Speaking in Numbers - An improv game

I love the numbers improv. It's my favorite game to watch and to teach. The explanation goes thus: I pick two actors and bring them on stage. I give them characters and a scenario to act out. Then I give them the catch: they cannot speak words. Only numbers. Instead of relying on words, they will have to use their voices and bodies to communicate with each other and tell a story.

Actors inevitably freak out when I give them the "no words" rule, but most seem to take to the game quite easily. When you let yourself go, some amazing things happen. You can almost hear the words the two actors are trying to say. During one workshop "56" became a code word for a bad word. Another time "23" became code for cat fight. My favorite, however, was a girlfriend boyfriend scene when the girl rattled off a series of angry numbers, prompting the guy to respond, "I did not!!"

The numbers game also leads to one of my favorite illustrations that I use in workshops. I set up a scene where two Christian friends are hanging out. One of the two Christians leads a double life, partying with the wild crowd, and the two Christians run into one of the party friends while they are out and about. The actor is then put in a position where she has to keep the Christian and non-Christian friend from discovering her hypocrisy.

As actors in drama ministry, people are watching us all the time. They hear what we have to say on stage, but more than that, they hear what our lives say. If we give the performance of a lifetime Sunday morning, then deny God completely with our lifestyle, what speaks louder? Will someone in crisis turn to God because of what they heard on Sunday? Or will they look someplace else because that's what we do in real life?

No matter how you serve, it's your day to day life that says the most about your faith. What would people say about your faith?