Acting Fundamentals
| Objective: | The students will demonstrate their understanding of characterization by incorporating the skills learned in this unit in a final scene performance. |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Acting Skills & Techniques |
| Class Level: | Intermediate |
| Main Concepts: | relationships, objectives, tactics, physicality |
| National Standards: | CONTENT STANDARD 2: Acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining characters in improvisations and informal or formal productions. CONTENT STANDARD 4: Directing by interpreting dramatic texts and organizing and conducting rehearsals for informal or formal productions. |
| Description: | These plans are written for a 90-minute class period and can be adapted for any level of experience. Source Materials Appel, Libby. Mask Characterization: An Acting Process. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University, 1982. This book talks about the steps involved in creating a character from breaking though the actor’s natural inhibitions, creating a character history, relationships, movement, and emotions. Daw, Kurt. Acting: Thought Into Action. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2004. There is a section in this book that talks about creating a relationship between the actor and their partner on stage. It could be helpful for our lesson on relationships. Egan, Jenny. Imaging the Role: Makeup as a Stage in Characterization. Carbondale: Sountern Illinois Universtiy, 1992. This could be a good resource for our day about how costumes, props, and makeup affect an actor’s ability to create a character. Heaton, Haidee R. “Symbolism and the Actor’s Perspective: A Grounded Theory Study of the Actor’s Approach to Symbolist Vocal Work.” Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 65.6 (2004): 2029. This article talks about how an actor’s voice can affect their character. Lubrecht, Peter T. “Creating a New Social Reality in Shakespeare: A Directorial Method for Youth Theatre Using Patrick Tucker’s Acting Cues.” Dissertation Abstracts International: The Humanities and Social Sciences. 64.4 (2003): 1133-1134. Creating various characters by using acting cues; a fresh way to look at creating a character. McGaw, Charles, Larry D. Clark, and Kenneth L. Stilson. Acting is Believing. Belmont: Thomson Learning, 2004. There is a chapter in this book entitled “The Actor and the Play.” It talks about various aspects of characterization including line interpretation and communication. Witcover, Walt. Living on Stage: Acting from the Inside Out: A Practical Process. New York: Back Stage Books, 2004. There is a chapter about stage tasks-business-which we will be talking about during our staging lesson. Then there is a section about character development from the outside in. |
| Author: | David Bunnell |
Lesson Plans
The students will demonstrate their understanding of deconstruction by creating their own deconstruction.
The students will display an understanding of physicality in performance by performing a scene using physicalities developed in class.
The students will demonstrate their understanding of character objectives by breaking their scene into action units.
The students will demonstrate their understanding of tactics by performing one action unit of their scene or an improvised scene using at least three tactics.
The students will demonstrate their understanding about how various relationships with other characters affects their character development by participating in a “Contentless Scene” with their scene partner.
Students will demonstrate their understanding on how costumes and props can affect/form character by drawing a costume design for their scene character and writing a list of props their character might use.
The students will demonstrate their ability to use staging, blocking, and business by defending its use in their scene.
The students will demonstrate their understanding of characterization by incorporating the skills learned in this unit in a final scene performance. They will also turn in a written critique of their own and the other student’s performances.