RAISE THE


STAKES

CURTAINS UP THEATER

 
 

For printable copy of RAISE THE STAKES instructions, click on the word: INSTRUCTIONS
To see a video of RAISE THE STAKES being taught, click on the word: VIDEO

  • Call for a group of three or four volunteers. Explain they will be improvising a scene with a situation you give them. Encourage them to play the scene with a strong character of some kind. 

  • Next, tell them you will be interrupting the scene three times to “raise the stakes”--that is, you will add something that makes the scene more intense. For example, if it’s a scene about  a pleasant hike through the desert, you might interrupt first by saying: Now the temperature has risen to a hundred degrees. You’re starting to get uncomfortable. Then you might interrupt a second time and say: Now it’s a hundred and ten and you’ve just discovered you’ve run out of water. You’re getting really uncomfortable. And a third time: Now it’s a hundred and twenty and you’re almost dying from heat exhaustion.

  • Explain that, with each rise in intensity, the students should commit more deeply to their characters, their emotions, and to the action of the scene–and play with more energy. No matter what happens, however, they should continue to listen and respond appropriately to each other–and avoid talking over each other.

  • After playing a first round, remind the students that with some scenes, a rise in intensity might lead to the scene getting quieter and more serious rather than noisier and louder. Also–if necessary–caution them not to raise their intensity and commitment too quickly. You will always raise the stakes on a scene three times–so they should save some intensity for the end. 

Raising the Stakes Scenarios 

(Pick a mother, a father, and two children)
It’s Christmas morning (or another holiday celebration  and the family is opening gifts.

  1. Mom just got a hundred dollar gift card from an out-of-town uncle with a note that says “Share this with the whole family”.  This is a nice surprise.

  2. Dad just opened a card from his boss. It says his bonus this year is an all expenses paid vacation for the whole family to Hawaii. This is a really great surprise.

  3. A child gets a card from Grandma with a lottery ticket. The child scratches the ticket to reveal the prize and discovers she’s won a million dollars. This is an unbelievably fantastic surprise.

It’s a snow day! It’s 30 degrees out. You and your family are at a park building a snowman. It’s fun.

  1. The temperature has dropped to 15 degrees. You’re getting cold, but it’s still fun.

  2. The temperature has dropped to zero and the wind has started to blow. You want to go home, but now the car won’t start. It’s much too cold to be fun.

  3. It’s ten below. The sun has gone down and it’s dark. You might just freeze to death if you don’t huddle together for warmth.  

You are exploring a haunted house with a group of friends. It makes you a little nervous.

  1. Now you’re in the living room where you see a spider in a web in the corner. One of you realizes it’s a poisonous spider. This makes you a little more nervous–but not too scared.

  2. Now you’re in the kitchen. You hear something inside the refrigerator that sounds like a bunch of snakes hissing. That’s definitely scary.

  3. Now you’re at the front door because you want to leave. But the door is locked and you can’t get out. Then all the lights go out and you hear a scream from the basement. This is terrifying. 

You are a group of pirates on a desert island, looking for a place to bury your treasure. You’re feeling good because your chest is full of gold–enough for everyone.

  1. Someone checks the chest. Some of the gold is missing. No one will get as much as they thought. This is annoying. 

  2. Someone examines the gold more closely. Most of it is counterfeit! This makes you angry.

  3. You look out at sea and see your ship sailing away. Your captain is stealing the real treasure and leaving you behind. This makes you furious!


  • © 2023, Friends of the Groom Theater Company

 
 

Curtains Up Curriculum by Friends of the Groom Theater Co. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Curtains Up is a training program designed for young actors sponsored by Friends of the Groom Theater Company.
It is available to the general public for free under the terms of the Creative Commons License above.