exercise · all tools
The Reverse Bus
Depth · what it can open●●●○3 — emotional
Holding · facilitation2 — facilitator
Trust · group readiness★★★established
Disclosure · what is sharednone
Chairs are set out as a bus. One person leaves the room and the rest agree on something odd or wrong about them — the source's examples run from an unzipped fly to looking like a Picasso painting. The person is let back in and boards the bus, and everyone reacts to them on the strength of the invented flaw.
Hold with care
- A whole group agrees a flaw about one absent person and then treats them for it while they do not know what it is — the structure is a scapegoating one whatever the intent, and it only stays a game in a group that is secure
- The source's own examples include how the person looks, which makes this considerably riskier than a behavioural premise; a leader should constrain what may be chosen rather than leaving it open
- The person cannot consent to the specific premise because they are not there for it. Telling them afterwards is not optional
- Needs a debrief, and needs everyone to get a turn or nobody should
Practical
- Time
- — min
- Group
- 8–14 · large-group
- Settings
- in-person
- Materials
- Enough chairs for everyone, set out as a bus including the driver's seat
- Mechanisms
- perspective-taking, emotional-processing, feedback-mirroring
- Change scope
- state · repeatable
Instructions
- Where
- xn--dramavningar-8ib.se/omvanda-bussen — Dramaövningar.se, 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
Martin Wiss (published as 'Martin' on dramaövningar.se) — Swedish dramapedagogik
In this directory via Dramaövningar.se
Related: Status Cards on Foreheads (alternative-to)
status: checked · added 2026-09-01