Paper and pens. One per group

Warm Up-

Exercise One:
1. In a group of five…

2. Form a circle.
3. Whoever is in the centre sings “do like I do”
4. Whoever is on the outer ring sings “I do, I do”
5. Whoever is on the outer ring copies whatever the inner person does.

Coming up with a Theme-

Exercise Two:

1. In your groups of five….
2. Think of some of the issues you are facing in your daily life.
3. As a group, quickly throw around (popcorn) some of these ideas.

Exercise Three:

1. In your groups of five…
2. Decide as a group which issue you are going to pick and make a story about.

Exploring Images-

Exercise Four:

1. One person takes the camera and takes a photo of the image.
2. The rest of the group creates the “Real Image”
3. The real image should show your topic that you have chosen in its current state.
4. Discuss the image.
5. Create the image.
6. Take a picture of the image.

Exercise Five:

1. One person has the camera to take a photo of the image.
2. The rest of the group creates the “Ideal Image”.
3. “The Ideal Image” represents what society would look like if your chosen particular issue didn’t exist.
4. Discuss the image.
5. Create the image.
6. Take a picture of the image.

Exercise Six:

1. One person has the camera to take a photo of the image.
2. The rest of the group creates the “Transitional Image”.
3. The transitional image answers the question, what would need to happen for the real image to become the ideal image.
4. Discuss the transitional image.
5. Create the image.
6. Take a photo of the image.

• The picture taker puts down the camera and finds a place for themselves in the image.

Exercise Seven:

1. Find yourself in the “transitional image”.
2. Each person has the opportunity to state their character in the image.
3. State your character’s name, age, and role in the story.
4. Someone write down your “cast list”.

Exercise Eight:

1. In your groups of five…
2. Have your pen and paper ready.
3. Two characters step into the centre of your circle and improvise and create a scenario.
4. Your improvisation should be about the lead up to the transitional image.
5. Improvise to create dialogue and drama between your characters.
6. Rehearse until you are happy.
7. Once you are happy write down your script.

Exercise Nine:

1. In your groups of five…
2. Now find other scenes by pairing other characters together.
3. Keep doing this until you have three scenes written down.
4. Rehearse, refine and polish before you write them down.

Exercise Ten:

1. Take your three scenes and play them out back to back.
2. Discuss with your group whether you’re missing scenes.
3. Discuss what scenes would help, and then create them.
4. Improvise with a new character to create the new scenes.
5. Rehearse and polish before writing them down.

Putting it all together-

Exercise Eleven:

1. Go through your entire play.
2. Pick up and explore the things that are working.
3. Throw out the things that aren’t.
4. Play, experiment, have fun.

Kgomotso “MoMo” Matsunyane has been a professional actor since 2004. She obtained an Honours Degree in Dramatic Arts from Wits University in 2012, majoring in Performance as well as Film and Television.

MoMo has performed in numerous plays, films and television shows and has subsequently been nominated for several awards including: Best Actress in A Leading Role (Have You Seen Zandile?; Naledi Theatre Awards), Best Supporting Role (Tsotsi The Musical; Fleur Du Cap Awards) as well as Best Supporting Actress (Animal Farm; SA Theatre Magazine Awards).  She has won Best Supporting Actress (Ankobia; SA Theatre Magazine Awards), Best Ensemble and Best Production for Young Audiences (Animal Farm; Naledi Theatre Awards) and Best Ensemble for TAU which she co-directed. She has most recently been nominated for two Naledi Theatre Awards for Best Production: Independent Fringe for Unlearn and Dick Or Date?  Both produced under her company MoMo Matsunyane Productions in 2019 which she also wrote and starred in.

Matsunyane has also worked on television shows like Thetha Msawawa 2, Dreamworld S1 and 2, Mamello S1, numerous Mzansi Magic films and most recently as a resident sketcher on #Karektas S2 in 2020. Her film work includes a cameo role in Ayanda directed by acclaimed director Sara Blecher and a supporting lead role in The Call, directed by award winning director, Zamo Mkhwanazi. It went on to win the Best International Film at the Rapid Lion International Film Festival in 2018.