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Intermediate Curriculum
(High School Intermediate)
Week One: Course Survey: What We Will Be Doing
Ice Breakers/class management issues/cooperative-supportive environment/concept of ensemble/what will be expected and what they need to do to be successful in drama this year. Pre-test Theatre Vocabulary. Improvisational shorts/‘Improvisational’ scaffolds. Instructions for observational journals/monologues/scene work.
Week Two: Vocals:
Warm ups/breathing/placement/range/diction/enunciation/projection/tempi/ dialects/age/coloring delivery of lines/marking/
Week Three: Vocals (continued)
Warm ups (cont.) Review, Radio: Re-enactments. Newsroom. Historical. Radio Theatre, i.e. Listen to and analyze old shows such as The Shadow/Burns and Allen, etc. Recording Session: (possible annual event/competition).
Week Four: Movement
Warm ups (varied for each consideration) walking/ standing/where do you place your hands (?) (ease and control) pantomime/mime. Character considerations. In class monologue work.
Week Five: Stage Combat
Movement continued: Stage Combat. Integrated with limited dialogue/situations (adapted from scripts in later course work).
Week Six: The Eyes Have It
Eyes and Face and Gestures: Exercises focused on communication by use of the eyes only/gestures
alone and issues surrounding reacting (beginning discussion and some exercises working with/difficulty with props)
Week Seven: In the Moment
Exercises to bring the first six weeks into focus/monologues (chosen in first or second week) and observational work also assigned earlier will be worked with emphasis on movement/voice/gestures, etc., Acting as believing/acting as reacting/acting as active listening. (Lecture on methods)
Week Eight: Greek Theatre
Pre-test/conventions/history/festivals/masks/choral work/assign pieces/in class staging parts of tragedies and comedies/short very self directed pieces and solo exploration in this form. Casting of two larger portions or acts of Greek plays. Use of Rehearsal Wardrobe pieces/ work on considerations regarding makeup/props/masks/(possibly limited lighting stage pieces, etc.,
Week Nine: Greek Theatre (continued)
Rehearsal Performance (group work) Continued class work on Greek plays. Guided discovery learning. Performance. Post Test on history/conventions/literature (as studied in class)
Week Ten: Acting One: The Covered Entrance
Pre-test on Basic Character considerations (see week six-seven review) Observation journals update/
Character histories and the use of questions. Socratic seminar of what the players place is within the world of the play.
Week Eleven: Acting One: (continued)
Extension of week ten warm ups/focus exercises/Acting ‘as if’/making it your own/stretching your mind/staying open/saying ‘yes’. Building the action. Finding ones ‘voice’ as an actor. Rhythm, pacing, use of pauses. Focusing on being quiet. Listening as a primary tool of the actor.
Week Twelve: Tableau:
Pretest on the history and usage of the tableau. Show examples and assign two large groups to write and perform their own tableaus. Expand to discussions and exercises to other possibly unfamiliar forms: Restoration/Comedia del arte /melodrama-presentational/ Elizabethan. Olio, etc., (this will be further explored in Advanced classes) - Cast Melodrama and Olio.
Week Thirteen: Melodrama/Olio
Rehearse medium length Melodrama and Olio.
Week Fourteen Melodrama/Olio
Staged performance of Melodrama and Olio-Tableau (possible public performance or within department) Post test use of tableaus-melodramas etc.
Week Fifteen: Review/Actor as Writer
Observation work check. See where they are on this. (on going) See if there are factors that have arisen specifically related to previous week’s work, especially in the observation journals-discoveries. Continue work on monologues (they will have two contrasting at this point). Mock audition for a staged play. From A-to-Z. Brief discussion of theatre as a business. (More of this in the advanced class)
Week Sixteen: Scene Work (contemporary)
Small group work on scenes. Semi self directed and self guided student work. On book with movement this week. Observation Journal reminders and overview. Required group work outside of class on these scenes.
Week Seventeen: Scene Work (continued)
Scene Work. Challenge: Monologs (surprise ‘pop-quiz’) Random selection of performances of one of students term long monolog work. (graded)
Week Eighteen: Scenes presented to class. Q&A positive feedback-considerations, etc. (graded)
Potpourri observation journals turned in (graded) Final post test on all terms-concepts in the term. Open session for each performer to give their last shot at improving any aspect they have attempted during the term. Brief work on joke-story-anecdote-limerick-puns-satire-etc. as final send off.
Drama Methods (sample) Beginning Drama Exam J. Basham
(each answer worth five (5) points/essay
worth 25)
Part One: Multiple Choice:
1. A melodrama style of play is well known for its…
A) Audience participation
B) Use of elaborate sets and special effects.
C) The actors use of masks
D) Elegant Surroundings
2. Actors in a tableau usually….
A) Memorize their lines before they start rehearsing
B) Pay special attention to their vocal warm ups prior to performing
C) Must stay very focused on each movement and the timing involved.
D) Often use tumbling and acrobatic movements during performances.
3. An Olio is…
A) The brightly painted curtain in front of the entrance to the theatre
B) Similar in some important ways to the vaudeville
C) A butter like product used in applying and removing makeup
D) The wagon used to bring in large set pieces.
4. The audience in a melodrama is known as often being
A) Always attentive and well behaved
B) Boisterous and vocal
C) Well to do and snobbish
D) Relaxed and open minded.
5. An actor using a presentational style is said to be:
A) Quiet and introspective
B) The one talking at any particular time
C) Speaking broadly with larger than life movements.
D) A film or television performer
6. Being an actor means that you can:
A) Show off to your friends
B) Talk or wave to your friends from backstage
C) Ignore the stage managers directions
D) Express yourself artistically
7. In the theatre Ensemble means:
A) Wardrobe pieces put together for a special purpose
B) Striking the set after the play closes
C) Working as a group for the betterment of all
D) To assemble pieces of scenery
8. A good audience member does which of the following:
A) Listens actively to the performance
B) If they talk on their cell phone they do so very quietly
C) Arrives late and slips into their seat quietly
D) Wears a very tall hat
9. A well trained actor is:
A) Person who is famous all over the world
B) Makes sure the audience can see them
C) Upstages the other actors whenever possible
D) Listens to the other players and is in the moment
Part two: True or False:
1. A curtain call is the time you should be ready to put on your costume and makeup. (T) (F)
2. Going up means to rig the lighting for a stage performance. (T) (F)
3. Play practice is the same as play rehearsal. (T) (F)
4. Acting is mostly about making the kind of faces a person would make when they are happy or sad. (T) (F)
5. Talking back stage is OK if the audience can’t hear you. (T) (F)
6. When your part of the play is over it’s okay to go out into the lobby of the theatre as long as your out of makeup and costume. (T) (F)
Part three: Essay:
Goal: For the beginning high school drama student at the end of the first 18 weeks of instruction I would want the student to be able to publicly present a minimum of least two varied memorized monologs confidently and with some understanding of character development and conventions of performance.
SWBAT demonstrate an understanding of vocal work by producing a audio tape of their assigned work as on radio performers.
SWBAT analyze rudimentary copy and scripts by performing in class via pre-test cold reads and post-test finish projects consisting of live performances of their efforts and guided and unguided readings.
Name three things that you think are important for an actor to do before a play is ready for performance. (please write at least three paragraphs. Don’t rush. Think carefully about your answers: (please circle your answers clearly) (Please Circle your answer clearly)