Grade 8: What should Ms. Kosar know about you? You could include past performance experience, drama classes you've taken, whether you have stage fright, what you are expecting to learn in Drama and anything else you think might help me teach you!
Grades 9/10: What are five things you can keep in mind when you work in a group? When we looked at the poster about "Learning Together", what did you think of the five rules? Comment on at least one rule in detail.
Make sure you bring a pen and paper tomorrow for journals! Write complete answers and make sure you respond to all the questions, if there are more than one.
Thursday, 25 September 2014
Top of the Form!
Senior Drama:
As we discussed in class, we have a chance to go to the Vancouver International Film Festival to see a Canadian/Japanese film called "The Vancouver Asahi" about a baseball team in the 1930's. We would go on October 10 and miss D Block. (We would leave during our class in C Block.) We would take a school bus to downtown Vancouver and then return by public transit. The tickets for the film would be $7.00 and there would be a small charge for the bus as well, but as I said, if you cannot afford it, please just let me know and we will make sure you can attend.
Please let me know if this is something you would be able to attend. I would like to be able to book a.s.a.p. so try to let me know by tomorrow!
Journals for Senior Drama:
Actors: How can an actor create a character who only has two lines? Think of what you can do to make a character like that memorable and funny.
Stagecraft: Draw a sketch of what the set for "Top of the Form" would look like. What music would work for the theme of the show? (Try to bring an example for Monday.) How will you accomplish the end of the play? (It doesn't have to be exactly what is described in the script.)
Directors/Writers: How would you cast this sketch if you had the power (from the actors in our class)? What makes something a comedy? Our question of the day was about our most embarrassing moments. Embarrassment can be a source of comedy -- think about a comedy sketch you could write based on one of the embarrassing moments someone other than yourself described.
Journals are due on Tuesday.
As we discussed in class, we have a chance to go to the Vancouver International Film Festival to see a Canadian/Japanese film called "The Vancouver Asahi" about a baseball team in the 1930's. We would go on October 10 and miss D Block. (We would leave during our class in C Block.) We would take a school bus to downtown Vancouver and then return by public transit. The tickets for the film would be $7.00 and there would be a small charge for the bus as well, but as I said, if you cannot afford it, please just let me know and we will make sure you can attend.
Please let me know if this is something you would be able to attend. I would like to be able to book a.s.a.p. so try to let me know by tomorrow!
Journals for Senior Drama:
Actors: How can an actor create a character who only has two lines? Think of what you can do to make a character like that memorable and funny.
Stagecraft: Draw a sketch of what the set for "Top of the Form" would look like. What music would work for the theme of the show? (Try to bring an example for Monday.) How will you accomplish the end of the play? (It doesn't have to be exactly what is described in the script.)
Directors/Writers: How would you cast this sketch if you had the power (from the actors in our class)? What makes something a comedy? Our question of the day was about our most embarrassing moments. Embarrassment can be a source of comedy -- think about a comedy sketch you could write based on one of the embarrassing moments someone other than yourself described.
Journals are due on Tuesday.
Wednesday, 24 September 2014
comedy isn't easy
When you watch a comedian doing a standup routine, or watch actors performing in comedies, a lot of times it looks very natural and unrehearsed, but that is part of the trick. Comedy is really challenging and lots of actors take it very seriously (ironically enough). Look at the "Talking Funny" discussion with Jerry Seinfled, Chris Rock, Ricky Gervais and Louis CK (you can find it on Youtube). They discuss how much practice it takes to seem as if you're just casually talking to an audience.
Michael Richards, the actor who played Kramer on "Seinfeld", was a "method" actor. (The "method" is an acting technique developed by directors and acting teachers, like Konstantin Stanislavsky and Lee Strasberg, in which an actor tries to get inside the head of the character he plays and grapple with the real emotion that the character is experiencing. It can help an actor create an astonishingly real performance, but it can lead to excess as well, like Robert de Niro gaining sixty pounds to perform in the movie, "Raging Bull" or actors taking hours to "get into character" and even taking their performances home with them). Michael Richards would spend long hours developing comic bits for Kramer to do and then when the other actors didn't do what he expected or wanted them to do, he would become quite angry. He found if they weren't able to stay in character, that it was a terrible distraction to him and very unprofessional. (He was right, in this respect.) "Kramer" is a timeless character which Michael Richards created with a great deal of thought. He didn't just show up on the set and hope that something would happen. It is interesting to listen to him talk about his thought process when creating the aspects of Kramer we might take for granted: the crazy hair, the little sounds, the vintage clothes, his entrances into Jerry's apartment.
We can learn from actors and comedians like this. I am preparing to perform in a play called "Momma Won't Fly" and there are a lot of parts of the play that I know are supposed to be comic bits and I am really thinking about how I can get laughs out of them. I am not inventive like Michael Richards is, and it is a daunting prospect to know that in three weeks you'll be going out on stage and the audience will be wanting to laugh, but if you don't deliver, they won't. I keep going over this one part of the play and wondering how Michael Richards (or Lucille Ball or someone like that -- one of these really amazing comic performers) would do it. I know they'd be funny but I can't guarantee the same will be true of me. I'll let you know if I come up with something.
Michael Richards, the actor who played Kramer on "Seinfeld", was a "method" actor. (The "method" is an acting technique developed by directors and acting teachers, like Konstantin Stanislavsky and Lee Strasberg, in which an actor tries to get inside the head of the character he plays and grapple with the real emotion that the character is experiencing. It can help an actor create an astonishingly real performance, but it can lead to excess as well, like Robert de Niro gaining sixty pounds to perform in the movie, "Raging Bull" or actors taking hours to "get into character" and even taking their performances home with them). Michael Richards would spend long hours developing comic bits for Kramer to do and then when the other actors didn't do what he expected or wanted them to do, he would become quite angry. He found if they weren't able to stay in character, that it was a terrible distraction to him and very unprofessional. (He was right, in this respect.) "Kramer" is a timeless character which Michael Richards created with a great deal of thought. He didn't just show up on the set and hope that something would happen. It is interesting to listen to him talk about his thought process when creating the aspects of Kramer we might take for granted: the crazy hair, the little sounds, the vintage clothes, his entrances into Jerry's apartment.
We can learn from actors and comedians like this. I am preparing to perform in a play called "Momma Won't Fly" and there are a lot of parts of the play that I know are supposed to be comic bits and I am really thinking about how I can get laughs out of them. I am not inventive like Michael Richards is, and it is a daunting prospect to know that in three weeks you'll be going out on stage and the audience will be wanting to laugh, but if you don't deliver, they won't. I keep going over this one part of the play and wondering how Michael Richards (or Lucille Ball or someone like that -- one of these really amazing comic performers) would do it. I know they'd be funny but I can't guarantee the same will be true of me. I'll let you know if I come up with something.
Tuesday, 23 September 2014
Here we go!
Welcome to another hopefully fun-filled year of school with lots of success and curiosity and discovery! It was great to meet all of you today and I hope we'll be able to do lots of good work in Drama together.
Grade 8's: Here is the Shakespeare recitation:
All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances
And one man in his time plays many parts.
(Make note that, in the second line, the plural of "woman" is "women" (pronounced wimmen) and the second last word is "merely", not nearly. )
Grade 9's: We will see your tableaus tomorrow!
Senior Drama: Make sure you know when you and your partner are to present your warmup activities.
Grade 8's: Here is the Shakespeare recitation:
All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances
And one man in his time plays many parts.
(Make note that, in the second line, the plural of "woman" is "women" (pronounced wimmen) and the second last word is "merely", not nearly. )
Grade 9's: We will see your tableaus tomorrow!
Senior Drama: Make sure you know when you and your partner are to present your warmup activities.
Thursday, 18 September 2014
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so
We voted 86% to accept the deal and so we will be back in school on Monday. We talked about it on the picket line and found out more about what was in the fine print of the deal, and although it is not what we had hoped for, it isn't as bad as it could have been either. The courts have decided that we teachers have the right to bargain over class size and composition, and so after the government's appeal is heard (which argues that we do not have that right) and hopefully lost, we will be able to re-enter negotiations and deal with that issue, which is very important to us.
And we will get back to our jobs and our classrooms and figuring out what we will do day to day and kids will fill the halls and soon it'll feel like we've never been gone! Right now, it's like I've forgotten everything and I wonder how I will manage, but I've done it for many years and I think I'll figure it out.
I must say I was very proud of the teachers at my school. They were very committed and determined on the picket line and for the most part, they were positive and did their best to keep a good attitude in what was a very difficult and scary time. I appreciated everyone's contribution to our efforts and I hope we can keep the feeling of being engaged together in good work when we return to class. Sometimes it feels good to go through these terrible times with other people who share your goals and your struggles. At least, if you come out relatively unscathed at the end.
We've been watching this series on the Roosevelts on PBS. It is fascinating. I didn't realize that Teddy Roosevelt was such a thoughtful and forward-looking president -- I always remember the guy in "Arsenic and Old Lace" who imagined he was Teddy Roosevelt and think of him, instead of the actual person, and then I remember how Teddy was a big hunter, which I don't like. Of course, Franklin and Eleanor were an extraordinary couple and I know their politics are closer to mine, and it is inspiring to see how they tried to bring the United States out of the Depression with public works and social security and progressive labour laws. It's one of those Ken Burns films which are strangely compelling, with the camera panning over still pictures and actors reading the speeches of the people. Meryl Streep is playing Eleanor.
If this is disjointed, it's no wonder. William is talking non-stop about five feet away and although I've shushed him several times, he can't seem to shush!
And we will get back to our jobs and our classrooms and figuring out what we will do day to day and kids will fill the halls and soon it'll feel like we've never been gone! Right now, it's like I've forgotten everything and I wonder how I will manage, but I've done it for many years and I think I'll figure it out.
I must say I was very proud of the teachers at my school. They were very committed and determined on the picket line and for the most part, they were positive and did their best to keep a good attitude in what was a very difficult and scary time. I appreciated everyone's contribution to our efforts and I hope we can keep the feeling of being engaged together in good work when we return to class. Sometimes it feels good to go through these terrible times with other people who share your goals and your struggles. At least, if you come out relatively unscathed at the end.
We've been watching this series on the Roosevelts on PBS. It is fascinating. I didn't realize that Teddy Roosevelt was such a thoughtful and forward-looking president -- I always remember the guy in "Arsenic and Old Lace" who imagined he was Teddy Roosevelt and think of him, instead of the actual person, and then I remember how Teddy was a big hunter, which I don't like. Of course, Franklin and Eleanor were an extraordinary couple and I know their politics are closer to mine, and it is inspiring to see how they tried to bring the United States out of the Depression with public works and social security and progressive labour laws. It's one of those Ken Burns films which are strangely compelling, with the camera panning over still pictures and actors reading the speeches of the people. Meryl Streep is playing Eleanor.
If this is disjointed, it's no wonder. William is talking non-stop about five feet away and although I've shushed him several times, he can't seem to shush!
Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Not with a bang, but a whimper
It appears that we have a tentative agreement which our union is recommending. I just came home from an information meeting at the Bethany Church in Richmond. I wanted to hear some wisdom from the pulpit, but our local union leaders are still unsure about a lot of what is in the offer. There were a lot of passionate people there urging people to vote no and I understand why. We appear to have paid for any gains we made through the money we lost on the picket line. A lot of people made the point that we were out to get improvements to the school system and we have not achieved that. I left the meeting feeling pretty defeated. As always, there are no easy decisions and of course, lots of teachers have strained their finances to the limit and can't imagine one more week with no income (or two or however many). Lots of us really want to get back to school. I want my kids back in school. But can we say "yes" to something that we think is bad? Or do we say "yes" and live to fight again?
Some people asked what things would look like if we did vote no. But no one seemed to have a plan for that eventuality. I expect we would continue to picket but with much less support from the public (even though many online posts are already vitriolic, I think most people understand what we're doing and support us). Then the government could apply to the LRB to force us back to school, but we would probably return under similar conditions to the ones we faced in June -- rotating strikes, the lockout before, after and at breaks during school, no extracurricular activities (because of the lockout), and our pay being docked by 10%. The government could legislate us back to work and impose a contract, possibly much worse than what we face with this offer. Then, it would probably be much of the same thing. At a time when I would hope to feel optimistic, I feel demoralized. We have fought the good fight, but perhaps the struggle continues.
I don't know how I'll vote tomorrow. This is an unusual situation for me. I usually make up my mind and have a strong idea of what is right and what I will do. This time I just feel sad and disappointed and uncertain. I hope that I and my colleagues can find the wisdom to do what will be best in the long run. I hope to see all of you very soon.
Some people asked what things would look like if we did vote no. But no one seemed to have a plan for that eventuality. I expect we would continue to picket but with much less support from the public (even though many online posts are already vitriolic, I think most people understand what we're doing and support us). Then the government could apply to the LRB to force us back to school, but we would probably return under similar conditions to the ones we faced in June -- rotating strikes, the lockout before, after and at breaks during school, no extracurricular activities (because of the lockout), and our pay being docked by 10%. The government could legislate us back to work and impose a contract, possibly much worse than what we face with this offer. Then, it would probably be much of the same thing. At a time when I would hope to feel optimistic, I feel demoralized. We have fought the good fight, but perhaps the struggle continues.
I don't know how I'll vote tomorrow. This is an unusual situation for me. I usually make up my mind and have a strong idea of what is right and what I will do. This time I just feel sad and disappointed and uncertain. I hope that I and my colleagues can find the wisdom to do what will be best in the long run. I hope to see all of you very soon.
Tuesday, 9 September 2014
"Anatolia Speaks"
As I said, my creativity group and I went to the Fringe Festival on Sunday. We saw some entertaining shows and one was terrific. It was called "Anatolia Speaks" and was about a woman who had come to Canada as a refugee from Bosnia. The actor, Candace Fiorentino, was really great, using slides to show photos of where she works in Canada -- The Real Canadian Superstore (a nice little metaphor, I think) and the people she knows and her family back in Srebrenica and the Canadian soldier she met when she was fleeing her home. It was very moving and also funny and it made me think about a lot of important things, which is what you want theatre to do.
I remember when I had never heard of Bosnia. It was part of the former Yugoslavia and after the second world war, Yugoslavia was a country which included Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and Montenegro (and Macedonia, I think). It existed under the iron fist of Joseph Tito. People who lived in other Soviet block countries saw it as very prosperous, but I remember a Croatian woman I worked with at Taxation (before the country split apart) said that you were not able to go anywhere without your ID and that she had felt like she wanted to emigrate to Canada for a different life. Once Tito died, the ethnic tensions between the different sections of the country erupted into a horrible war with neighbours against neighbours and entire beautiful cities destroyed in battle. I have trouble really understanding how it could happen, how civilized people could somehow see guns and killing as a way to proceed in a modern world, especially in a place that was so beautiful and seemingly successful and sophisticated and cultured. I remember my co-worker did say that the Serbians were "animals" and that shocked me because, in Canada, you don't often hear other people characterized in that way. She felt no compunction in saying it and all the Canadians who were there felt decidedly uncomfortable and someone quickly changed the subject, because we really didn't know what to say. She was a lovely woman in many ways, but certainly the ethnic animosities that caused the war were imbedded in her world view. I remember the horror we felt here when the war was unfolding and the helplessness of the West to make the horror stop. Westerners have so many conflicting points of view -- the idea that we know best, that democracy is the way to go, that countries have a right to self determination, that we don't want to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, that people need to find ways to compromise, that ethnic hatred is dangerous (some of our points of view are right, I think, but some -- do we know best? These things never have simple answers -- like in eastern Ukraine -- do we really understand what is going on there? Can we, when we are so far away in place and time?) Anyway, Anatolia's personal story helped us focus on these bigger issues, while at the same time providing us with a window into her heart and soul. I really found it to be excellent theatre.
The Fringe continues until September 14, so why not trek down to Granville Island and see a show? I usually make an effort to pick shows that I think will be edifying in some way, by studying the program and looking at reviews and that sort of thing, but I think next year, I'll just choose randomly and see what we get. Go in to a show blind and let it just happen around me! That'll be a bit of a theatrical adventure!
The strike continues. I'm having some dark nights of the soul worrying and wondering if we will ever be back inside the school doing what we should be doing, but we soldier on and try to keep a positive attitude on the picket line. The ball is in the government's court now, so we are waiting to see if they can meet us halfway (at the net? maybe we can shake hands and get a deal that satisfies both sides? I know, it doesn't look good, but the darkest hour is just before dawn, they say.)
I remember when I had never heard of Bosnia. It was part of the former Yugoslavia and after the second world war, Yugoslavia was a country which included Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and Montenegro (and Macedonia, I think). It existed under the iron fist of Joseph Tito. People who lived in other Soviet block countries saw it as very prosperous, but I remember a Croatian woman I worked with at Taxation (before the country split apart) said that you were not able to go anywhere without your ID and that she had felt like she wanted to emigrate to Canada for a different life. Once Tito died, the ethnic tensions between the different sections of the country erupted into a horrible war with neighbours against neighbours and entire beautiful cities destroyed in battle. I have trouble really understanding how it could happen, how civilized people could somehow see guns and killing as a way to proceed in a modern world, especially in a place that was so beautiful and seemingly successful and sophisticated and cultured. I remember my co-worker did say that the Serbians were "animals" and that shocked me because, in Canada, you don't often hear other people characterized in that way. She felt no compunction in saying it and all the Canadians who were there felt decidedly uncomfortable and someone quickly changed the subject, because we really didn't know what to say. She was a lovely woman in many ways, but certainly the ethnic animosities that caused the war were imbedded in her world view. I remember the horror we felt here when the war was unfolding and the helplessness of the West to make the horror stop. Westerners have so many conflicting points of view -- the idea that we know best, that democracy is the way to go, that countries have a right to self determination, that we don't want to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, that people need to find ways to compromise, that ethnic hatred is dangerous (some of our points of view are right, I think, but some -- do we know best? These things never have simple answers -- like in eastern Ukraine -- do we really understand what is going on there? Can we, when we are so far away in place and time?) Anyway, Anatolia's personal story helped us focus on these bigger issues, while at the same time providing us with a window into her heart and soul. I really found it to be excellent theatre.
The Fringe continues until September 14, so why not trek down to Granville Island and see a show? I usually make an effort to pick shows that I think will be edifying in some way, by studying the program and looking at reviews and that sort of thing, but I think next year, I'll just choose randomly and see what we get. Go in to a show blind and let it just happen around me! That'll be a bit of a theatrical adventure!
The strike continues. I'm having some dark nights of the soul worrying and wondering if we will ever be back inside the school doing what we should be doing, but we soldier on and try to keep a positive attitude on the picket line. The ball is in the government's court now, so we are waiting to see if they can meet us halfway (at the net? maybe we can shake hands and get a deal that satisfies both sides? I know, it doesn't look good, but the darkest hour is just before dawn, they say.)
Saturday, 6 September 2014
Wake me up, when September ends
Well, we should have a week's worth of school in, but we are still walking the picket line. We went to a big rally at Canada Place yesterday and it was quite encouraging to see all the other unions there with their banners and their signs. There were lots of good speeches -- there is a real skill in making a speech that can rouse a crowd, like Marc Antony does in "Julius Caesar". Some politicians have it, like Tommy Douglas did. It isn't being loud, or overly dramatic. In a way, it's an intangible thing, but it does include a bit of humour and a bit of passion and a sense for where to stop and wait for people to clap. The head of the BC Federation of Labour, Jim Sinclair, has it. He was making quite a rousing speech and suddenly a young-ish woman came up to the mike on the stage and started babbling about something -- it sounded like a confused wedding proposal or something. Everyone in the crowd was thinking, "what is this? is this some performance piece or something?" Of course, I wondered if it was a metaphor! But some of the people on the stage helped the woman off, and then Jim Sinclair got back to it without a skipped beat. I hope with every fibre of my being that this thing can get settled next week. We all want to get back to our classrooms and I hope we can get back to normal, too. I don't want to go back to rotating strikes and that awful lockout, I want to go back to real school, and do all the things we normally do. I want to start rehearsals and worry about the show instead of not being gainfully employed!
Tomorrow, my creativity group and I are going to the Fringe Festival which has become a bit of a tradition for us. If you're looking for something to do, the Festival runs till September 14, with shows all over Granville Island, and extending to the Cultch (Vancouver East Cultural Centre). It can be hit and miss, because they don't vet the works -- you apply to present your play and it's first come first served, so some of them are vanity projects and some of them are not polished and all passion, but it's very inexpensive ($14 per show) and even bad shows can be entertaining if you come with the right attitude. We're going to see "Anatolia Speaks", "Deranged Dating" and "Eye Candy". You can get a Fringe program at community centres and coffee shops and can access it on line as well, so check it out. Since we're not in school, it's a good productive way to spend some of your time.
While we're waiting for school to start, don't just sit in your house and stare at your computer all day. Go to the library and get a book to read and find a project for yourself. I'm writing up a storm -- it's productive (I hope) and it gets my mind off my troubles. Keep the faith. Write to your MLA and ask when you're going to get back to school. And then let me know . . .
Tomorrow, my creativity group and I are going to the Fringe Festival which has become a bit of a tradition for us. If you're looking for something to do, the Festival runs till September 14, with shows all over Granville Island, and extending to the Cultch (Vancouver East Cultural Centre). It can be hit and miss, because they don't vet the works -- you apply to present your play and it's first come first served, so some of them are vanity projects and some of them are not polished and all passion, but it's very inexpensive ($14 per show) and even bad shows can be entertaining if you come with the right attitude. We're going to see "Anatolia Speaks", "Deranged Dating" and "Eye Candy". You can get a Fringe program at community centres and coffee shops and can access it on line as well, so check it out. Since we're not in school, it's a good productive way to spend some of your time.
While we're waiting for school to start, don't just sit in your house and stare at your computer all day. Go to the library and get a book to read and find a project for yourself. I'm writing up a storm -- it's productive (I hope) and it gets my mind off my troubles. Keep the faith. Write to your MLA and ask when you're going to get back to school. And then let me know . . .
Monday, 1 September 2014
The longer the picket line, the shorter the strike!
In honour of Labour Day, I have used this old labour saying, although I must confess this morning I feel as pessimistic and defeated as it is possible for a glass half full person like myself to feel. No matter what I have thought and hoped for all along, the news has been unrelentingly worse and worse and it certainly doesn't help to have the premier trashing us on Facebook and Twitter. I am not going to fight that battle here, but I will say that many teachers feel like Christy Clark has it "in" for us and the nasty attacks I've read from her in the news make that idea seem less like paranoia and more like reality.
I went for a nice outing to the Nitobe Garden at UBC yesterday. It is considered to be one of the most authentic Japanese gardens in North America and it is lovely and peaceful and really helped my frame of mind. There is thick green moss everywhere and you could imagine yourself lying under the stars and sleeping with your backpack and your walking stick as you made your Basho pilgrimage through medieval Japan. There is running water and still water and lots of little benches in different sunny and shady spots. We watched the dragonflies dipping in for bugs on the water and then the carp splashing up trying to catch the dragonflies. The natural world can provide us with a different perspective that is comforting and calming, even though I guess the poor dragonflies don't feel that way when a huge carp leaps out of the water and snaps at them. I guess I'm the dragonfly and Christy Clark is the carp!
I went for a nice outing to the Nitobe Garden at UBC yesterday. It is considered to be one of the most authentic Japanese gardens in North America and it is lovely and peaceful and really helped my frame of mind. There is thick green moss everywhere and you could imagine yourself lying under the stars and sleeping with your backpack and your walking stick as you made your Basho pilgrimage through medieval Japan. There is running water and still water and lots of little benches in different sunny and shady spots. We watched the dragonflies dipping in for bugs on the water and then the carp splashing up trying to catch the dragonflies. The natural world can provide us with a different perspective that is comforting and calming, even though I guess the poor dragonflies don't feel that way when a huge carp leaps out of the water and snaps at them. I guess I'm the dragonfly and Christy Clark is the carp!
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