
KRISTA D. PRICE
Acting: Week 15 - VIRTUAL
(December 7-11, 2020)
Important topics/terms/instructions are in RED.
Google Classroom assignments are in BLUE.
If ABSENT, you are REQUIRED to read / understand / do all activities posted for that day, even if it's not an "assignment".
This week's self-directed learning (due by Thursday's class):
1.) Finish (if you haven't already): Give Feedback on Classmates' Monologues
In the shared class folder (where you uploaded your monologue on Google Classroom), watch and provide FEEDBACK for three of your classmates' monologue performances. (Click the "add comment" button - the speech bubble with the plus sign.) Be sure your feedback is helpful, honest, and growth-oriented. Compliments are acceptable, also. Just be sure any feedback you provide is specific and not vague. You are graded on the quality of the feedback you provide.
2.) Watch (if you haven't already): Wants
Acting NOTES Journal (Google Classroom)
Journal Title: Wants
While watching the video, take notes on what you're learning in your Class NOTES Journal (Google Classroom). Be sure to pause the video as needed while you take notes. Please pay close attention to the Lost in Yonkers wants/"verbing" examples in the video. This is a concept that you must understand and be able to analyze/do on your own in this class.
3.) Do: "Verb" additional character lines from the scene To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday
(This is the scene that we worked on in class on 12/3/20, and "verbing" is a skill you learned then. If you missed this class, it's highly recommended you watch it on Haiku.)
Acting PROCESS Journal in Google Classroom (week 15)
Journal Title: Verbs (Wants) in TO GILLIAN
1.) Pick out 3 lines of David's that you feel are significant to the scene and/or David's relationship to his daughter in this moment. Type out each line (with the word DAVID in front of the line), and after each line write an "actable verb"* that describes what you think David is trying to do TO Rachel with those words. (To ______________ her) Do not choose verbs we already did in class. Verb NEW lines.
2.) Pick out 3 lines of Rachel's that are significant in the scene. Type out each line (with the word RACHEL in front of the line), and after each line write an actable verb"* that describes what you think Rachel is trying to do TO David with those words. (To ______________ him)
*Be sure to follow the guidelines for analyzing/choosing actable verbs provided in the "Wants" video above.
-
Avoid non-actable verbs, or those that "live" only in a character's head or words.
-
Non-actable verbs include things like "to wonder" or "to question" or "to hope".
-
Actable verbs include things like "to confront", "to avoid", "to reassure", "to comfort", etc.
-
Remember to ask yourself: Q: "What is this character trying to do to the other character with these words?" A: To _______ him/her.)
*It's okay if you struggle a bit with this new concept. All I ask is that you LEARN from the resources provided and that you TRY. Reach out if you need help!
4.) Read / Do: Read & analyze a scene from the play, Proof.
Background of Story: Two adult sisters have just lost their father, a once a brilliant mathematician (genius) who suffered from mental illness in his final years. The younger sister (Catherine) cared for her father prior to his death, and also shares his genius. But she worries that she may turn "crazy" like he did in the end.
In this scene: Catherine's older sister (Claire) has come to take a depressed and disconnected Catherine back with her to New York.
Scene: Proof (click on title to read scene - start where it says "start")
First Read: TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON (relationship / overall action, etc.)
Notice: As you read the scene, notice each sister's conflicting wants.
Notice: Notice that the playwright tells us every time there is a new "beat". (The word "beat" is written in the script. There are 7 beats indicated. We will learn more about "beats" in class this week.)
Second/Third Read: ANALYZE/DISSECT
Analyze Beats: Once you've read/understood the scene, try to determine WHAT it is that shifts/changes each time the script says "beat"...What was going on between the characters BEFORE the word "beat"? What "shifts"/"changes" DURING/AFTER the word "beat"?
5.) Do: Describe your analysis of BEATS in Proof
Acting PROCESS Journal in Google Classroom (week 15)
Journal Title: Beats in PROOF
Describe what you feel is shifting/changing BETWEEN the characters each time the script says "beat". List 1-7 (for each time the script says "beat") , and then write your analysis after each (of what you think "shifts" when that word is written. You may want to first consider what's going on BEFORE the word "beat", and what changes AFTER. (There are no "right"/"wrong" answers. Just try to analyze how things shift between characters each time the script reads "beat".)
6.) Prepare: Bring a copy of the scene Proof to class, along with a PENCIL. (If you can print, PLEASE do so. If you can't be sure to have it up on your screen.)
This week's ZOOM classes: (zoom code on Haiku)
Day 1: Tuesday, December 8 @ 9:00 (attendance REQUIRED - check-in & directions for this wk's learning)
Day 2: Thursday, December 10 @ 12:50 (we'll be doing acting activities with the scene, Proof. Bring the scene, Proof, to class...along with a PENCIL!)
