Columns/pillars
Columns/Pillars is a scene game in which two or more simultaneous scenes share the stage, separated by imagined walls or columns. Players switch between scenes, and thematic or verbal connections between them emerge organically. The structure rewards performers who listen across scenes and find resonant parallels.
Structure
Setup
- The playing space is divided into two or more areas by imagined walls, columns, or other architectural elements.
- Each area hosts a separate, simultaneous scene.
- Performers are assigned to scenes at the start and transition between scenes when the action demands it.
How Simultaneous Scenes Work
- Both scenes play concurrently, with performers switching focus between them.
- The audience watches both scenes developing at once, often catching dialogue from one scene while watching action in another.
- The host or a director may call explicit cuts between scenes, or performers may transition organically.
The Resonance Engine
- The primary engine of the game is the unexpected connection: a line or action in one scene resonates with or comments on what is happening in the adjacent scene.
- Performers who can hear across scenes and allow those connections to shape their choices produce the strongest work.
- Connections can be verbal (the same word appears in both scenes at the same moment), thematic (both scenes explore the same dynamic from different angles), or structural (both scenes reach a turning point simultaneously).
Variations
- Three simultaneous scenes can be run in a triangular arrangement.
- The imaginary walls can be made permeable: a character from one scene steps through the column into the other, changing both scenes at once.
How to Teach It
How to Explain It
"You are in two separate scenes happening at the same time in the same space, divided by imaginary walls. You cannot see or hear each other through the walls. But the audience can see and hear both. Play your scene fully. The connections will happen."
Common Notes
- Performers must resist the temptation to play for the connection. The connection is most powerful when it arises from each scene being fully committed on its own terms.
- The director or host should allow both scenes time to establish before signaling transitions. Scenes that switch too quickly before they have any content produce no resonance.
- Coaching focus: "You are listening to the other scene and it is changing you" versus "You are listening to the other scene and waiting for your cue."
Common Pitfalls
- One scene dominates and the other becomes a reaction track. Both scenes need independent life.
- The resonance connections are too on the nose: performers deliberately mirror each other rather than finding genuine parallel from within each scene's logic.
- Performers break the imaginary wall by directly acknowledging or reacting to the other scene.
How to Perform It
Audience Intro
"We are going to play two scenes at the same time in the same space, separated by imaginary walls. The characters in each scene cannot see or hear the other. You can see and hear both. Watch for the connections."
Cast Size
- Ideal: Four performers, two per scene.
- Three-scene versions require six performers and a clear director.
Staging
- Define the boundary clearly with tape, chairs, or lighting if available.
- Both scenes should be fully visible to the audience simultaneously.
Wrap Logic
- The host ends both scenes when a strong resonant connection lands, or after each scene has completed its own arc.
Worth Reading
See all books →The Triangle of the Scene
A Simple, Practical, Powerful Method for Approaching Improvisation
Paul Vaillancourt
Acting Through Improv
Improv Through Theatresports
Lynda Belt; Rebecca Stockley
Theater Games for Rehearsal
Viola Spolin
Long Form Improvisation and American Comedy
The Harold
Matt Fotis
Pirate Robot Ninja
An Improv Fable
Billy Merritt; Will Hines
Creating Improvised Theatre
Tools, Techniques, and Theories
Mark Jane
Related Games
Pillars/columns
Pillars/Columns is a variant of the Pillars game in which two or more performers serve as human columns that deliver random lines when touched by scene players. The scene players must seamlessly integrate each interjected line into the ongoing narrative. The game emphasizes justification skills and the ability to maintain scene coherence despite constant disruption.
Ping Pong
Ping Pong is a two-scene game in which the action alternates between two separate scenes, spending a brief stretch in each before cutting to the other. The scenes may begin without apparent connection and gradually reveal shared themes, words, or situations. The game trains performers to maintain two distinct scene threads simultaneously and rewards moments of unexpected resonance between the two worlds.
Turntable
Turntable is a scene game in which the stage rotates between two or more scenes that share a physical setup, with the same furniture or blocking serving different purposes in each scene. The transitions between scenes may be called by a host or initiated by the performers. The game rewards inventive reuse of physical space and thematic connections between parallel scenes.
Pillars
Pillars is a short-form game in which two or more players stand stock-still onstage as human pillars. Scene players perform a two-person scene, and whenever a scene player taps a pillar, that pillar delivers a random line of dialogue. The scene player must immediately accept and incorporate the line into the scene. The unpredictable verbal intrusions test the performer's ability to justify bizarre offers on the spot and maintain scene logic under pressure.
Split Screen
Split Screen is a scene game in which the stage is divided into two or more zones, each containing a separate scene that runs simultaneously. A host or the performers themselves cut between the zones. The game rewards discoveries of thematic parallels between the scenes and the ability to maintain continuity through interruptions.
Cocktail Party
Cocktail Party is a multi-scene ensemble exercise and game in which several pairs of performers simultaneously engage in separate conversations at an imagined social gathering. The overlapping dialogues create a rich, layered environment in which performers must maintain their own character and scene while tracking the conversations happening around them. As connections emerge between the separate conversations, performers weave themes, characters, and references across the pairs. The game trains ensemble awareness, the ability to sustain a character in the background, and the skill of recognizing shared themes and patterns across simultaneous scenes. As described in Truth in Comedy, the Cocktail Party allows performers to explore the value of connections in improvisation.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Columns/pillars. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/columnspillars
The Improv Archive. "Columns/pillars." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/columnspillars.
The Improv Archive. "Columns/pillars." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/columnspillars. Accessed March 17, 2026.
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