Download Unit 1 Dramatic Storytelling - resauce

Unit 1 Dramatic Storytelling
Following Polish theatre director Tadeusz Kantor’s idea that the theatre creator is on a continual journey with their art, the same journey as the
characters in a play, the teacher of this unit should experiment with the idea that they too are on a journey of pedagogy and theatre and that their
students will accompany them. Of course a teacher must satisfy certain summative assessment criteria, but a grand attempt should be made to
share the discovery of real theatre in a real way. So questions should be asked without knowing the answer. New paths should be embarked upon
as a result of solutions and opportunities that the students discover. In this way, the process of learning theatre will be one in the same with the
process of creating theatre at the same time as satisfying assessment criteria and establishing an ‘authentic’ pathway through the VCE. Students
should be made aware that an effective way to think of assessment is ‘as’ formative1; in theatre terms, this style of assessment is called ‘feedback’
or ‘notes’ and is a way for the actor to understand how their work is being read and to consider alternative pathways. To aid in relaxation, it should
be impressed upon students that summative assessment2 will improve if suggestions for alternative pathways via formative assessment are
understood and acted upon.
Area of study 1
Outcome 1
Students develop an ensemble performance based on personal memories that they are prepared to share and document the process. To do this they
will:
Develop an understanding of performing within non-naturalistic worlds like ‘the memory zone3’.
 To develop characterisation techniques, analyze and create character referencing Stanislavski, Grotowski, Kantor and Japanese techniques
of ghost performance.
 To experiment with the Stanislavski method of characterisation which relates real experience to build character, students relate their own
life experiences, including motivation, desire (objective), status (e.g. student to teacher hierarchy), to the creation of their character.
 Analyse, understand the structure and create their own stories based on memories they are prepared to share. This should include research
into historical and cultural contexts in which these personal stories occurred… for example, an actor speaks of the war in Darfur;
newspaper, television or primary source material will be used to inform that personal story.
 Develop systems for documentation – film, text, image, storyboard.
 After audit of students access to ICT tools, create system for on-line sharing via Wiki page... mediated by teacher.
 Break down all aspects of performance-making into dramatic elements, stage conventions, expressive skills and stagecraft then synthesise
these into cohesive performance-making
1
Notes given to a student or performer which assist development.
Scorecard assessment
3
Crosby’s term for the concept of the stage of memories that Kantor created.
2
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Practice practicing, that is analyse the process of rehearsal while rehearsing.
Develop inter-personal skills in directing each other in improvisation and rehearsal
Examine elements of non-naturalistic movement… specifically, how to portray ‘being dead’ or ghost-like onstage.
Area of Study 2
Presenting a performance.
Outcome 1
Students will be able to employ expressive skills, theatrical conventions and stagecraft to analyse and present a performance
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Analyse, understand and practice production-week elements – Stagecraft, organization, collaboration skills.
Perform their story to an invited audience, then reflect on their performance.
Analyse and experiment with the performer/audience relationship
Reflect on each other’s and their own development and performance work in terms of Dramatic Elements, Stagecraft and conventions as
well as notions of ‘belief, presence and energy’.
Area of Study 3
Analysing a devised performance
Reflect on the process of creation, production week and performance of the devised story.
Outcome 3
Create coherent documentation of the process and performance formulated in theatre language such as Dramatic Elements, Stage Craft and Skills
Expressive Skills, Belief, Energy and so on.
Area of Study 4
Analysing external performance
Outcome 4
Able to identify and evaluate the use of performance styles, theatrical conventions, stagecraft and dramatic elements and evaluate story and
character portrayed.
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Activity
Week one
Introduction. Story. Emballage and the Theatre of Death 4.. Critique. Direction.
Note – it will be desirable for students to create artworks such as mannequins and wrapping paper in art class,
and Wiki pages, sound effects and or other media in ICT or media.
http://resauce.wikispaces.com/XY+High+Kantor+unit+discussion
Teacher can use the notes in Resource Sheet 1 to gain an understanding of Kantor, however the ideas are a bit
complex for this sheet to be handed out to students – better to process the information then regurgitate for the
students.
Warm-ups will be a repeated sequence that is added to throughout the unit:
Firstly, do analysis of normal to slow walking, sitting, lying, standing...
Introduction to the unit. Topics such as: ‘Storytelling; character; assessment of the unit; skills and knowledge
requirement through VCE; pathways after VCE; ‘why do theatre?’ to be discussed. Journal time will be given
after each exercise – the students will build an ongoing record of the process. This will become a historical
document for them to reflect on in years to come. An actor’s first pass at these concepts remains forever as their
first pass – keeping a record will serve as a good reminder of the simplicity of acting.
Watch the DVD of Tadeusz Kantor’s ‘The Dead Class’ Emballage and the Theatre of Death – the art of
wrapping as per Polish artist/director Tadeusz Kantor. The notion of object and actor in a living memory space
- creating a performance space where memories exist. Witness the difference of presence and absence of the
actor’s body and the object. Experimentation with entrances and exits, walking and existing in the space with
and without a real object.
Improvisation: based on Lower Depth by Maxim Gorky. The Year 11 group create the world of a dormitory
and live life for twenty minutes.
Learning
Wiki page example at:
http://resauce.wikispaces.com/XY+High+Kantor
+unit+discussion
understand the connection between the actor’s
body and creating a mythical performance space
Assessment ‘for’ learning – teacher to gauge the
level of understanding of the group and adjust to
suit learning. Thinking – students notate and
understand their own learning and acting
process.
understand Kantor’s central concept and apply it
to personal theatre expression. Understand interrelation of characters in the space.
understand Kantor’s central concept and apply it
to personal theatre expression
onstage inter-relation, start to build
understanding of the detail required in
characterisation. Maintaining a performance.
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Emballage is French for wrapping... as in wrapping a parcel. In his early work, Kantor wrapped many objects in the performance space to add meaning, as if by
wrapping them he created mystique surrounding the object. Objects in the space were real (taking his cue from Marcel Duchamp’s ‘ready-made’ where real
objects become art. Kantor’s stage contained real-life objects filled with memories. Actors and object were classified at the same level of importance to the
theatrical event - both provoke memory. In ‘The Dead Class’ actors and mannequins (objects) sat in old school desks to replay memories of themselves as
children in order to ‘learn the lesson’ of their life.
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Kantor’s art of direction. Theatre is a collection of the director’s memories. Do exercises in pairs and groups to
test different methods of ‘getting actors to do things.’ Understand the negotiation of will that takes place, given
an actor must perform as they see things, how does the director realise their own vision of the performance?
Point 9 resource notes sheet.
Critique/reflection on the improvisation and elements from week one.
Begin collection of memories (scenes) that will become the scenario for performance.
understand the centrality of actors in the
performative act – apply the inter-personal skill
of empathy as a means to elicit interest and to
negotiate a shared performance
revise learning to date and understand the
process of an actor. Understand the process of
learning the student is engaged with and plan
realistic objectives
Character. Naturalism/non-naturalism.
Week three
Week two
This week the four lessons will continue explorations from week one and develop the ideas of ‘the space’, emballage, and the art of directing and focus these
considerations to the notion of character. Usually, a schism is presented between Stanislavski’s character analysis and ‘non-naturalistic’ notions of character. This
week will experiment with the idea that an actor draws on both sub-sets to produce character – biographical/emotional and vocal/gestured. Students will continue to
improvise around the world of Lower Depths.
Warm ups – ADD Grotowski walks – animal transformation to character.
Character: naturalism and non-naturalism.
Various Stanislavski exercises, for example: Pass the ‘letter’ around circle. Each actor must read the letter there
contained according to the story of their character. The sheet of paper is blank. (Stephen Coen’s exercise)
Remembering Grotowski ‘favourite’ animal transformation, sit in a chair, stand, walk, return, sit, speak.
Use personal memories that you can share to create a character. The characterisation will be you as a younger
person. Analysis of rhythm, focus, language, conflict will be important. Define specific (Expressive skills of)
voice, movement and gesture.
Homework task: develop a biography for your character
Theatre Conventions
Reflection and introduction of theatre-story lineage: Greek tragedy, Homer Shakespeare, Brecht, Stanislavski,
Grotowski, Kantor... how the idea of a character telling a story has changed over the years in the hands of this
or that practitioner. Formative assessment – gauge the knowledge and level of understanding of each of these
practitioners.
Kantor created the theatre convention that the space was not a theatre, or an auditorium but a real space – a
room in a house, a back lane, or in our case, the school classroom or the school hall.
Perform a vaudeville or a melodrama or a naturalistic story that uses the performance space as a conventional
performance venue, that is, that changes the classroom into an imaginary place.
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Scaffolding on the warm-ups from last week, the
students learn Grotowski’s animal transformation
exercises, then synthesise this skill to their own
characters
Learning: Compare the difference and what is in
common between a naturalistic and nonnaturalistic characterisation
Formative assessment task
Learning: personally evaluate brief examples of
dramatists; understand Kantor in context and
commenc e synthesising what the convention of
Kantor – slow movement, memory-scape,
mortality, the lesson of life, into ideas for
personal performance
Analyse and compare different theatrical
conventions. Synthesise this knowledge to their
own performance.
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Write a personal analysis of the actual room – what real memories if any you have of the room. Bring a real
object from your past – a bicycle, a doll, a book, a picture, an instrument, a character into the room. This will
become your memory object that is joined to the memory of the room – the room and the object and the actor
become an installation.
Understand the relationship of the human to an
architectural space, where that space is
considered to be alive – that is, contains
memories. Build an understanding of the actor’s
imaginative process.
Improvisation. Lower Depths. Deepening Character. Physicality, desire, internal conflict within the real room
with your real objects.
Reflect Document. Collect memories of performance, improvisation to be added to the scenario. Choose ones
you like or that will be effective.
Transformation. Story. Rehearsal. Contrast. Focus. Rhythm.
Week five
Week four
Warm-ups: ADD: ‘The animal that learns to speak’. In pairs, be your favourite animal with each other, then
decide to communicate. In this order, gain gesture, touch, non-verbal sound, speech... ending in normal
interaction. Present to class
Analyse transformation. Duration, temperature, weight, Laban techniques of movement analysis. Actors learn
processes for transformation – from myself to someone younger; from myself to a different person,
amalgamating naturalistic and non-naturalistic elements. Attention paid to voice, movement and gesture. This
will inevitably lead to character-driven story:
Short solo improvisations that reveal one thing about the character – for example that they are nervous, overconfident, that they walk quickly, lightly; that they are devious, that they are honest; that they slur, that they
speak crisply and so on. This should invite questions concerning why the character is the way they are – for
example what happened or is happening to them, what they did, how they were acted upon; this will commence
the formation of story.
The structure of a story. Group work – ‘Tell me a story... once upon a time... there was this guy/gal; but... so...’
Why do we know what makes a story.
SETUP/ACTION/OBSTACLE/RESOLUTION... The structure of a story.
Quick solo improvisations demonstrating stories with message. (Brecht)
What makes us believe a story? Authenticity and detail of naturalistic and non-naturalistic characterisation – if
the actor believes then the audience will.
Criticism.
Remember the tenets of constructive criticism – ‘will this be helpful?’
Scenario Creation. Use of stagecraft – Sound/Design/Make-up/costume
Warm-ups: ADD the Noh theatre ghost: sliding the actor’s centre through the space with resistance at the centre
to create the ethereal.
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Learning: analyse the animal to human process
then synthesise into speech
Learning: Analyse the dramatic elements in terms
of this practical work; commence applying to
Lower Depths example
Learning: application of dramatic elements such
as conflict, rhythm, focus, space
Formative: How fluent are the students in telling
a story – do they really understand the idea of an
obstacle?- do they see the possibilities arising?
Do they see where it could lead?
Learning: interpersonal; analysis, comparing the
viewed to the done performance. So, synthesis
Understand the relation between the effect of
physical exertion and the perception of nonnaturlism in the audience.
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Over the last four weeks, we have looked at the real space and the imagined space, different ways of thinking about character, ways to direct, ways to transform and
what it means to tell a story. During all of the exercises we have collected moments, memories of work that we like or we think will be effective. This week, we will
collate these events into a performance. In looking at Tadeusz Kantor’s theatre of death, we will create our own unique theatre convention, the XY Secondary
School’s Theatre of Discovery.
Group discussion concerning what stories have emerged from our experiments. There may be one student’s
Inter-personal – understanding the tools that will
story that intersects with another.
achieve common goal
Analysis and synthesis of personal work to create
Return to the lower Depths dormitory and use this as a setting to connect individual stories that can be
an organised group achievement. Involves
sequenced.
operational organisation as well as critical skills
of discernment
Find a theme that emerges from these stories such as hope, escape, no-hope, purgatory, change, madness and
adjust the individual stories to focus within that theme. For example if a student’s story has been centred
around the loss of a puppy, and the theme chosen is escape, then the student’s performance could centre on the
puppy’s desire for freedom – the puppy becomes a symbol for the character’s desire to escape the present life.
Fluency in operational, cultural and critical
thinking
Sequence each student’s story, decide if two or more students can interact. Don’t forget to allow students to
direct other students’ work.
Interpersonal.
During this time, keep working on the practical, walks, animals, Noh, centre, and: start to include tableau,
statues, entrances and exits. Decide upon music that will accompany these
Expressive skills, stagecraft. Dramatic elements.
Examination of the actor’s technique – leave the face alone or the face as mask
Rehearse scenario, peer to peer, teacher to student, feedback, reflection, documentation
Puppets of death. Installation. Objects as design
Being dead. Stillness in movement. Movement in stillness. Moving in a non-human way – accessing the Noh
theatre exercises as reference and maintaining focus and energy even while standing still onstage.
Copying puppets
Issues and theatre. Understand the Brechtian approach and why it doesn’t work as effective performance – do
audiences like being told what they should think or is it better for them to feel the pain of a character and decide
they never want to be like that?
Improvisation. Now that we have developed characters and sense of our personal story in the space, start to
contact the audience – rather than face the back of the room (as defined by the audience position), face front; or
if you intend to face back, do so with an awareness of the audience. In reflection and feedback, question what
an audience will receive from your performance – are your expressive skills and experience with the dramatic
elements working to the best effect?
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Examination of VCE requirements, how to remain
true to yourself while working within a system
Understand and develop personal acting process
Understand the idea of focus; build on acting
expressive skills. Analyse, compare, synthesise
and create relationships concerning Space
(dramatic element).
Understanding and applying expressive skills and
many of the dramatic skills such as tension, focus,
contrast and space
As above
Cultural critical thinking and applying theatre
conventions to their own performance.
Inter-personal. Understanding the concept that
actors rely on each other to create a cogent
picture to an audience. Understanding and
synthesis of actor/audience relation
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Week six
Week seven
Understanding that the physical logistics of
theatre are part of the art. Developing a holistic
approach to craft.
Understanding the importance of art, maintaining
a focus on the objective, understanding one’s own
process, understanding the importance of art,
understanding why one bothers to perform
theatre.
Understand that the process of creating theatre is
ongoing and requires continual reflection in
order to improve and develop a personal process
for the theatre.
Week
nine
Week eight
Analyse the process of stepping onto the stage,
synthesising to a practical process for
performance
View an external performance. Re-create moments from the performance as a reflection process. Would we
want to perform this performance. Adapt the external performance according to the Kantor theatre convention
and perform it for each other.
Analyse, compare, synthesise discoveries into
personal process
Week
ten
Polishing. Tech. rehearsing
Warm ups: ADD basic performance warm-up. Dealing with nerves – breathing, humming and stretching.
Practicing movement and speech from within the performance as warm-up. Sharing moments from one
person’s performance with the whole group.
In each class, a run-through of the performance, complete with music, sound fx, costume, make-up and so on
should be done. Develop a technical list. Who will operate when. How will this be achieved in the context of
performance. General consideration of logistics.
The teacher will need to balance a sense of discovery of the performance and its process knowing that small
hiccups in logistics can be disastrous for the performance. Students will forget objects, costumes and other
resources. Have contingencies – copies of sound and text files; sheets of material and paper will be useful,
spare batteries, gaffer etc. This too is a learning experience – students can be made aware of the probability of
mistakes and plan contingencies.
Reflect
Production week
Production week considerations. Rehearsals include all technical requirements. Documentation. Practice craft.
During production week, the tendency will be for the process to veer towards melodramatic performance;
remind students of the tenets of Kantor’s theatre conventions, of the expressive skills and dramatic elements we
have learnt within the world of Kantor.
Technical considerations, unlike the usual process in theatre, should be considered as part of an artistic
process. The actor’s relation to a light, a costume, an object or a wall are, in Kantor’s terms, equally
reminiscent. Maintain an uncompromising stance regarding this during the technical period.
Performance and Reflection.
Perform twice with reflection and rehearsal periods in-between.
Do group feedback where the student’s performance is analysed in terms of the Dramatic Elements, Expressive
Skills and Stagecraft. The approach should encourage students to share what they have discovered about their
own process for development and performance.
If we continue to work in the next units within Kantor’s world, or incorporate some of Kantor’s world into
other practitioner’s work, what would you adjust? What didn’t you like about the process?
Do further rehearsals and workshops based on the feedback from the performances. Build into this work,
workshopping that demonstrates Expressive Skills, Dramatic Elements, Stagecraft and Theatre Conventions.
Reflection. Re-capitulation. Reinforcement. Discussion. Analysis of assessment.
Planning for synthesis into future work
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