{"id":5041,"date":"2017-05-12T16:06:12","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T16:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/?page_id=5041"},"modified":"2017-05-12T16:06:12","modified_gmt":"2017-05-12T16:06:12","slug":"dig-deeper-into-action","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/?page_id=5041","title":{"rendered":"Dig Deeper into Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lesson 9: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Dig Deeper into Action<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Objective:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Students will demonstrate their ability to push themselves in rehearsal by raising the stakes for their character in their performance piece.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Materials Needed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

None<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

HOOK<\/p>\n

Spread students out in their own space.\u00a0 Have them write their name in the air.\u00a0 Now do it involving their entire upper body.\u00a0 Now do it involving your entire body (think of writing with sparklers in their hands) exaggerating the name and use the entire space.<\/p>\n

What is different about the three times you wrote your name? \u00a0How can you involve more of your body in your performance?\u00a0 Acting from the neck up or waist up isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you process your performance, think about the actions that your character is going through.\u00a0 How can you use them more to your character\u2019s advantage?\u00a0 How can you use your actor\u2019s tools (voice, body, imagination, text) to full communicate what you want and create a relationship \u2013 even if it is with an invisible partner?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

EXERCISE<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, No, Maybe, Please, Okay\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes we restrict ourselves because of the text.\u00a0 So let\u2019s get rid of the text.\u00a0 Play \u201cYes, No, Maybe, Please, Okay\u201d.\u00a0 You can use these words ONLY in your scene.\u00a0 Have one of the partnerships come up and model this for the class: They are to perform their scene but only have those words to use as dialogue.\u00a0 They can decide which word to say when, but the basic framework of the scene\u2019s action needs to be in place throughout the exercise.\u00a0 (I like to have these words written on the board for visual reference if needed by the actors).<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tricky exercise, but can be effective if students give it their all.\u00a0 Highlight\/side coach through the modeling how using just these words as text forces the actors to engage their bodies more fully in communicating and how their tone of voice conveys so much.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Have all the students do this exercise.\u00a0 People doing monologues can pair up with another monologist and be a stand-in for the \u201cinvisible other\u201d partner.\u00a0 The actor might need to give them some context so that their reactions are realistic, but it works.\u00a0 <\/strong>Make sure you know the general and some specific for this to work.\u00a0 So sharing the paraphrasing or talking the scene through will be helpful.\u00a0 Scene partners get together and do it.\u00a0 Monologue performers get together and share the \u201cleading up to\u201d context and paraphrasing and then do it with partner standing in for the invisible other.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Deconstruct: What did taking the text away do for you?\u00a0 How did it involve your non-verbal communication or physicality or gestures or subtext?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

INSTRUCTION<\/p>\n

Talk with the students about revisiting scoring the role:<\/p>\n

We need to make sure the detailed moments are each working AND that they work in the greater arc of the piece.\u00a0 So go back to your script and dig deeper into your analysis.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t yet or only half-heartedly did this before – Score the script into beats and have a very definite task to achieve for each beat.\u00a0 Think about what is at stake for your character if you don\u2019t get what you are fighting for.\u00a0 How can your entire body commit to your \u201cwant\u201d?\u00a0 An active verb means being ACTIVE \u2013 not just talking.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Think about how to be more SIMPLE and DIRECT in your performance \u2013 how this work can focus and channel your energies and work.\u00a0 If your beats do not have a simple, direct objective, then create one.\u00a0 If you have scored your role already then dig deeper into how you\u2019re going about fulfilling the task and intention.\u00a0 Work your piece beat-by-beat \u2013 don\u2019t fall into the trap of just running through the piece.\u00a0 Explore levels and actions and tactics in each beat.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

REHEARSAL TIME<\/p>\n

After a little bit of individual rehearsal time, focus the students on their actions specifically: they can run through each beat but can only have one action for each beat.\u00a0 While this may not be the way they perform their final scenes they should explore what this restriction does for their character and acting.<\/p>\n

Worry about the ACTION, not the result!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After trying this out, have them go back to their piece and rehearse it \u201cregularly\u201d again.\u00a0 Have them stop and consider the differences and work on making more specific, detailed choices in their acting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

CLOSURE<\/p>\n

Have students stand in a circle and share one new discovery that they had in today\u2019s rehearsal.\u00a0 Encourage them to not be content to just rest where they are in the performance piece; to continually push themselves to go further and deeper and to raise the stakes for their character.\u00a0 Next class period will be the last rehearsal day before final performances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lesson 9: Dig Deeper into Action   Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to push themselves in rehearsal by raising the stakes for their character in their performance piece.   Materials Needed: None   HOOK Spread students out in their own space.\u00a0 Have them write their name in the air.\u00a0 Now do it involving their …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5041"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5042,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5041\/revisions\/5042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tedb-old.byu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}