To boldly go where no one has gone before!

We're entering the situation many of you fear!  Journal writing!  Do not despair . . . you have until Wednesday (since we have a long weekend) to complete your assignment!

Grade 8's:  What fairy tale have you chosen?  How did you choose a cast (who plays which role)?  What is the climax of the story?  Why did you choose that point of the plot?  Are you making good progress?  (Explain using examples.)  Who is leading the group?  Is anyone causing the group difficulty?  Explain.

Make sure you find music for your group's performance, which will actually be on Wednesday rather than Tuesday, since we get Monday off.

Grade 9's:  What is the funniest movie/tv show/play you've ever seen? (Give me the name of the show and either the director or the lead actor or the writer.)  Summarize the plot.  Describe one scene or funny bit in detail.   Explain why it was funny.  Don't say you don't know why.  Try to figure it out.

Senior Drama:
Everyone:  Which scary scene was the scariest?  Explain why you think so.
Theatre Production:  What people wear on stage or in films isn't random (or it shouldn't be).  The colour, cut and style of a costume says a lot about the character's personality.  Obviously, the time and place they live is also very important.  Choose one of the following characters and draw a sketch of what they would wear:
a)  a young woman living in the countryside in 1820 England -- she is lively and intelligent and not afraid to stand out in a crowd
b)  a bold, amoral young man in 1820 England -- he doesn't have much money and what money he does have, he spends quickly -- he is always on the lookout for people he can take advantage of
c)  the captain of a space ship in 2235 -- he wears a uniform of some sort.  He is comfortable in his uniform, but he always remembers that everyone on the ship is depending on him and so he doesn't appear "relaxed" but rather vigilant
d)  the alien life form that takes over the ship -- use your imagination

Use colour!

Directors:  Write a brief (1 or 2 pages) scene based on one of the following situations:
a) the 1st mate of the space ship greets the new crew members and welcomes them on the voyage to Betelgeuse in the Kalixicon nebula
b) one of the crew members has a meltdown during a crisis on the ship
c)  the ship must be evacuated after all life support begins to mysteriously shut down
d)  two crew members believe that the captain has been possessed by an alien being

Actors:
Actors are told to "play the opposites".  That gives depth to performances.  What it means is that you
need to think of more than one thing going on inside your character at one time.  Here's an example:  you love your parents, but you become enraged because they won't let you go to a special party that you really want to attend.  You feel like you HATE them because they don't understand you.  You know that you love them, but you don't feel it.
Choose a character from one of the situations described above and write about the conflict the character would be dealing with.  How would you present these "opposites" on stage?

Independent studies:  Choose one of the above journals!

EVERYONE!  Be sure to think about what you have to be thankful for this weekend.  Gratitude is good for the soul.

Two Truths and A Lie

Directors/Scriptwriters:

This isn't your journal but I want to get you thinking about this idea for your next writing project.

The play is called "Two Truths and a Lie".  It begins like this.

Two actors face the audience.  The stage is bare.  They speak to the audience.

Actors (in unison):  One thing I do know is that he/she/they (either one, not all) asked me to a movie.

As soon as they say the line together, they turn and look at each other and hold the look for at least 10 seconds.  What happens then?

Hey, the gang's all here!

Journal day!

Grade 8's:  This week's journal is about group work.  How would you rate yourself as a group member -- on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being terrific and 1 being uncooperative, where do you stand?  Explain your answer.  What skills do you have that make you a good group member?  How can you improve?  Are you a good leader?  Explain why or why not.  Write about a time you worked in a group and tell what you learned.

Grade 9/10:  What story has your group chosen to explore your current issue?  How does your metaphor shed light on the issue?  What makes an audience take a performance seriously?  What makes a performance comic?

Senior Drama:  What do you find scary?  How could you turn it into a play?  What genre do you think we should choose for our October 31 presentation?  Try to explain how we can involve the audience.  Lots of movies make use of "jump scares" which is basically a surprise.  What can provide a more long lasting sense of unease or fear?

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

This week's journal is about metaphor, which is such an important aspect of the theatre.  On stage, everything means something.  Everything is significant.  Most of you have heard me say that if there is a chair centerstage in your play, I will be looking at it and wondering what it means.  If no one sits in it, then I am all the more mesmerized by it.

Drama 9/10:  Here is a quote I used from an earlier blog.  William Styron, a great American novelist, wrote it, referring to his battle with depression:

Everyone must keep up the struggle, for it is always likely that you will win the battle and nearly a certainty you will win the war.

Okay, first question is simply -- what metaphor is he using?  We all face struggles in our lives -- what's one of yours?   One of mine is trying to set a good example for my sons.  What sort of metaphor could you use to shed some light on your struggle?  I might use a mask -- because sometimes, I feel one way but because of my desire to set a good example, I pretend that I feel a different way (so if I feel road rage and my sons are in the car, I act more patient than I feel).  Explain your metaphor.  Here's my explanation -- sometimes, I feel like I'm wearing a mask.  I don't want my sons to see the real me, because sometimes, I don't think "the real me" will be a positive example for them.  So if I feel frightened, I try to act confident and strong, and if I am angry, I try to remain calm and collected.  I wonder sometimes, if it would be better just to let myself go, but then I think my sons would worry.  But maybe it's good if they worry a bit.  That's human, isn't it?

Acting 11/12:  You are part of a crew on a spacecraft which is taking pilgrims from Earth to a new planet (because we wrecked the one we were on).  Which character would you choose to play:
1)  the highly intelligent, strong-willed and sophisticated captain of the ship
2)  the android who yearns to be human
3)  the ship's doctor, who is extremely emotional
4)  the only member of a lost civilization who is carrying all its culture in its head, so that it can continue on the new planet
5)  the evil alien life-force who has infiltrated the humans on the ship
6)  the ship's spiritual leader

Why do you choose the character you have chosen?  Write a brief monologue (5 to 10 lines) in which your character explains their feelings about the voyage.

Theatre Production:

As a group, measure the proscenium opening, the depth of the stage, the length of the stairwells and the large step set on stage left and then individually make a scaled drawing of the theatre.

Directing and Scriptwriting:

Choose a cast from the actors in the class for your "1st day of school" play.  Explain why you choose the actors you do.

Independent Studies:

You've both suggested that you'd like to work on lighting (and I would like you to include sound) for the "haunted house project".  Choose one of these two ideas:  Clowns or Aliens.  How might you be able to create an interactive experience for an audience based on one of these ideas?  (A page might be long enough to explain your idea.)

In Women's Hands

I saw "Lysistrata" on Friday night at Bard of the Beach and it was terrific.  It was first performed in 411 BC and was written by Aristophanes, who is the only comedic playwright whose work survives from that time period.  It was written as a reaction to the ongoing wars between Athens and Sparta, and tells the story of a group of women (from all the city states in Greece) who decide to "withhold their favours" from their husbands (if you know what I mean) in order to convince the men to stop the endless war.  It is VERY funny and VERY rude.

I have seen it a number of times (once at the beautiful theatre in Epidaurus in Greece -- what an experience that was) and I was in a staged reading of it years ago when these readings were held as a protest against the Iraq War.

This was a lovely version (with the same cast as "Timon of Athens") -- it was full of energy and hilarity -- and I always sit in the audience and wonder what Aristophanes himself would think about his play being performed so far away and so long after he wrote it.  We don't know much about him although there is some thought that his first play ("The Banqueteers") was produced when he was only 18.  His plays make fun of well known people of his day (Socrates, Euripedes) and contain toilet humour and political satire and, like all great comedians, also make you think about serious issues and can be poignant and moving (but only in brief doses, because most of it is absolutely belly-laugh inducing).

The premise of this production is that there are plans to develop Vanier Park into a container terminal (Vanier Park is where Bard on the Beach is performed) and the cast of what is supposed to be a female Hamlet decides to perform Lysistrata at the last minute, because it is about a woman who "takes arms against a sea of troubles" (Lysistrata) rather than a man who can't make up his mind (Hamlet).  For that reason, everything is supposed to be very last minute, so people are still running around and painting the stage when the curtain goes up.  The costumes were really creative, with pop can tops as armour and broom brushes as the soldiers' helmets (it gave me all sorts of great ideas for theatre production).  As I said, this was the same cast who performed "Timon of Athens" which I didn't love, but this really seemed to be something they relished -- especially good, in my opinion, were Ming Hudson, Michelle Ford and most terrific of all, Quelemia Sparrow.  But it was all great and I loved every minute of it.

"Bard on the Beach" is almost over for the year, but if you want to see some theatre that isn't too expensive, it is Fringe Festival time.  The Fringe Festival is a theatre festival where anything can happen.  The acting companies pay for the venue and are chosen on a "first come, first served" basis, so you get some great stuff and some "passion projects" (people who want to present their play and perhaps have never done so before -- maybe like an 18 year old Aristophanes!).  You can get a guide online or at coffee shops all over the place and you can buy tickets at the door and they are very cheap and you get to see a show and it might be great or it might be shocking or it might be just awful, but it's all great fun and very instructive.  It takes place on Granville Island over the next two weeks.

Acting 11 AND 12 - I FORGOT YOUR JOURNAL

Actors:  We should be able to recognize what we're good at and what we struggle with.  What would be a huge challenge for you character-wise?  Think of a character that would present you, as an actor, with difficulties and think about how you would overcome those challenges.

Welcome to High School

Journals for the first week of school:

Grade 8:

What should I know about you?

Grade 9/10:

What are you expecting to get out of Drama?  What do you think will be challenging?  What do you think you will find easy?  What are your responsibilities in this class?  Is there anything I should know about you?

Senior Drama:

Independent Studies:  List at least three things you'd like to do this semester, and tell me why they would be good for you.

Directing and Script Development:
Write a brief (less than 2 pages, I mean it) scene about a kid starting school.  Give the characters names.

Theatre Production:

Our first big project will be the Hallowe'en "haunted house".  Think about (and write about) what theme we could use and how you use and how you would transform the theatre.  Sketches are good.