Summary
The audience gives one line of dialogue before the scene begins. The players perform a scene that opens with that line, so the first thing said on stage is the audience’s line. The player who speaks it has to commit as if it were their own idea, and the partner has to react and build from it to establish who they are, where they are, and what they want. Teaches strong initiations, justifying an unexpected line, and building a scene from an offer. A close cousin of Bookends, which also fixes a closing line.
Intro for the audience
“We need two actors on stage. This next game is called First Line. In this game, you give us one line of dialogue, and that line is the very first thing said in our scene. (get a line of dialogue from the audience) Let’s have a big round of applause for First Line.”
Example
Audience line: “I can’t believe you ate the whole thing.” One player starts with that line, standing over an empty pie tin. The partner, a guilty roommate, answers: “In my defense, it said ‘serves eight,’ and I count myself as eight.” The scene is now about a pie-eating roommate dispute over who was supposed to bring dessert to the party.