TEACHING
SHAKESPEARE INSTITUTE
A Summary of
Acting Exercises
Caleen
Sinnette
Revised
2006
Reminder
During TSI, we had five sessions in each performance group. We worked very quickly and intensively, much
more so than we would work with students during a semester! It is expected that you select, rearrange,
pace and adapt these exercises to your classroom needs. Feel free to e-mail me
with thoughts and questions! cjennin@american.edu
Order of the Sessions
Layer the work like an onion!
Don't refer to the work as "acting" or “performance” if you
think that will make your students petrified.
Call it "exploration of the text", "physical and vocal
analysis of the text", “communication through the text” -- that's all that
acting is, really! Start with fun ice
breakers and lots of group work to allow for anonymity. Then move on to small group, trios, pairs and
more specialized individual work. Do not
put people in the spotlight until they have been working for awhile. Don't pressure shy students. Do lots of group work and they will gradually
overcome their reticence. The shiest are
often the students with the most talent waiting for an opportunity to blossom. Give them time.
Purpose
I always find it helpful to tell students the purpose of our exploration
of text through performance workshop/class.
For TSI my statement of purpose was:
To
explore text through breath, body, voice, speech and imagination.
You might read aloud or paraphrase some excerpts on the physical nature
of language in Linklater's Freeing Shakespeare's Voice, or the voice
teacher’s essay in your Source Book edition of Julius Caesar.
Guidelines and Contract
Discuss your frame of reference, what constitutes success, your
expectations, participants' expectations.
When I work with young people, some of my opening session remarks
include the points listed below. Develop
your own, in language that's comfortable for you. I find it is very important to put the guidelines
out front in the first session. That
way, everyone is clear. Some of my guidelines are:
·
this is not about PRODUCT it's about PROCESS!
·
the only FAILURE is to NOT GIVE IT A 100% TRY every
time.
·
some of you have done lots of this kind of work and
acting, others have not. WE'RE ALL ON
THE JOURNEY TO LEARN NEW THINGS
·
allow -- don't force
·
breathing, relaxation, release of tension = a productive
neutral with which to begin
·
there is no WRONG here.
Your choice is right as long as you can justify it.
·
DO NOT CORRECT, DIRECT CRITICIZE
EACH OTHER. Rather, find the good and
praise it.
·
remember, we want DIFFERENT choices! Respect each
other's right to be different.
·
respect each other. Know the difference between laughing
with people and laughing at people. Only laughing with is acceptable in
here
·
what goes on in our process stays with us. We are an ensemble and what happens in this
room stays with us.
I often work with them to develop a group contract, especially when we
are going to improvisation. I ask them,
“What do you think we will have to do, how will we have to behave in order to
make this a successful project? I allow
them to brainstorm a contract which I then type and hand out to them, and/or
post on blackboard. That way, we can
point to the contract if anyone misbehaves.
If it’s volunteered by students, I add things to the contract like:
·
no physical contact during the improvs -- find away to
use the space and the props to express what you are feeling
·
"cut" or "freeze" means stop moving
and talking immediately
·
we will follow acceptable standards for classroom
language. In an improv, find a way to
express your character through classroom appropriate language
·
no improvs involving sex, violence, cigarettes, drugs,
alcohol or weapons
·
let me know if you're not feeling well or if you have a
condition that will keep you from doing the warm up. Challenge yourself but
also be sensible and sensitive when using your body and you voice!
·
it's o.k. to be shy, but do all the exercises. We're all going to discover new behavior, and
each of us will have the experience of being shy or terrified about doing something at some
point in the work.
WARM
UP'S
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO BREATHE! This is process, not product!
PHYSICAL:
·
stretches -- inhale on 4 counts, exhale on 4 counts as
arms come overhead
·
pat the body all over with the hands as you hum. Breathe
as needed
·
bounce, shake and roll shoulders
·
head rolls
·
drop down through spine
·
windmill arms
·
face stretches (smile/pucker, blink)
·
body numbers 1-9
. index finger-all
fingers-hand at wrist-arm to elbow-whole arm, foot, calf, whole leg,
. foot at
ankle-calf-whole leg
. hips
(optional)
. head
. keep a pulse
by clapping or with a drum or tambourine
. rhythm: go from stretched high to
kneeling/seated/prone in 8 counts. Rest
for 4 counts. Reverse for 8 counts
go from open to closed in 8 counts. do the same for up/ down, and in/out
·
walk through the space leading with each of the
following:
. head
. center of
head chest
. heart
. belly
. toes
. heels
BREATH
·
six-sided box – when you inhale, the intake of air
should stretch the box
. front of box is the chest
. back of box is the back
. sides of box are the sides from
shoulder to hip
. top of box is across the shoulders (as
if you had no head there)
. bottom of box is across the thigh
sockets (as if you had no legs)
VOCALS
. vocals –
humming from the basement to the attic – as if you were dumb and the light bulb
suddenly went on
. open
throated sigh
. the open
mouth -- fist sized opening – wide enough to fit a Granny Smith apple, relaxed
tongue
. Yawning
. claps the hands and jiggle the jaw
ARTICULATION
. Use tongue
twisters found in Dr. Seuss ("Oh Say Can You Say" and "Fox in
Sox")
for vowels:
Upon an island hard to reach
The east beast sits upon his
beach
Upon the west beach sits the
west beast
Each beach beast thinks he’s (or
she’s) the best beast
Which beast is best, well I
thought at first
That the east was best and the
west was worst.
Then I looked again from the
west to the east
And I liked the beast on the
east beach least
for consonants:
If you like to eat potato chips
And chew pork chops on clipper
ships
I suggest that you chew a few
chips and a chop
At Skipper Zip’s Clipper Ship
Chip Chop Shop
. Red
leather/yellow leather
. Peter piper
. Billy Button
bought a bunch of beautiful bananas
. Counting with
tongue out of the mouth – 1, 1-2, 1-3, etc., then count from 1-10 with tongue
in the mouth
EXERCISES
. Select words from a sonnet.
For sonnet #140, we did sorrow, express, pain, love, testify.
Discuss
the different choices.
. Blindfold/Physicalize
images from a sonnet or monologue
. have
students blindfold themselves
. encourage
them to listen to the sounds of their bodies and the sounds around them
. select 5-6
words from a sonnet
. call out each
word and give a slow count to ten to make a physical picture of the experience
of the word.
Give
students a slow count of ten to make a physical picture of that word. Be sure to allow for a cool down and shake
out after each word.
. During the exercise, encourage them to
:
breathe!
keep moving throughout the 10 counts.
keep exploring, finding new choices
change levels - from ground to standing
use
shoulders, head, hips, knees, feet, not just hands
. side coach
them to BREATHE, KEEP MOVING, USE WHOLE BODY, GET PAST THE MOST LITERAL AND
OBVIOUS GESTURES
. remove the
blindfolds, put the sonnet or monologue on an overhead or poster board. Have the entire group do a slow choral
reading of the sonnet or monologue. Each
time they reach a word they have physicalized, have them do their gesture.
. Work through
the first two lines of the sonnet chorally, physicalizing as you go. Do this about 5 or 6 times.
. Cover over
the sonnet and show them how their BODIES remember the sonnet, and how they
have “memorized” the physical experience of the sonnet (rather than cramming
words)
. Blindfold-Animal ** NOTE **
PUT YOUR TEXT NEAR YOU
select animal from grab bag
blind fold
breathe as the animal would, find the breath
center
find its body -- movement impulse, bone, flesh
vocal -- make the sound through open throat
explore the animal
Go to 1/2 animal -- 1/2 human
Keep the essence of the animal as you remove your
blindfold and find
a line or two in your text that works through the body and voice of the animal
1/4 animal
Take your monologue and match
specific lines to specific animals. How
is your understanding of the text illuminated.
. Melodrama
theatre
Divide class in half. While the seated half of the class provides
musical accompaniment, the standing students enact the most MELODRAMATIC AWAKENING
ever staged. Encourage them to ham it up
and overact. Then switch sides. After both halves of the class have done
this, have the first half stage the MOST MELODRAMATIC DEATH ever staged. Switch.
. Gibberish
Give warm up instructions in gibberish
Pass the movement and sound in three circles
NO TALKING IN
ENGLISH OR ANY OTHER WORLD LANGUAGE.
THIS IS A COMPLETELY NEW LANGUAGE WITH ITS OWN SOUNDS. USE IT TO COMMUNICATE! ASSUME UNDERSTANDING.
Have students perform their
monologues in gibberish. The point of
this is that communication goes beyond the literal words.
. Paraphrase
Have students do their
monologues by paraphrasing the
Shakespeare.
As much as possible this should communicate
the SENSE AND INTENTION of each line.
NOTE: Have students go back to the Shakespeare text
and perform it
AFTER they have done the
Gibberish and Paraphrase exercises.
They should be clearer about
what they are saying.
APPROACHES TO TEXT
Sonnet work: A sonnet is a wonderful intro to the text - it is like
a mini-play.
. Select
a sonnet you like, put it on poster paper or on the black board. Before you
show students the sonnet, have them physicalize key words with their blindfolds
(see blindfold exercise above). Have
them remove their blindfolds. As a
group, have them work through the sonnet word by word and line by line. Make them aware of:
. breathing
deeply!
. the taste of
the word
. how the
sound and feeling of saying the word convey meaning
. have them
explore consonants (conveyors of thought), vowels (conveyors of emotions),
diphthongs, etc.
. discuss word
choices, the meaning of the words
. encourage
them to physicalize the words, make group gestures that are strong and convey
meaning
. Break
up the class into smaller groups. Give
each group a line of the sonnet and number the group according to the line they
have. Each group must physicalize the
images of that line with big gestures.
Each group must work in unison. Allow them to look up words they do not
know. After 5 minutes, Call out the line
number, have each group teach its line with physical gestures to the whole
class. By the time you have finished,
the entire class will be "acting out" the entire sonnet.
Scene work: Select 25-30
line scenes -- not too much to memorize.
Cast against type, cast with type.
If you put shy students together, they will have to rise to the occasion
together, rather than relying on a more outgoing partner. Similarly, casting extroverts together will
encourage them to raise the stakes for each other. Keep an OED, Onions or Glossary of some kind
handy. Their need to know meaning will
motivate them to look up words.
. Define,
discuss and explore the text for: rhythms, mono/poly syllables, alliteration,
assonance, onomatopoeia, antithesis, "ping-pong" or verbal volleys,
puns, ladders (builds), double and triple meanings, implied or stated stage
directions, repetitions, rhyme, rhythms (pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables), prose vs. poetry, line endings and breath demands, nature of the
images
. Clap
and move to the iambic rhythms in the text.
. Always
have a goal for each run through
. Work
with your students to develop a work plan that's incremental and tailor it to
your needs.
. As
students get more confident and independent, let them design their own work
plans. Give them more autonomy.
Whisper thru
Sitting
opposite your partner, VERY SLOWLY, whisper through the text, developing an
awareness of how the shape of the word conveys meaning, e.g. The physical act
of whispering the word "STOP" has the meaning built into the
consonants and vowels. When you are
listening, BREATHE. Maintain eye contact.
Physicalize the words
Have
partners stand a good distance from each other.
Have them physicalize the text (using full voice) making gestures to
convey the most important meaning words in the lines.
Near/Far
Use
spatial relationships to convey meaning to your partner. Make decisions as to whether the action of
each line motivates you to move NEAR your partner or AWAY from your
partner. This will help you focus on
what the character WANTS and what ACTION he/she is taking to get it.
Worksheets
. Have students answer the following questions in the first
person, as if they are the character:
.What
are important facts from the script about my character?
.What
are things other characters say about me?
.What
do I think and feel about myself?
. Have
students answer the following questions individually or as partners. They should answer in the first person, using
"I" to speak AS IF they are the character:
.
What do I WANT in this scene (noun).
.
5 ACTIONS I take to get what I want in this scene (verbs)
.
What is my biggest internal and/or external obstacle?
.
What are 10 key words that I say?
.
What are 10 adjectives I would use to describe myself?
. Where am I on the mood-intensity
continuum,
if 1 is"comatose"
and 10 is "wired, charged up"
. Have
students write as they say the piece aloud slowly again. Ask them to:
circle what you like
underline what you dislike or don't understand
use the dictionary, glossary and/or additional
sources to clarify words you don't understand
Gibberish
Have
students do the scene as it is written, keeping action sequences, physical
gestures in tact, however using gibberish in place of Shakespeare's words. Afterwards, you will notice how much more
physical the scene has become.
Paraphrase
Have
students do the scene as it is written, keeping action sequences, physical
gestures in tact, however paraphrasing, using their own language in place of
Shakespeare's words. After they have done this twice, have them go back to
Shakespeare. This exercise forces them to
understand the meanings of the words.
Urge them to keep all the natural gestures they used in the paraphrasing
once they return to Shakespeare
Melodrama Theatre
Ask
students to "ham it up", over act, do the worst, most exaggerated
acting ever. You will be surprised at
how much of what they do is actually appropriate and not overacting at
all. Shakespeare requires a bigger
physical and vocal commitment than modern or contemporary texts.
Reminders
. Use
the sheet on memorization. The process
begins the moment you hand out the script.
Have students identify the ways which help them memorize based on their
learning styles.
. A
little bit of memorization EACH DAY, keeps the worries away
. As
your rehearsal goes, so goes the performance.
. Always
start your scene with a loud clear introduction. OWN THE SPACE
. End
with an appropriate group/partner bow to THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE
. Discuss
the work. ALWAYS GET POSITIVE FEEDBACK
FROM EVERYONE. EVERY RISK DESERVES
APPLAUSE. In speaking of the work,
discuss the CHOICES made, not right or wrong.
. If
you perform for the students, you demonstrate risk taking
TSI
- Caleen Sinnette
ISSUES
IN ACTING CLASSES
We've had an intense, hopefully gratifying experience,
as ADULTS. Remember that our populations
are at very different stages of development.
We can't rush headlong into change without thinking things through.
Start your class, use a variety of warm ups – from
energetic to quiet journal entries.
Build in a cool down at the end – a
moment for round robin feedback
(Tolaydo’s exercise: I liked, I resented, I learned), a quiet
breathing exercise,
a discussion in circle (e.g. What have we
learned as a group today?)
Process exercises: Michael's model, journals, etc.
Create a comfortable community
environment for risk taking, while keeping
behavior appropriate to the setting
Think in advance about what issues your
exercises may raise in terms of
casting regarding:
PHYSICAL CONTACT
SEXUALITY/SEXUAL PREFERENCE
GENDER
RACE, CULTURE, ETHNICITY, RELIGION
VIOLENCE
DRUGS,
ALCOHOL
SUICIDE
PROFANITY
What strategies can you use with
students of mixed skill levels?
Make sure everyone gets a part to play
in performance-related activities. Do
you have visual artists, musicians,
dancers who can contribute their skills to
the group instead of or beyond
performance?
Think about ground rules and contracts
appropriate to your classroom. Have
students participate in creating them
and monitor each other in adhering to
them.
Consider keeping a menu of rehearsal
strategies up in the room. Students
should never just “run lines”. Each run through should have a purpose, e.g.
·
physicalizing
·
using animal images
·
finding the places to take a breath
·
over-articulating
·
playing the meter and looking for stressed words
·
finding key images
·
gibberish
·
paraphrasing
·
speaking directly to the focus
·
playing actions and objectives
TSI
- Caleen Sinnette
Books
I Recommend
Linklater, Kristin, FREEING SHAKESPEARE'S VOICE, Theatre Communications
Group,
Linklater, Kristin, FREEING THE NATURAL VOICE, Theatre Communications
Group,
O'Neill, Cecily, DRAMA WORLDS, Heinemann,
Spolin, Viola, IMPROVISATION FOR THE THEATRE, Northwestern University Press,
1973, ISBN # 0-8101-0249-8
Bender, Dunn, Kendall, Larson, Wilkes, QUICK HITS: Successful
Strategies by Award Winning Teachers,
Dr. Seuss, FOX IN SOX and OH SAY CAN YOU SAY -- tongue twisters
including "Skipper Zip" and
"Upon an Island"
Order
of Exercises in our Five Session Intensive
Session I
Discussion of Purpose
Context of work (excerpts from Linklater)
Ground rules/contract
Warm up
breathing
physical
stretches
soul
train line
Melodramatic awakening and death
Blindfolded physical exploration of
key sonnet words
Choral sonnet work using physical
gestures
Assignment of individual monologues
Session II
Quiet warm up – six-sided box breathing exercise
Vocal exploration (basement voice and attic voice)
Articulation exercises – tongue twisters
Continued physicalization of lines, integrating vocal work
Animal exploration of text
Look up words
Session III
Work sheets for character work (see assignments)
Use of lexicons and/or dictionaries to discover additional meanings
Physical, vocal and articulation warm up
Rehearsal (everyone rehearsing at the same time)
Individual showings of opening moments of monologues to thunderous
applause
Session IV
Physical, vocal, articulation warm up
Intro to rhythm, meter and iambic pentameter
Use of space: “Whose house is
this? Whose seats are these, etc”
Gibberish
Paraphrase
Text work
Session V
PURPOSE: To celebrate our
working process!
Individual warm up
Group warm up
Individual rehearsal time using any of the exercises we’ve used
Draw order out of a hat
Post a sign reminding people
To breathe
To introduce themselves
To focus
Cool down – discussion