Acting Shakespeare
| Objective: | Students will demonstrate their abilities to perform Shakespeare by choosing a performance piece, preparing the piece through translation and scoring, blocking the piece, and performing a Shakespeare monologue or scene. |
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| Subject: | Scenes & Monologues - Acting |
| Class Level: | Intermediate |
| Main Concepts: | William Shakespeare, classical acting, interpretation, text analysis, competition |
| National Standards: | CONTENT STANDARD 2: Acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining characters in improvisations and informal or formal productions. CONTENT STANDARD 3: Designing and producing by conceptualizing and realizing artistic interpretations for informal or formal productions. CONTENT STANDARD 5: Researching by evaluating and synthesizing cultural and historical information to support artistic choices. CONTENT STANDARD 7: Analyzing, critiquing, and constructing meanings from informal and formal theatre, film, television, and electronic media productions. |
| Description: | Note: This unit was originally created to use as class work towards the opportunity to perform at the Utah Shakespearean Festival High School Competition and thereby the time limit requirements, etc. are dictated by the rules of that competition. CURRICULUM PLACEMENT: The Acting Shakespeare Unit is to be used in an intermediate class with ninety-minute class periods. PRIOR STUDENT EXPERIENCE: It is expected that students will have knowledge of script analysis, advanced acting techniques, blocking, and experience with Shakespeare’s language and plays through prior performance opportunities. NOTE FOR MATERIALS NEEDED: The more resources there are for the students to use the better. Obviously the student needs access to Shakespeare’s individual plays, but other resources to suggest include: a dictionary, glossaries, lexicons, guides to Shakespeare plays and characters, a pronunciation guide, and other such books or articles that will help the students to “get” their character and play. |
| Author: | Shawnda Moss |
Lesson Plans
Students will be introduced to Shakespeare's works by viewing a parody of his plays.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of the Acting Shakespeare assignment by selecting a Shakespearean scene or monologue to perform.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of Shakespearean script analysis by scoring, translating, and analyzing their Shakespeare performance pieces.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of scansion and phrasing by scoring their Shakespeare performance pieces.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of characterization by creating a character with personality and traits for their Shakespearean monologue or scene.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of movement in a performance piece by blocking and providing business for their Shakespearean monologue or scene.
Students will demonstrate their knowledge of characterization, blocking, and interpretation by performing a preview of their Shakespeare monologue or scene.
Students will continue their character work by visualizing a day-in-the-life of their Shakespearean character and by searching for more information in a Shakespeare Secondary Source.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of rehearsing by making and working on one specific acting goal for the Shakespearean monologue or scene.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of acting Shakespeare by performing their Shakespearean monologue or scene.