exercise · all tools
Status bridge
Depth · what it can open●●○○2 — reflective
Holding · facilitation1 — host
Trust · group readiness★★some
Disclosure · what is sharednone
Two people are each shown a playing card nobody else sees — ace is lowest status, king highest — and cross a narrow imaginary footbridge from opposite ends. They embody the status rather than announce it, and one of them ends up going over the edge. The watching group guesses what each was holding.
Hold with care
- Playing low status in front of peers who then discuss what they saw — the card is an alibi, and it does not always feel like one
- Status work surfaces real dynamics in the room as readily as fictional ones
Practical
- Time
- 20 min
- Group
- 4–∞ · pairs, small-group
- Settings
- in-person
- Materials
- A pack of playing cards; two chairs to mark the bridge
- Mechanisms
- perspective-taking, behavioral-rehearsal, feedback-mirroring
- Change scope
- state → skill · repeatable
Instructions
- Where
- resources.trinitycollege.com/hubfs/Trinity%20Drama%20Games%20… — Drama Games (Trinity College London), open
- Availability
- Open online — published at the link, free to read
Source link checked 1 Sep 2026 — reachable
This directory describes and points home; the instructions stay with the people who made them.
Origin
Trinity College London, 'as suggested by drama teachers' — Drama teaching
In this directory via Drama Games (Trinity College London)
status: checked · added 2026-08-31