MND - Characterisation

OK...

The project has started.

Each week there will be an MND related task on the blog.  Everyone needs to do all of them. 

Let's start with characterisation.

Here is a list of key characters from MND.

Theseus

Hippolyta

Helena

Hermia

Demetrius

Lysander

Titania

Oberon

Nick Bottom

Peter Quince

Egeus

The Mechanicals

Everyone take one and research into the character(s).

Task

Post a paragraph of prose...your findings.

Post five adjectives that you think best describe the charatcer.  If you had only five words to give to an actor to direct them in their performance, what would they be?

Go!

The Actors Studio

http://www.theactorsstudio.org/

A simple task this week...

Visit this website.
Explore.
Read what it says under the tab marked Our History

Publish a comment that includes...

One almunus (famous former student) of The Actors Studio that you have heard of and at least two (prefereably more) pieces of their work (that you have also heard of)

Once a person has been posted you cannot repeat the name.

Go!

The Great Naturalistic Playwrights

The two most notable Naturalistic playwrights are Anton Chekhov and Henrik Ibsen

Chekhov worked with Stanislavski at the Moscow Art Theatre.
Ibsen is widely referred to as the 'father' of modern drama.
(Pretty strong references...I think you'll agree)

These authors believed in the acting method that was proposed and developed by Stanislavski; their plays had scenic reality, a linear timeline, thematic realism etc...

Basically they were written with this method of acting in mind.

For each of the following plays provide a short summary that makes note of the main events of the play, some of the characters, the moral/message and the context (time and place).

Anton Chekov

Three Sisters

The Cherry Orchard

The Seagull

Uncle Vanya

An Enemy of the People

Henrik Ibsen

Hedda Gabler

Ghosts

Peer Gynt

A Doll's House

Magic if...

It is not always easy to think of good quality 'magic if...' questions to propose for characters.

Over years I have developed a bank of questions in my head that I have picked up from different; exercises, situations, roles and people.

Each of you is to write five good quality questions that would help you explore any character. 

They should not be closed questions (ones that would solicit a yes or no answer), nor should they be preference stating questions.

They should simply include the word 'if'...there is no other guidance.

Remember to look over other people's posts if you post first.

Simples!

Practitioners

A practitioner, in theatre terms, refers to a figure in the field of performing arts who has, in some was, redefined the area in which they work.  You need to be aware of a whole series of practitioners in order to fully appreciate the development of the theory of the stage.  During classes we will be exploring the work of Stanislavski; this study will be supported if you all have a basic understanding of the practitioners that came after him.

Each of you is to research one of the names on the list below and post a six bullet point overview of their life and work.  

You are not to create the list from the first six things you find out.  Visit a series of sources and decide what six key details you should include to well represent the figure.

Practitioners

Bertolt Brecht

Antonin Artaud

Edward Gordon Craig

Peter Brook

Lee Strasberg

Augusto Boal

Keith Johnstone

Constantin Stanislavski and The System

 In the early part of the 20th century Constantin Stanislavski, a Russian actor and theatre director, changed the nature of performance permanently.  Once Stanislavski's 'System' had been conceived, codified, developed and practiced it spread throughout the developed world.

Stanislavski's ideas, theories, methodology and pedagogy still underpin all modern performance theory.

As we go through our learning together we will always share the workload.  

You will learn more from each other than you ever will from me, and that is how it should be!

Each of you is to complete a piece of research into one of the areas of Stanislavski's system which are listed below.

You are not to copy and paste; I will put random sections into a clever search engine which will tell me whether you have plagiarised work and where from.

Write about what the term means; what you understand it to mean; your thoughts and opinions on it.

Try to complete all the terms between you.  Feel free to comment on each other's posts.  

Once you have completed 'your bit' keep checking back to see the progress; everyone should check in before the next lesson.

Elements of The System

Communion

Emotion Memory

Given Circumstances

Imagination

Magic If

Objectives

Super - Objective 

Relaxation (of Muscles)

Symbolism

Tempo -Rhythm

Units / Episodes

Through Line of Action 

Try to take pleasure in the gathering of knowledge.