LESSON TITLE: Lesson 3: World Building with Play Scripts
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVE: Students will demonstrate an ability to create vibrant worlds onstage through script analysis and leading group walk-abouts through the world of their play.
MATERIALS NEEDED: A/V Hookup, Extra copies of article- EFs “Visit to a Small Planet.” , Downloaded youtube video: “Moonrise Kingdom—Where Story Meets Style” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_5lCnwDEo4
HOOK: Show the students the “Moonrise Kingdom—Where Story Meets Style” video. Have them take notes of everything Wes Anderson does to create a vivid world in Moonrise Kingdom. Make a list on the board of everything the director does to create a world in this film. Make another list of how these methods could be applied to theatre.
TEACHING PRESENTATION:
Step 1: Group Reading- Finish reading the article EFs Visit to a Small Planet article as a class. In lesson 1 we stopped after the paragraph about time constructs.
Step 2: Script analysis- Give the students some time with their script and the article. You don’t have time to answer every question about your play. But pick a couple questions from each “section” (mood, time, social, etc.) You are looking especially for information that would help you guide your classmates physically through the world of the play.
Step 3: Walk-abouts: Have students volunteer to lead walk-abouts through the world of their play. With the information you now have, you will lead us in a walk-through of the world of your play. You will do this in the way that I did a walk-through warm-up with you in our last lesson. A space-walk where you describe the feeling, temperature, color, and mood of a space. Except you will use the world information you have gathered in your analysis of the play.
Modification: If students do not feel comfortable leading the walk-about right away, do the following: Get them started in a “space-walk.” Have them walk around the space of the room. Give them prompts like the warm-up from last lesson (physical space description such as a beach, temperature descriptions such as hot or cold, and more abstract feelings like sadness and peace.)
Then instruct them that when you tap them on the shoulder, the will then take over guiding the class through the space. The directions they give the class should be details about their play that they discovered through answering the questions in the article.
CLOSURE: Is there anything you discovered in your show that you would like to take with you and incorporate into your show? How might this work be useful to you in your future work as a director?
