Description: Each student is given an object (e.g., a letter, a photograph, a piece of jewellery) that holds emotional significance for their character. They create a monologue or scene where the object’s emotional impact is explored. The object might trigger memories, desires, or conflicts, and students must convey the depth of these emotions through their interactions with the object.

Emotion Layering

• Objective: Develop complex emotional states.
• Description: Students work on a scene where they must layer multiple emotions (e.g., anger mixed with sorrow, love tinged with guilt) and explore how these layers affect their character’s behaviour and decisions. The exercise challenges students to portray emotional complexity and to avoid playing a single emotion in a one-dimensional way. After the scene, students discuss how they managed the layers and what strategies helped them maintain emotional depth.

Emotion and Conflict Resolution

• Objective: Explore emotional approaches to conflict.
• Description: Students create a scene where a conflict must be resolved. Each student is assigned an emotion that guides their approach to resolving the conflict (e.g., one character tries to resolve it with empathy, another with anger). The exercise explores how different emotional strategies can lead to different outcomes, and how emotions can either escalate or de-escalate conflict.

Emotion Through Time

• Objective: Explore emotional changes over time.
• Description: Students create a scene where a character experiences the same situation at different points in time (e.g., childhood, adolescence, adulthood). They explore how the character’s emotional response changes with age and experience, and what factors influence these changes. This exercise helps students understand the fluid nature of emotions and how they evolve over a lifetime.

Emotion Collage

• Objective: Create a multi-faceted emotional narrative.
• Description: Students work in groups to create a “collage” of scenes, each exploring a different emotion (e.g., joy, fear, anger, love). These scenes are then woven together into a cohesive performance piece that showcases a range of emotional experiences. The collage can be thematic, with each scene representing a different aspect of a central theme (e.g., different stages of grief or the emotional impact of a shared event).

Emotion and Music

• Objective: Explore the influence of music on emotions.
• Description: Students are given a piece of music and asked to create a scene or monologue inspired by the emotions evoked by the music. They perform the piece with and without the music, discussing how the presence of music changes their emotional expression and the overall tone of the scene. This exercise helps students understand how music can amplify or alter the emotional impact of a performance.

Emotion Reflection

• Objective: Analyse and reflect on emotional performance.
• Description: After performing an emotionally charged scene or monologue, students reflect on their performance in writing or discussion. They consider what worked, what was challenging, and how they can further develop their emotional expression in future work. This reflection helps students to critically evaluate their emotional range and to identify areas for growth in their acting skills.

150 Emotions for Drama Games, Exercises and Activities