Acting class help!?

Question:Usually I am pretty good with coming up with scenes...but for my acting class my teacher wants us to do a scene without speaking. Both characters have to have an objective but there is an obstacle that my partner and I have to attempt to conquer three times. We can have props, but since we can't speak, we have to be able to SHOW by our actions what our obstacle is and what our objectives are. Any ideas? We also have to have music, but the music is just to set the tone of the scene, not tell the story. It only has to be a minute long.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Usually I am pretty good with coming up with scenes...but for my acting class my teacher wants us to do a scene without speaking. Both characters have to have an objective but there is an obstacle that my partner and I have to attempt to conquer three times. We can have props, but since we can't speak, we have to be able to SHOW by our actions what our obstacle is and what our objectives are. Any ideas? We also have to have music, but the music is just to set the tone of the scene, not tell the story. It only has to be a minute long.

Oh what a fun exercise! Vaudeville was built on this sort of thing.

I agree with Em - you should just come up with something simple. The simpler, the better.

Look at Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and even Mr. Noodle from Sesame Street and Mr. Bean - they usually don't speak - or if they do, it's very little. And the comedy comes from these characters having problems doing something very simple.

The first thing I thought of was...

OBJECTIVE: Taking off your coat and hanging it up

What problems could a person who wants to take off their coat have?
They could forget to unbutton or unzip it first.
The zipper could get stuck.
They don't have enough room to spread their arms out.
Their sleeve is tight and they can't get it over their hand.
Their wrist watch gets stuck halfway up on the lining of the coat.
They pull the sleeve inside out.
They have a purse or a bag or backpack on that's preventing them from removing the coat.
Everything falls out of their pockets as they try to take the coat off.
They accidentally take off their over-shirt or sweater along with the coat.
Somehow they end up with the coat back on, but inside out.

Those are just some ideas - I'm sure you could come up with much much more. And that's only getting the coat off. We haven't even touched on the problems of hanging it up.

If you wanted to have a partner in the scene, they could enter later and want to sit down. Maybe you want to take your coat off and put it on the chair.

You can see now, how even just a simple thing can have complications. You don't have to use this scenario, but it's here to spark your imagination. What is the simplest thing you could do - and what worst case scenarios can turn it into something difficult? Enjoy! Be creative about it.

Good luck!

One time, when I was at acting camp.
They gave us this script.
It said "It's time."
And a few other lines.
We had to put the emotion into it.
Set the scene.
and pick the props.
Me and my friend made a pregnancy scene.
The lady was about to POP!
That's always fun to do :)
Stuffing yourself with clothes and stuff would do the trick.
It's be easy to act out to.
It's pretty unique, most wouldn't think of it :D.

Jamie ?

Pick a simple objective and a simple obstacle. Then use the props to build on it and make it more complicated. You can take something like getting to the other side of a 'river' and have your obstacle be that there's hole in your boat. You can be paddleing and using a bucket to get the water out of the boat. If you take something simple you can rely on your acting skills to tell the story. Hope I helped!