THE STAGE Unit Objective: Familiarize the students with the parts of the stage and help them understand how the stage effects the production. LESSON 1: Parts of the Stage LESSON 2: Parts of the Theatre LESSON 3: The Fourth Wall LESSON 4: Blocking and Staging LESSON 5: Body Movement LESSON 6: Props LESSON 7: World of the Play LESSON 8: Colors LESSON 9: Student Scenes Stage Unit Lesson 1: Parts of the Stage Educational Objective: The students will demonstrate their ability to know the parts of the stage by quickly moving to the corresponding post ion when called. Materials needed: None Hook: Leave the classroom and either go into a large room, the theatre or outside; preferably outside. Step 1: Separate the students into small groups, position each group at different parts of the stage until all the parts are represented. Tell the students which part of the stage they represent. Step 2: Going from the outside inwards, have them yell what part of the stage they represent. Step 3: Have all the students switch places with the other groups and repeat step two. Step four: The students will then line up in a row. We will then play a version of "Simon says" with using the parts of the stage. Simon says "Stage right"; all run to stage right. "stage left", those that move are eliminated and asked to sit down. Proceed until their is a winner or what time permits. Step 4: Finish by having the class yell which part of the stage I am standing at, covering all of the parts. Warn them that this will be on a quiz they will have to take. Stage Unit Lesson 2: Parts of the Theatre Educational Objective: The students will demonstrate their ability to name all of the parts of the theatre by moving to or touching the named part. Materials Needed: None Hook: Take the class to the theatre. Step 1: Point out each part of the theatre and its name and give examples of what each one does or can be used for. Step 2: Take the class out of the theatre, give each student a name of a part of the theatre. Have them form a "theatre" outside or in a large room. Step 3: Play it out the same as the parts of the stage with "Simon says". Step 4: Add in the parts of the stage and the parts of the theatre together and continue to play. QUIZ Parts of the stage and theatre Part I: lOpts each Identify the following: 1) Teasers 2) Tormentors 3) Cyclorama 4) Proscenium Arch 5) Grand Curtain Part II: lOpts each What are: 1) Flies (not the insects): 2) Drops: 3) Flats: Part III: 2pts each Name the parts of the stage: Using the other side of this paper as the stage floor, show me 9 stage directions (center stage, center left, etc.). Stage Unit Lesson 3: The Fourth Wall Educational Objective: The students will demonstrate their ability to comprehend the fourth wall concept by performing a short poem to the class. Materials Needed: T.V., a VCR and the movie Ferris Buellers Day Off Hook: Show two parts from the movie. One part where Ferris is interacting with his friends, but the camera is on his face. Second clip, show one of the times that Ferris breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience. Step 1: Ask the students what they thought was the difference between the two clips. -Which one is more common? -How did it feel when Ferris looked at thee camera? Why? -Why is it so different? -Does anyone know what rule of theatre andd film he broke? A= Fourth Wall Step 2: Briefly explain what the fourth wall is. It is the invisible wall through which we see all of the action going on in the story. The character can look that way as long as they can visualize that there is a wall or some other object their. When the actor make eye contact with the audience or directly brings the audience into the story it is called breaking the fourth wall. Step 3: Separate the students into small groups of 2-5 students. Give each of them a poem to read The Naked and The Nude by Robert Graves. Each group will be given one stanza. They are told to read this poem as if they are in the final scene of a dramatic film about to be released. In other words, they are to present it very seriously. It must be said with feeling, looking straight forward at the rest of the class, but they can not make eye contact with anyone else besides those that are in their group. Allow them a few moments to practice. Step 4: Once the first group is up and ready to perform, tell the class it is their duty to make them break the fourth wall. They have to remain where they are, no talking or throwing objects at the performers, but they can do whatever it takes to distract those performing. -have all of the groups say their part. Step 5: repeat, but have them do it faster from group to group, letting them know that the rest of the class is going to try to make them make a mistake. Step 6: Ask them why they think it is important to maintain the fourth wall. What difference could Step 7: Ask them why they think it is important to maintain the fourth wall. What difference could they tell in the performances? How do they feel when they see a performance where the actors break the fourth wall when they shouldn't? Stage Unit Lesson 4: Blocking and Staging Educational Objective: The students will demonstrate their ability to block a scene. Materials Needed: four to six short scenes, depending upon the size of the class. The Owl and the Pussycat, Prisoner of Second Avenue, The Rainmaker, A Dolls House. A camcorder. Hook: Assign all the students into pairs or small groups if needed, give each group a random script. Step 1: Have them read it far away from the class, standing still and at a profile position. Step 2: Have the same students do the same part close to the class, but this time facing towards the class and are allowed to move. Step 3: Compare the two scenes. Which one was more effective? Describe the elements of blocking. Full front strongest, then full back etc.. Step 4: Have the students separate into their groups to practice their scenes. Allow the rest of the class and the following day for practice. Step 5: Have the students perform their scenes, video taping them for later reference. What was good, bad, hard in doing this? Why is blocking and staging important? Stage Unit Lesson 5: Body Movement Educational Objective: The students will demonstrate their ability to use their bodily movements on stage by improvising a silent scene. Materials Needed: none Hook: Have all of the chairs lined up in perfect rows. Begin writing on the blackboard and instruct them to take notes. Write very small and keep your body in the way as much as possible. What is written is unimportant, only that they can not see it. Step 1: Still in the way, tell them they will be tested on this. Assuming someone will ask to have you move, move slightly, but still blocking the board. Step 2: Ask them if they are frustrated and why. Explain that this is the same in theatre. Many people get frustrated because they can't tell what is going on. Step 3: Go outside or into a large room. Take two of the students, have them play out a mugging very subtlety with as little gestures and movement as possible. They can make no sounds. Have the mugger take the watch and wallet from the other person. The class will remain on the opposite side, approximately the length of a large theatre and watch. Step 4: Have the same couple play out the murder again, this time with more gesture and movement. Which one did the class like better? Which time could they tell it was a mugging? Give suggestions as to how they could improve it without going overboard. Step 5: Have the class divide into couples. Allow the students to come up with their own situations to perform silently before the class. The class will then state what was going on in the scene by what they saw. Stage Unit Lesson 6: Props Educational Objective: The students will demonstrate their ability to use stage props effectively by incorporating props into a short scene. Materials Needed: Fruits and vegetables of various sizes and shapes, pieces of paper, a container Hook: Have the students move the desks out of the way and form a large circle on the floor. Step 1: Pass out two pieces of paper to each student. Have them write on it a situation that could happen between two people, such as a car accident or a blind date. After they are done, place in the container. Step 2: Place in the center of the circle the fruits and vegetables. Step 3: Tell the students that they are all going to perform short scenes for the entire class and that they must each somehow incorporate the fruit or vegetable they are given into the scene. -They can not eat or destroy the fruit or vegetable -It can be anything except for what it is in real life. In other words, they can't use an orange as an orange. Step 4: Pick random pairs of students and allow them to pick out a piece of paper. They will each have two minutes to perform and two minutes to read it over. After figuring out their situation, they must incorporate at least two of the fruits or vegetables into their scene. Step 5: Evaluate the students. What did they find hard about it? Did it make some parts of their scene easier? Were they able to incorporate other characteristics to another object? (Such as making a banana a phone.) Ask them how this could be helpful in acting and especially the benefits of this in poor mans theatre. How can props both help and hinder a scene? Discuss briefly. Stage Unit Lesson 7: World of the Play Educational Objective: The students will demonstrate their ability to create the world of the play by making an improvised set for a short scene. Materials Needed: Blocks, two bed sheets, a hat and a piece of rope Hook: Lift up one of the sheets, ask them how many different things that they could use a sheet for. Step 1: Divide the class up into even number of groups. Tell them that they will have five minutes to improvise a two - five minute scene using all of the materials. Step 2: Allow all of the groups to perform. Step 3: Ask the class how they knew where the scene was taking place, what they liked about it and how they knew where the scene was taking place. Step 4: How can we create the world of a theatre with as little scenery and props? What can we make with what we've got? Stage Unit Lesson 8: Colors Educational Objective: The students will demonstrate their ability to use colors effectively by using the elements of color in an improvised scene. Materials Needed: white, red, grey, black, yellow shirts, T.V., VCR. a copy of Star Wars Hook: Show a clip from Star Wars with Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in it Step 1: How would you know who was good or bad in this if you had never seen it before? How do the colors emphasize the scene? Explain color association. White=good, purity black=bad, death Step 2: Divide the class into groups of 3 - 5 students, tell them they are to improvise a silent scene using these elements of color. There does not have to be a bad guy in every scene Step 3: After every group has gone, ask the class how they knew what was going on in each scene. Did the colors help it a lot or was it more subtle Stage Unit Lesson 9: Student Scenes Educational Objective: The students will demonstrate their ability to improve their blocking by performing the scenes that they previously did with different blocking. Materials Needed: a VCR, a copy of the earlier scenes that we taped. Hook: Show various clips from the first scenes that the students worked on. Step 1: Have the students divide up into their groups Step 2: Ask with the knowledge they now have, how can they improve their scenes? Step 3: Students are to practice their scenes. They are allowed the rest of the class period and the following class to practice. Step 4: The students perform their scenes for the class. Afterwards they are graded on how much they improved on their previous scene and how effectively they used their blocking in the scene.