Create Obstacles
Create Obstacles is a scene exercise in which performers deliberately introduce complications and barriers to their characters' goals. The exercise teaches that obstacles are the engine of dramatic interest: characters who get what they want without resistance produce flat, unengaging scenes. By practicing the creation of obstacles, performers develop the instinct to generate tension and problem-solving pressure from within the scene rather than waiting for obstacles to arrive from outside.
Structure
Setup
Two performers establish a scene with a clear want or goal for each character. The coach frames the exercise: both performers actively introduce obstacles to their own and each other's goals as the scene progresses.
Types of Obstacles
Obstacles can be external (an object fails, a third party intervenes, the environment changes), internal (the character's own conflicting wants, fears, or memories complicate their pursuit), or relational (the other character's goals conflict with one's own, or the relationship itself creates complications). Performers practice all three types.
Progression
The scene runs with performers consciously generating obstacles. After five to eight minutes, the coach pauses the scene and identifies which obstacles were most dramatically effective and why. A second round allows performers to apply the feedback.
Conclusion
The exercise concludes with a brief coaching discussion on how the scenes felt different from scenes where performers waited for obstacles rather than creating them.
How to Teach It
Objectives
Create Obstacles targets dramatic construction, the understanding of want-and-obstacle as the basic unit of scene energy, and the development of the performer's instinct to complicate rather than resolve. It addresses the very common pattern of improvisers who clear each other's obstacles too quickly, producing scenes that have nothing to push against.
How to Explain It
"In this scene, your character wants something. Other things keep getting in the way. Your job is to make those things appear -- not to stop the other person from wanting what they want, but to make the path to it more interesting. Create the complications from inside the scene."
Common Sidocoaching
- "What just got in the way?"
- "What does your character want that conflicts with that?"
- "The obstacle doesn't have to be dramatic -- even small friction counts."
Common Pitfalls
Performers sometimes interpret obstacle creation as blocking: refusing to let the other character advance, which collapses scenes into impasse. Distinguish between obstacles that complicate pursuit (which generates energy) and blocks that prevent it (which stop scenes). A second pitfall is performers who create only external obstacles and miss the richness of internal and relational ones.
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How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Create Obstacles. Retrieved March 19, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/create-obstacles
The Improv Archive. "Create Obstacles." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/create-obstacles.
The Improv Archive. "Create Obstacles." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/create-obstacles. Accessed March 19, 2026.
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