Viola Spolin's Theater Games for the Lone Actor offers theater games and side coaching for the solo player. Available for the first time, this handbook presents more than forty exercises that allow actors to side coach themselves at home, in rehearsal, or in performance. Building on her seminal Improvisation for the Theater, Spolin challenges the actor to develop an ability to enter present time, "a moment of full consciousness, awareness, continuous time, a timeless moment . . . with all of your responses awake and alert, ready to guide you . . . allowing you, the real you, your natural self, to emerge."
Spolin's improvisational techniques changed the nature and practice of modern theater. Her work has inspired actors, directors, teachers, and writers in theater, television, and film. Her techniques have also influenced the fields of education, mental health, social work, and psychology.