Sandy Faison
Joe Salvatore Seminar Class
Seven-Week Unit Lesson Plan On Acting
“The Pinch and Ouch” Cover Page
UNIT LESSON PLAN ON ACTING
“The Pinch and The Ouch”
Goal/Objective
Assessment:
See Blueprint for the Arts, Benchmark 12 - Theater-Making - Page 59
1)
Through sequential and sustained activities in various theater
forms,
students improve upon and gain new
performance skills.
A) Physical /
Characterization/Vocal
i. To
demonstrate a command of nonverbal communication to contribute to a performance
ii. To
play dramatic objectives truthfully
iii. To
understand and apply specific needs, objectives, intentions, obstacles,
subtext, and inner thoughts
iv. To
create personal blocking based on intuitive impulses in response to a text or
improvisation scenario
v. To
demonstrate the ability to vocally project according to the requirements of the
space.
vi. To
use a full range of vocal skills, including breath control, resonance,
inflection, color, and texture
See Blueprint for the Arts, Benchmark 12, Page 58
2)
Students increase their ability as imaginative and analytical
actors while continuing to participate as collaborative ensemble members.
3)
Students develop the ability to reflect on and think
critically about their work.
New York State Learning Standards
STANDARD 1:
Theater
*Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in the arts. (Specifically, improvisation)
STANDARD 1: Music
Audience/Developmental Considerations/ Previous
exer
This seven week unit lesson plan on acting was designed for the Freshman B class at La Guardia High School for Music and Art and the Performing Arts in New York City in the fall of 2005.
Lesson number one was devised for the first day of class and for the 36 students that hail from the five boroughs of New York. They all want to be professional actors and had to audition to get into the school. Over two thousand students were seen, and this year, only 60 were accepted. They do not know each other. It seemed imperative that name and community building exercises should be offered and that a safe environment be established.
Developmental considerations: The students have varied and uneven training in acting. Some have had guest spots on “Law and Order.” Some have had no training at all. For some students, English is their second or third language. My exercises are geared towards creating an even playing field.
In order to hook them, the first two lessons focused on having fun. Subsequent lessons focused on learning to listen, following their instincts and working moment to moment. Sandy Meisner says, “An ounce of instinct is worth a ton of intellect." Working moment to moment also allows actors to remain open to new interpretations, new discoveries and keeps a performance fresh during the run of a show.
My warm- ups and exercises are all borrowed, bent,
distorted, and inspired by extraordinary teachers. They ignite me still. They are Sandy Meisner, Nan Smithner, Richard Harden, Joe Rafter, and Alice Nagel. It seems I carry them with me every day.
Organization
The Large Studio Room- description and analysis
The class is offered in a large acting studio, with a
slightly elevated stage at one end.
The room is easily reconfigured for physical warm-ups (mats
on floor), vocal warm-ups (mats are stacked), and for the improvisational work
and the class feedback (chairs unfolded and scattered house center). For
performances, the chairs are arranged neatly in rows. Large blocks are stored
either outside the room in hallway closets or inside in the room against the
far wall. These blocks can be used for building doorways, tables, beds and
anything else the students can imagine. Later on in the semester, once scenes
are begun, the studio also happens to have ample storage space for props and
costumes. This room is reserved solely for the use of acting. All academic
classes are offered elsewhere.
For my classes, I have kept props at a minimum. The students
may only use independent activities. Since they are changed every week, the students
take them home.
The focus of my exercises is on the very basics of acting
and the “moment to moment” approach, not on the building of sets. Therefore, I
have the large blocks stored outside.
*See following illustrations. This room is optimal for my
purposes. That being said, I have also taught these acting improvisations in
academic rooms. I simply have pushed half of the desks back to make an acting
space for my actors.
Materials
“THE
PINCH AND THE OUCH:”
A SEVEN-WEEK UNIT LESSON PLAN ON ACTING
LESSON ONE
“WHO AM I? WHO ARE YOU? WHERE ARE WE FROM?”
· STEP ONE. WARM –UP:
o WHERE DO YOU LIVE? The entire class stands in a huddle in the middle of the room. The class imagines that the five boroughs of New York City are placed out in front of them. The map takes up the entire room. They are to go to the part of map that would signify where they lived. (Because the school makes a point of accepting students from all five boroughs, the five boroughs are always represented.)
o STEP TWO. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? The map now changes. It can now signify the globe. Repeat process as in STEP ONE above. Children now disperse across the floor to a location signifying where they were born. (We discover that one student is born in Italy, 2 are born in Poland, 2 in Russia, and one boy in South Africa, 3 girls in Puerto Rico. These students now feel like foreigners. STEP THREE helps eliminates that.)
o STEP THREE. WHERE WERE YOUR PARENTS/GRANDPARENTS BORN? After these two rearrangements on the floor map, more than half of my class is scattered around the world. Class reflection: class becomes aware that we (and our families) are all travelers, all pilgrims that have risked and traveled to arrive at this school at this time. There is a moment of reflection. A question asked is, “What connects us all? What do we share in common? Why are we all here today? Was it easy to get here? We come to realize that we all came to New York with a dream. And we are at this school because we have a dream and a shared passion.
o STEP FOUR. WHO AM I? Who is your teacher? I introduce myself. I let them know I just returned to New York after 20 years in California. I moved here and sold my family home because, like them, I had a dream. Then I tell them something about myself and I am teaching this year because it is my biggest dream.
o STEP FIVE. NAMES AND DREAMS. The class is asked to stand in a large circle. The instructor holds onto a brightly colored soft nerf ball. I say that we are going to go around the circle one at a time saying our first name and then our dream. They are to do this in one sentence. I’ll start: “Sandy. To be an excellent teacher.” I then pass the ball to my left. The student to my left says their first name and their dream, and so on, around the circle. When the ball returns to me, I say, “We’re now going to find out how well we were all listening. I am now going to pass the ball to someone else in the circle. I must make eye contact with them first. Then I must either say their name or their dream. I can throw the ball underhand. I can roll it on the floor. Or I can hand it to them. Before I begin, raise your hand if you do not want a ball to be thrown at you.”
(In my class, one girl raises her hand. I ask the girl her name. It’s Emily. I announced to the class that we now know that Emily would rather the ball be handed to her or rolled across on the floor. And I ask that we all respect her wishes.)
· Part Two of the game begins, NAMES AND DREAMS. I take my ball. I walk across the circle to Emily and hand the ball to Emily and say, “Emily: To star in a Broadway musical,” since that was her choice. The circle continues on.
· STEP
SIX. FINAL REFLECTION: Identifying Feelings. I take the ball and ask everyone to sit
on the floor. I say I’m going to
say my name, and give one word on how I’m feeling right now after my first
acting class at La Guardia. An
example would be, “Sandy.
Excited.” Pass the ball to my
left. Akeem: “Relieved.” And so forth.
LESSON
TWO:
“ESTABLISHING
A ROUTINE”
WARM- UP
· STEP ONE. Physical Warm Up.
o Have the students each grab a mat from the back of the room and place it somewhere on the floor where they do not touch another student. Have the students lie down on the matt, arms at their side. Dim the lights. Put on a CD of prepared music with no lyrics. Announce that every day we’ll start with a warm up routine where we focus our minds and bodies, and warm up our voices to get ready to act.
o Students lie on the mats in order to concentrate and focus on themselves. The students are asked to flex their feet, stretch the palms of their hands toward the ceiling, and then drop them. The head shakes yes and no on the floor. They squeeze their faces as tight as they can, as though it’s out through their nose, and then smile with corners of their mouths as if they can reach their ears.
o They are to take a deep breath, full inhalation, and exhale on a long sustained deep breath out. They are to move the neck as if left ear can reach the left shoulder and then right ear can reach the right shoulder.
· STEP TWO. Guided Imagery.
o Imagination exercises encompassing visualization and sense memory. (For example, they’re light as a feather. They float off their mats. And with total security and safety, they fly over Yankee Stadium where a baseball game is in progress. They hear the pop of the ball. They smell the popcorn and the hot dogs. And they hear the cheers of the fans. Whatever guided imagery is used, it always ends up with the students landing safely at La Guardia. At the end of the exercise, they put their mats away.)
· STEP THREE. Vocal Warm-up. Learning Solfege.
o The class stands and faces me. I conduct a vocal warm up which teaches them rudimentary music. We begin with Solfege. They are to repeat my “do- re- mi- fa- so- la- ti- do.” I do a big yawn on a pitch. And I ask them to “make raspberries,” buzz their tongue like a bee, sigh like a horse by vibrating their lips. These exercises change every day, with the exception of the Solfege. I add on to the solfege every class.
o Vocal Production. The students are to repeat each sentence after me. “Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd. His face was pale and his eye was odd. He shaved the faces the gentlemen who never thereafter were heard of again. That’s Sweeney. Sweeney Todd. The demon barber of Fleet Street.” This exercise is to develop sustaining breath, plosives, fricatives, consonants; diction in general. Each sentence is one breath. The dual purpose of this vocal warm up is not only to train the ears to listen and imitate, but it also doubles as a classroom management tool. When I stand in front of the group and raise my hands as if I were a conductor, the class learns to give me their attention.
· Roll Call.
o The children, “Present, Here, or That’s Me.” They still need reminders of each other’s names. It is also useful to insinuate a sense of humor about singing and add some fun to a very mundane chore.
o I discovered that if I ask the students to sing their name before we have sung solfege, the students usually balk or do not participate. If I have the singing roll call AFTER solfege, they almost always sing. This is a big step. For some students, this is the first time they have sung out loud.
o By repeating this routine every day, the students are soon able to lead this part of the class themselves, which allows them to attain ownership very quickly.
o
· STEP THREE. The Wave.
o I ask the students how many people have been at a baseball game and have seen “THE WAVE.” I say I’m going to perform a movement and a sound. I want the person to my left to imitate the movement and the sound the split second after me; the person to her left the split second after that. The speed of this game is important. You don’t want any student feeling self-conscious about their movement. The movement usually travels so fast, however, that their focus tends to be on watching the actual wave move around and anticipating rhythmically and visually when they should jump in. They are not watching the other actors “perform.” This is a low focus activity. Once the wave has gone all the way around the circle, the person to my left then initiates a movement, and so forth, until everyone in the circle has had a chance to create their own individual movement.
· STEP FOUR. Final Reflection.
o Take out the ball and pass it round the circle. They are to say their name and one sentence as to how they are feeling, and then pass the ball to their left and so forth.
· HOMEWORK:
o The
class is to bring in an independent activity. An independent activity is a task that is active. Stacking a
deck of cards could be an independent activity. Polishing your nails, knitting
a scarf, drawing a still life are all examples of independent activities.
Sleeping is not an independent activity. It must be an active task.
LESSONS THREE, FOUR, FIVE:
“ BEING ALONE IN PUBLIC”
· STEP ONE. WARM-UPS
Physical Warm-up with mats.
o Physical warm up followed by imagery and sense memory exercises, as above. Ends with mats being put away.
Vocal Warm- up.
o Group stands facing me. Review do re mi fa so la te do. I write do re me fa so la ti do on the blackboard. Vocal exercise: they listen to me run it through once. “Do, do re do, do re mi re do, do re me fa me re do, do re me fa so fa me re do, do re me fa so la so fa me re do. Do re me fa so la ti……la so fa me re do.”
o Group is divided into eight sections. They stand in a line facing the conductor. Group one is assigned “do.” Group two is assigned “re.” Group three is assigned “me.” Group four is assigned “fa.” Five is “so.” Six is “la.” Seven is “ti.” And eight is the higher octave “do.” Then, as conductor, I point to each group and they sound their note from the pattern above. It is as if I am ringing various hand-held bells.
· STEP TWO. MAIN ACTIVITY
o I ask for a volunteer who brought in an independent activity. Have that student go up on stage. His/her assignment is to enter through a door and do their independent activity. They are to ignore the audience and create a fourth wall. They are not to wink, swagger, wave at people in the audience. Their job is to truly do their task as if they were completely alone in a room. Their goal is to be alone in public.
The point of the exercise is to eliminate all extraneous behavior, all interaction with the audience, and to stay on task. This sounds much easier than it is. The tendency is to indicate reading a book, indicate studying for an exam, indicate listening to music, and to be funny. They are asked here to simply do the task. They are asked to trust the silence and their behavior. The goal is to get them to trust the task and know that their private behavior is interesting. Until the class gets this right, the teacher should not go further in the improvisation sequence.
· After each exercise, I ask for feedback. Did that actor do the task? Did he do the exercise as I asked him to do it? The class is asked to raises their hands and, one at a time, say their thoughts and observations.
The purpose of this, of course, is to get the students to develop a critical eye. This is especially important later on when some students fall prey to wanting to be funny. The class may laugh, but down deep, they know the actor on stage indicated their task. The goal is to get these students to be able to see a performance and understand what they think is good, truthful acting. It is meant to empower them.
After the warm-up, this exercise and the following audience commentary, there is usually only time for four or five students to get up on stage per class.
· END OF LESSON FIVE: Reflection
o Pass the ball.
§ I ask the class to tell me what they have noticed in general about the success of the independent activities and the point of the exercise. If I feel they understand it and have embraced its concept, I move on. If they do not, I repeat it. In my Drama Group B class at La Guardia, the students noticed that if the independent activity was fairly difficult to do, it was easier for them to keep their focus on it, which I felt was a good observation. We moved on.
LESSONS
SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT:
“TWO
ACTIVITIES AT THE SAME TIME”
· STEP ONE:
o WARM-UP with Mats, as described above.
o Follow with Vocal Warm-Up. Teach the class “Dona Nobis Pacem.” (“Give Us Peace” in Latin.) The class is taught the first section of a three section round.
· STEP TWO. MAIN ACTIVITY
o Two actors are on stage. They each have an independent activity or task and the stakes are raised.
§ They are now asked to verbalize what will happen to them if they don’t get their task done. (For instance, Mary has a broken plate and glue. Her task is to put the plate together again. The added element of what’s at stake is that it’s her mother’s favorite plate. She broke it at a party at her house last night and she needs to fix it before her mother comes home this afternoon.)
o Each actor has an independent activity with a heightened stake. Actor #2 is to walk into the room and begin his/her activity. The two actors do not need to speak. However, in the event that one of the actors’ behavior conflicts with, challenges, or prevents the other actor’s behavior, three or four lines of dialogue are allowed. This is about the truth of the moment. Are they compelled to speak? If something happens to them where all their instincts say SPEAK UP FOR YOURSELF, then they are allowed to speak. The audience is to watch for truthfulness of the moment and the truthfulness of the dialogue, if any.
(An example in my class of a student being compelled to speak: The first student was trying to string a pearl necklace while the other actor was jumping rope right next to them. For a while, it made her quite agitated and nervous, the table bounced, and then the pearls fell off the table. Actor number #1 finally said, “You are driving me crazy. Go do that outside.” “The second actor said “no way.” The first actor said,” You are so incredibly inconsiderate. I really can’t stand you.” The audience all felt exactly the same way as the first actor. The behavior was truthful. The dialogue was truthful. They considered the exercise successful.
§ IN
TERMS OF THE TITLE OF THESE EXERCISES:
“The Pinch and The Ouch”…_
o The
actor did not say “ouch” until someone pinched them.
o Her
words and behavior were in reaction to the other actor.
o Acting
is reacting truthfully in imaginary circumstances
o As always, after each exercise, the students are encouraged to raise their hands and share their critical and artistic eye. The teacher is to mediate.
o Final reflection. A circle is formed and the class is encouraged to speak up about what they get, don’t get, or are confused about. When the entire circle has spoken, the teacher may or may not address each of the issues. They may also just deal with something they feel is important to mention.
LESSONS
NINE, TEN, ELEVEN:
“The
5 W’s”
· STEP ONE. Warm up on Mats as above.
o Vocal Warm Up. Teach Parts 2 and 3 of Dona Nobis Pacem.
o There are many reasons why I use vocal warm ups every day in class.
§ First off, music is innately evocative. I find if my students sing in class, emotions are more readily available.
§ An added benefit is that those students who do not get to perform in class feel they at least got to perform through music.
§ Also, everyone feels they have participated in each class. It also encourages students to speak with a pleasing and supported tone.
· STEP TWO. MAIN ACTIVITY
o Two actors are on stage. As before, they each have a task. They are now introduced, however, to the five W’s: “Who, What, Where, Why, and Want.”
§ I ask the students for suggestions. Number one, who are they? Example: They are two sisters. What are they doing and what is at stake? Example: They are doing their tasks that need to be done or else... Where are they? Example: They are in the living room. And the final addition is the WANT. One actor has a want and the other must refuse the want. For example, Ambrosia wants Elisa to try out for the gymnastics team with her. Elisa does not want to. Elisa may not give in.
o RULES:
· They must keep doing their tasks for independent activities and the sister who wants something must use as many tactics as possible. What are tactics? I ask the students, when you want to get something out of your mother, father, or friend, how do you go about it? I want the answers to be in verbs, to…what? Here’s what they came up with: to intimidate, to annoy, to whine, to compliment, to charm, to bribe, to compromise, to seduce, to manipulate, to complain.
· Must use logical rules of space.
· Must use many tactics.
· Must work moment to moment.
· Must listen.
· Must keep doing the task.
· The person with the WANT has to have some stake. What is driving your objective? What will happen to you if you don’t get it? In other words, you must get the other person to agree. And the other person must NOT agree.
(Word of warning: When my class came up with some suggestions for the relationships, the location, and the want, there was a tendency to want to write a story out of a soap opera, as opposed to offering a simple want. The teacher must be on the lookout for this. The best examples at this early stage are situations such as… Tess wants Charley to get a haircut; Charley doesn’t want to get his haircut. Example of things that people can use as motivations: Tess has heard nasty comments from peers about Charlie’s long hair. Tess wants to spare him being made fun of.)
LESSONS
TWELVE, THIRTEEN, FOURTEEN:
“THE WHOLE
SHABANG!”
· STEP ONE. WARM-UP
o Physical warm-up on mats as usual. However, ask for a student volunteer to lead the physical warm up and another student to volunteer to do the imagery work.
o Vocal warm up. Same as above, but perform “Dona Nobis Pacem” as a round, incorporating all three sections. (On LESSON FOURTEEN, record the song and play it back for them. Do they blend? How does it sound? Did they make a beautiful sound? Does it sound in unison? Or does it sound like individual soloists singing louder than everyone else?”
· STEP TWO. MAIN ACTIVITY. More specifics.
o Two people each have a task or an independent activity. Each person has a want or an objective or intention. Neither person may give in. “Use the space around you if you feel the need to move, or do not move.” Both must still focus on their task, and both must use different tactics.
o At the end of each improvisation, I ask the audience members if the actors on stage were really doing their task, really listening, really focused? Did they use the space from an honest place? Was it motivated? Did they make their wants strong enough? Did you see a moment where it lit on fire?
· STEP THREE. FIRST REFLECTION. (In preparation for homework.)
o What has changed for them? What do they see differently from the first day of class? What makes up good acting or a good improvisation? Are they looking at acting differently?
o HOMEWORK:
§ Write two pages on one or all of these subjects and bring it to class next week.
FINAL REFLECTION
§ Get the group in a large circle and pass the orange nerf ball. One at a time, students reflect on how they feel they are doing. Is this starting to make sense? Is there anything that makes no sense?