The Whoosh became one of our favorite activities in Shakespeare Club. It is a fantastic tool for introducing the plot of Shakespeare play as well as loosening up the actors and really getting those dramatic muscles moving.
The Whoosh is an activity developed by Dr. Joe Winston of Warwick University. It is now used and recommnded by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe in their educational programs.
The basic idea is that you put your actors in a circle and a narrator reads a basic plot summary of each act. Each time a new character is mentioned, you tap a new actor on the head to take on that role. Depending on the script you use, the actor might read a line you hand them. For the most part, they are simply miming out the actions they hear described by the narrator. At a certain point, the narrator will say “Whoosh” and everyone returns to the circle. The next act continues and most likely the actors will take on a different role.
My best piece of advice is to repeat the Whoosh several times and perhaps return to it week after week, because the participants will become more comfortable and have more fun with it.
Here are some videos of a Whoosh in action.
Happily, many Whoosh scripts exists online.
The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Birthplace)
The Tempest (Shakespeare’s Birthplace)
The Whoosh Book (Drama Resource–for purchase)
You can also check resources such as teacherspayteachers.com to purchase Whoosh scripts for typically a nominal fee.
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