Bang: A Theater Exercise for Developing Body Control

Participants perform the Bang theater exercise in slow motion to develop control of their bodies and emotions.

Objectives: physical and emotional control, movement awareness, and the use of speed in performance.

Age: ages six and up.

Space required: a hall or gym large enough for the group to run and fall without getting in one another’s way.

“Bang” is an exercise I use with participants from age six through adulthood. Through a sequence of variations, they learn to break down a very fast movement, understand it, and deliberately reconstruct it.

If this were a scene in a play or film, the fall of someone who had been struck would need to convey something specific to the audience. The performer cannot simply throw themselves to the floor.

No one can draw on firsthand experience of that action. We therefore have to explore it, give it meaning, and find a credible physical and emotional form for it.

Slow motion serves exactly this purpose: it gives participants the time they need to understand what is happening in the body and decide what kind of reaction they want to portray.

Before You Begin

The workshop leader must make sure that the space is free of obstacles, the floor is suitable for the activity, and there is enough distance between participants.

In the first phase, the fall takes place at normal speed, but this does not mean crashing to the floor without control. Each participant must control their body according to their own motor abilities. If the group is not yet ready, the falling movement must first be practiced separately.

Bang 1 – Running and Falling at Normal Speed

The participants stand in a line. The workshop leader takes a position at the far end of the space.

At the first signal, everyone runs toward the workshop leader.

When the workshop leader calls “Bang!”, the participants must fall to the floor as if they had suddenly been struck.

This first attempt takes place at normal speed. It provides a starting point for observing what participants do instinctively: how they react, which part of the body responds first, the direction in which they fall, and what they manage to communicate.

The result is often a fast but generic movement. Improving it requires slowing it down and analyzing it.

Bang 2 – Running at Normal Speed and Falling in Slow Motion

The participants repeat the run at normal speed. At “Bang!”, they must begin to fall in slow motion.

Moving directly from a fast movement to a very slow one is difficult. On the first attempt, it can help to ask participants to freeze at the signal, regain their balance completely, and only then begin the slow-motion fall.

If they are off balance at the moment of “Bang!”—for example, with only one foot on the floor—they will not be able to control the movement properly. The fall will become a series of jerks or will unintentionally speed up.

Once they have gained greater control, they can try to eliminate the visible pause and move more smoothly from running to the slow-motion fall.

This phase should be repeated two or three times, checking that the movement is genuinely slow, continuous, and deliberate.

Bang 3 – Running in Slow Motion and Falling at Normal Speed

This time, the participants run toward the workshop leader in slow motion. At “Bang!”, they fall at normal speed.

Running in genuine slow motion is physically impossible: the airborne phase of running cannot be reproduced slowly. What the participants create, therefore, is a theatrical convention that suggests running through slow movements.

They should aim for long strides, a forward-leaning torso, pronounced arm movements, and physical tension consistent with the effort. Walking slowly while pretending to run is not enough: the energy and intention of the movement must be visible.

The sudden transition from slow motion to a fall at normal speed also provides an opportunity to work on a sharp change of pace.

Bang 4 – Everything in Slow Motion

Both the running and the fall are performed in slow motion.

Participants must maintain the continuity of the movement from beginning to end, avoiding pauses, unintentional acceleration, and jerky movements.

At this point, they can begin to focus more closely on the meaning of the reaction. Being struck can produce surprise, fear, disbelief, resistance, or disorientation.

The emotion must not be reduced to a generic facial expression. Each participant must decide what is happening to their character and find a physically coherent way to express it—one that can be deliberately recreated.

Bang 5 – Choosing the Speed Freely

In the final phase, participants decide for themselves how to manage the speed of the run and the fall.

They may run quickly and fall slowly, reverse the two, or perform both phases in slow motion. The choice, however, must not be random: it must create a specific effect and be carried through consistently.

After participants have worked through all the previous phases, the expressiveness of the movement usually improves considerably.

The freedom offered in the final phase does not come from an absence of rules. It comes from the tools acquired during the exercise and from the ability to make conscious choices about how to use them.