Dismissal
A short role-play: one actor is the director who fires subordinates one by one, inventing their offense from two audience-supplied letters. Useful for training status contrast, quick thinking, and clear, playable formulations.
Players
2–8
Difficulty
Beginner
Full description
Setup and Launch
Assign one actor as the director. The rest are subordinates who enter one at a time. Before each entry, the audience (or the group) calls out two letters; the director must immediately come up with a specific offense starting with those letters (example: "L, I — licked an iguana"). Ask for short, clear formulations and a strong contrast in status.
Flow
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Get two letters from the audience and repeat them clearly aloud so the whole team holds them.
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The subordinate enters. The director immediately states the accusation as a short two-word phrase based on the given letters and sets the scene's tone (businesslike, official, confident).
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The subordinate briefly reacts or makes excuses; encourage clear actions and physical specificity. The director elaborates if necessary, maintaining high status.
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Climax: the director delivers a clear verdict and fires the subordinate ("You're fired"), creating a clean button. The subordinate exits with flair.
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Transition: the next subordinate waits for the signal. The coach monitors pacing, and if things stall, immediately provides new letters and launches the next mini-scene.
Key rules
Agree on 'comfortable' letters; if difficult ones come up (e.g., hard to pronounce), the coach swaps them without pause.
The accusation must be a specific action that can be played; avoid abstractions and bureaucratic language.
Status contrast is mandatory: the director is calm and confident, the subordinate doesn't steal focus but reacts substantively.
Don't take time searching for a formulation: the director speaks immediately; if stuck — new letters and next entry.
Close each mini-scene with a decisive 'you're fired' so you don't drown in endless excuses.
Context
What to try next
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