Arpeggio
Arpeggio is a scene game in which multiple performers play aspects of a single character's personality, speaking in rapid succession like notes in a musical chord. The fragmented delivery reveals a character's internal contradictions and complexity. The game produces rich, layered characterization that a single performer could not achieve alone.
Structure
Setup
- Two to four performers share the stage, each playing a different aspect of a single character's inner life: desire, fear, logic, impulse, memory, or any division the group agrees on.
- The character being portrayed is a single person, but the audience sees their inner voices speaking in alternation, rapid succession, or overlap.
- A fifth player may play the character's external self, speaking and acting in the world while the others voice what is happening inside.
How the Scene Works
- The character moves through a situation or scene with one or two other players outside the Arpeggio structure.
- As the scene develops, the internal voices speak their aspects: a fear voice voices what the character is afraid of, a desire voice names what they want, a logic voice analyzes, an impulse voice reacts before thinking.
- The voices do not address each other directly. They address the audience, the character, or the air. They are not a panel discussion. They are the interior weather.
- Scene partners outside the structure react to what the external character says and does, not to the voices.
Pacing and Transition
- Voices speak in short, sharp bursts. The game moves quickly between aspects to create the arpeggio effect: a chord broken into rapid notes.
- One voice can complete another's sentence, contradict it, or echo it from a different register.
- The game ends when the character reaches a decision, completes a moment, or lands on a clear emotional resolution.
Common Variations
- The internal voices speak simultaneously for a moment of maximum inner conflict, then the scene snaps back to external reality.
- The director or host assigns the aspects before the scene begins and can adjust them mid-scene if the initial assignments stop generating conflict.
How to Teach It
How to Explain It
"Several of you are going to play the inside of one person's head. Each of you is a different voice: what they want, what they're afraid of, what they keep telling themselves. You're not talking to each other. You're the weather inside someone's head. The scene around you will keep moving. Jump in when your aspect applies."
Common Notes
- The voices should be distinct enough that the audience can track which aspect is speaking. If all the voices sound the same, the arpeggio effect collapses.
- The internal voices serve the scene, not themselves. A voice that keeps speaking when nothing is happening inside the character is undercutting the game.
- The external character should not turn to face their voices. The voices are interior. The character does not see or hear them in the scene.
Common Pitfalls
- Voices speak in full paragraphs. The game requires brevity: a word, a phrase, a sentence. Longer speeches break the rhythm and pull focus from the scene.
- The internal voices become a Greek chorus commenting on the action from outside. Arpeggio is interior, not editorial.
- The scene has no emotional stakes and the voices have nothing to play. The game needs a character in genuine conflict or desire for the aspects to have material.
How to Perform It
Audience Intro
"We are about to play a scene where you will see both the outside and the inside of the same person at the same time. Several performers will voice this character's inner world : their fears, their wants, their second-guessing : while the scene plays out around them. Give us a suggestion to get started."
Cast Size
- Ideal: Three to five performers total, with two to three inner voices plus one external character and at least one scene partner outside the structure.
- The structure can work with as few as three total performers.
Staging
- The inner voices typically cluster slightly upstage or to the sides of the external character, becoming more prominent when they speak.
- The scene must remain visually clear. If the staging makes it hard for the audience to tell who is internal and who is external, the game loses its effect.
Wrap Logic
- The scene completes naturally when the character arrives at a decision or the scene reaches a button.
- The host can call a clean ending when the internal and external stories converge.
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How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Arpeggio. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/games/arpeggio
The Improv Archive. "Arpeggio." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/games/arpeggio.
The Improv Archive. "Arpeggio." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/games/arpeggio. Accessed March 17, 2026.
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