There is no game that can afford so much amusement to a circle of
friends as that of acting charades. It affords a scope for the exercise
of both wit and ingenuity.
A word must be chosen, in which the syllables may be rendered into some
kind of a lively performance, and the whole word must be capable of
similar representation. Then the plan of action must be agreed upon.
Old-fashioned garments, gay shawls, scarfs, old coats, hats, aprons,
gowns, &c., must be looked up for the occasion, and speedily converted
into various and grotesque costumes, suited to the representation to
be made. By exercising a little ingenuity, very fine charades can be
acted “impromptu.” Speed, in all preparations, is quite necessary to
success, as an audience is always impatient. If it is determined to
have charades at a party, the lady of the house should arrange dresses,
plan of action, and subjects, beforehand. She can generally tell who
can assist her best. If all the arrangements can be made without the
knowledge of her guests, the effect will be greatly increased. This is
also an improving game for a family of children. Write the plot and a
simple dialogue, and let them learn it; it will be a good exercise for
the memory, and teach them ease of manner; but let them only act before
a home circle.
A talented friend of ours has a very pleasant way of acting charades in
her own family circle, which is well adapted for large family circles,
such as assemble together on Thanksgiving, and during Christmas
holidays. This lady unites her family with a few other pleasant friends.
For a good charade party, twelve or more persons are desirable, and two
rooms, connecting by sliding or folding doors, are the most convenient,
though two connecting by only a single door will do, if the party is
not a large one.
First, two persons should be chosen managers; then the managers must
choose sides, so that the company will be about equally divided. The
sides then take separate rooms, to become, alternately, actors and
audience; the managers draw lots to see which side shall act first.
Those that are to begin, first choose a word, then proceed to represent
it. A common way is to divide the word into syllables, and present one
at each scene, then, after having gone through the word, if the other
side cannot guess it, a scene is given to represent the whole word.
When all is ready for a scene, the door is thrown open for the others
to look in and guess it. Frequently a whole word is given at once in
one scene. The manager must always announce whether one syllable or
more is given. After giving the audience time to guess it or give it
up, the parties change rooms, and the other side must act; they will,
of course, have their word selected and all arrangements made, as they
had sufficient time while waiting for the others.
In acting the word, each party must try to mystify the other, yet the
syllable must be well represented; but there can be by-play to divert
the audience from the real word. The party that guesses the whole word
the soonest, are considered the conquering party. Care must be taken
not to let the actors know if the audience guess the word before it is
fully acted.
Sometimes in the place of words, proverbs are acted. Each word is acted
in turn, or two words are acted in one scene; if the latter, before the
scene is acted, some one of the actors can inform the audience that
they will act two words of the proverb.
A few directions for acting certain words and proverbs, and a short
list of words and proverbs easy to be acted, may be an assistance to
our youthful readers.
If a word or syllable can be represented by action, it should be seldom
spoken; but in some cases syllables must be spoken to give an idea of
the word. Some prefer acting charades entirely in pantomime.