Mirror

Description:
Mirror is a paired theatre activity where students lead and follow each other trying to look like
mirror images. This is a good activity for students to explore leadership versus follower,
collaboration, and focus.

Directions:
Here is a step by step guide to using Mirror:
1. Divide the students into pairs.
2. Have the students decide who is Person A and who is Person B. You can also assign this
if need be. Person A will be the “Actor” and Person B will be the “Mirror”.
3. Have the students face each other and make eye contact.
4. Direct the students to begin to move. Person A will make movements and Person B will
try to match them perfectly. Direct the students to move slowly and deliberately at first
until they get used to it, then they can play with speed.
5. Set a timer and let all the student pairs mirror each other. Two to three minutes should be
enough time.
6. At the end of the set amount of time, tell the students to swith “Actor” and “Mirror”.
Person A should be the mirror and Person B the actor.
7. For another two to three minutes, the student pairs will try to move together with Person
B leading.
8. Once the time is up, have the students decide who is going to be the mirror and who will
be the actor. Have them keep it secret.
9. Have each pair, individually, complete the exercise for one to two minutes.
10. As each pair finishes, have the observing students try to guess who the mirror was and
who was the actor.
11. Have the students reflect on the exercise. Reflection questions could include:
a. Which did you prefer leading or following? Why?
 b. How did you strategize to help your partner keep up with you?
c. How did you strategize to keep up with your partner?
d. What does this strategy have to do with trust and the work we are about to do
together?

When to Use This Strategy:

The best times to use this strategy would be:

1. At the beginning of the year as an icebreaker.

2. Introducing Mime or Pantomime acting.
3. When you begin duo or trio scenes as this is mainly a partner activity.
4. When the teacher feels students may be lacking in listening, or collaborative skills.
5. As a warm up activity before moving on to the rest of the class time.

Variations:
Here are some variations of this strategy:

1. Mirror Me: Explain that the group is going to imagine that the leader is looking into a
mirror. The students (as a group) will collectively be the leader’s reflection in the mirror.
The leader sits on a stool in view of all class members and begins to slowly enact a
simple activity in slow motion while the students mirror the leader. Move to more
complex activities, stories, or ideas as students become used to mirroring the leader.
Note: This activity can be used to illustrate the focus of the lesson (i.e. point of view,
ways of persuading, etc.)
2. Mirror Speech: Divide into pairs and choose an “A” and “1.” “A” will be the mirror and
“1” the storyteller. Pairs sit facing one another. Ask players to make eye contact. As “1”
begins speaking, “A” is to vocally “mirror” “1” by saying his or her words at the same
time while maintaining eye contact. Encourage “A”s to begin with slow and deliberate
speech as they tell about a common incident such as their morning ritual, a favorite fairy
tale, etc. After a set time, ask players to switch.
3. Have students explore feeling vocabulary (sad, excited) through their movements.