I'm Home
A two-person warmup for character heightening โ building intensity while keeping the core. Take turns opening a "door" and saying "I'm home" in character, each time a little bigger โ until the character hits its limit.
Players
2
Full description
Setup and Launch
Agree on an imagined door โ where it is, which way it opens. One of you starts, the other follows.
Play
- A opens the door and says "I'm home" in some character โ for example, exhausted after a shift.
- B repeats the same character, opens the same door, says "I'm home" โ but a little bigger. Louder, shoulders drooping more, heavier step.
- A heightens again.
- Climb in steps until the character hits its limit โ where it's physically uncomfortable to keep going.
- Switch character, start over.
Key rules
The base stays the same across the whole series โ tired, in love, in a rage. Only volume and scale change.
Don't change the character mid-run โ the series falls apart.
Heightening goes in steps: each beat slightly bigger than the last, not jumping straight to the max.
Push to the limit โ the interesting stuff starts where it's already uncomfortable.
Context
What to try next
Similar formats, so you can keep the rehearsal moving without stopping to search.
The Door
A group warmup on observation and memory: participants reproduce with precision how the previous person opened and closed their "door," then add their own habitual domesโฆ
Change!
A stage game where the host or a designated audience member can shout 'Change!' at any moment, and the actor instantly replaces their last line or action. Use for trainiโฆ
Associations and Dissociation
A warmup for quick thinking and associative agility: three escalating modes from direct response to dissociation, where you deliberately avoid any connection.
I've Wanted to Tell You
Paired mini-scenes launched by the same confessional opening line; trains emotional truth, relationships, and clear dialogue under pressure. A good warmup for attention โฆ
I can do better
A scene game where a participant can take over a partner's move in the moment by saying "I can do better!", briefly naming the change, and immediately showing the alternโฆ
Cat Finds Home
A warmup for attention and quick reactions: everyone stands in a circle, one person in the center โ the "cat." The cat catches someone's gaze; a nod means the cat takes โฆ