Classroom Exercise

Have you heard of Tech Challenge (sometimes it’s called Tech Olympics)? Teams compete in common tasks that every technician should know and/or participate in during the run of a show. Some examples include hanging and focusing a light, taping out a groundplan, doing a prop shift, doing a costume quick change, or setting up a sound system. Many thespian festivals include a tech challenge as part of their schedule which makes for a nice balance of onstage and offstage activities. Onstage actors often get all the accolades for a show even though any production is always a group effort of onstage and offstage team members. A Tech Challenge puts tech crews in the spotlight. How can you use this in your classroom?After you take your students through the definitions of the backstage roles (eg: stage manager, lighting operator, costume designer, stage crew), put the following two tech tasks into action: Costume Quick Change, and Prop Shift. (Note: I resourced the information regarding the Costume Quick Change and the Props Shift from four Thespian websites: Georgia Thespians, Texas Thespians, Kansas Thespians_ (they have score sheets), and_ Nebraska Thespians.) Costume Quick Change1. Identify the definition of a costume quick change. • To help an actor get out of one costume and into another costume in a limited period of time – sometimes quick changes have to take place in under a minute! • Emphasize to students how important the costume quick change is to the show’s success. Emphasize how backstage roles connect to onstage roles. Everyone is part of the same community. • Find online examples of costume quick changes to show students what a quick change looks like. Search for “Quick Change” on YouTube. Here’s one from Mary Poppins and one from The Wizard of Oz. Point out to students how the actor stands/helps during the quick change. Note that each dresser has a specific job and that no one is frantic during the quick change. 2. Explain to students that they are going to run through a costume quick change in small groups. 3. Show students the two costumes each group is going to use to during the quick change. Both costumes should include pieces that go from head to toe. For example: • Costume one: Baseball hat, t-shirt, jacket, pants, belt, running shoes. • Costume two: fedora hat, dress shirt, jacket, tie, suspenders, dress pants, dress shoes. These are just examples – modify the costumes to fit what you have available. Just make sure that each costume is a complete head to toe set. 4. As a class, identify the step by step actions needed in a costume quick change. What are the most efficient steps when changing between two costumes? If there are a couple of dressers, what can each do to make the change quicker? You could even go through the change slowly as a model to try out different suggestions. 5. Divide the class into small groups. Each group will complete the Costume Quick Change as follows: • Gather at the start/end area. Put a line of tape on the ground to identify when the stopwatch person starts the watch and when they stop. • Move to the costume quick change area • Help actor out of costume one • Help actor into costume two • Hang up costume one • Move back to the designated start/end area Identify that everything must be properly undone on costume one and refastened for costume two. (Meaning, you can’t just rip off the shirt for costume one or leave a shirt unbuttoned for costume two, to save time.) Note: The actor is allowed to help (unbutton a shirt, slip out of shoes), but only at the request of the techs. 6. Each group will compete for time. Give each group a copy of the Costume Quick Change Info Sheet (see button below for the free download!). Each penalty adds time to the final score. Penalties include: • Any items not properly placed on actor (eg: shirt left unbuttoned) – 10 seconds per item • Missing hat/tie – 15 seconds per item • Unnecessary roughness of the actor – 5 seconds • Rude treatment of actor – 15 seconds • Costume 1 outfit not hung up or not placed on hangers properly – 5 seconds • Dropping hangers or other items during the change – 5 seconds per occurrence • Blatant disregard for the rules – disqualification 7. Give groups time to discuss their strategy and practice. Don’t let groups practice with the actual costumes/pieces they will use during the challenge. 8. Each group completes the Costume Quick Change. Have someone monitor the stopwatch so that you can pay attention to the change. Watch the change to identify if any of the penalties occur. The timer will start the stopwatch when the group leaves the start/end area, then stop the watch when the last member of the group reenters the start/end area. 9. Unpack the experience. What was it like to work under a time crunch? What was it like to work together on the change? What went well? What would you change? Can you imagine doing this in a production? Prop Shift1. Identify the definition of a Prop Shift. • To take props offstage at the end of one scene and dress the set as required for the next scene. For example: a table complete with place settings and a tablecloth are removed at the end of Act 1 and is replaced with a different tablecloth and a different set of plates/glasses/cutlery for the top of Act 2. • Emphasize to students how important the prop shift is to the show’s success. If actors don’t have their props in place, it will affect the scene. Emphasize how backstage roles connect to onstage roles. Everyone is part of the same community. 2. Explain to students that they are going to run through a prop shift in small groups. They are changing an “Act 1” table dressing to an “Act 2” table dressing. They will have a maximum of five minutes to take the items from a table onstage, place them on a prop table offstage, and then re-dress the table onstage with new items. Each table dressing should include: • tablecloth • four plates/four glasses/four sets of fork, knife, spoon • napkins • centerpiece The items have to be different for each table dressing, which means that students can’t reuse anything from the first dressed table for the second dressed table. 3. Show the setup to students. Explain that there is a fully dressed table onstage and that those items will need to be placed on a prop table backstage. They will also have to re-dress the table with new items. Ask students to identify what a prop table is and why it’s important backstage. If you google “prop table,” you will come up with images that exactly visualize what a prop table looks like. 4. As a class, identify the step by step actions needed in a prop shift between the two table dressings. What are the most efficient steps? If there are a couple of techs, what can each do to make the change quicker? You could even go through the change slowly as a model to try out different suggestions. 5. Divide the class into small groups. Each group will complete the prop shift for time. Give each group a copy of the Prop Shift Info Sheet (see button below for the free download!). Go through the sheet and identify the rules for the prop shift. • The timer begins when the group leaves the start/end area and stops when the group returns to the start/end area. • Students cannot drop props during the change. • Students cannot place props in their mouths or pockets. • Students must work quietly as if they are doing the change during a show. • Students must set the props in their proper place offstage (on the props table). • Students must place all props properly onstage (the setting cannot be askew!). • If students reach the end of their 5-minute time limit, they must stop immediately. 6. Identify the penalties for the prop shift competition. Each penalty adds time to the final score. Penalties include: • Dropping a prop – 10 seconds each time • Making noise with a prop – 5 seconds • Carrying a prop in the mouth or pockets – 5 seconds • Excessive noise during the shift – 5 seconds • Wrong prop placed on table – 5 seconds per item • Prop not set properly or carefully onstage – 5 seconds • Props not set properly offstage – 5 seconds • Blatant disregard of the rules – disqualification 7. Give groups time to discuss their strategy and practice. Don’t let groups practice with the actual props for the challenge. 8. Each group completes the Prop Shift. Have someone on stop watch so that you can pay attention to the shift. Watch the shift and identify if any of the penalties occur. The timer will start the stopwatch when the group leaves the start/end area, then stop the watch when the last member of the group reenters the start/end area. 9. Unpack the experience. What was it like to work under a time crunch? What was it like to work together on the shift? What went well? What would you change? Can you imagine doing this in a production?

So much emphasis in theatre and drama classrooms is placed on acting, that we often forget the unsung heroes of the theatre – the crew (also known as the “techs” or “techies”). This includes technical designers for sound, lighting, costumes, props and set; operators for all the technical aspects (sound, lighting, follow spot, wireless microphones, video projections, and so on); stage management team members (generally one stage manager and however many assistant stage managers (or ASMs) are needed); hair and makeup team members, scenic painters and set builders , production team members (producers, marketing, publicity); and front of house (including ushers, house managers, box office, and concession stand). It truly takes an army to produce a show! Being a crew member is often a thankless job. If their job is done well, then it’s smooth sailing. If something goes wrong, then inevitably the finger is pointed at the crew for taking audiences “out of the moment.” But…without the crew, actors are just standing on a bare stage in the dark in their street clothes! The following exercise will demonstrate just how powerful a tech is and how this team member can capture an audience’s imagination. Respect the Tech – ExerciseDivide students into small groups. Each group will prepare a one-minute long theatrical performance using aspects of technical theatre ONLY – sound and/or music (offstage vocals or spoken words are acceptable), lighting, props, costumes, video projections, special effects. NO acting is allowed! Focus on creating a simple story, mood, atmosphere, or feeling – like when the audience first walks into a theatre and they are instantly captivated by everything that surrounds them (i.e. sound, lighting, set). Each performance must include at least three different tech aspects (i.e. sound, lights, and props, or video projections, music, and special effects – whatever combination works for the story). Each performance must also have a title, which will be presented before the piece is performed. Students will have to adapt the technical aspects to whatever equipment or capabilities their classroom, auditorium, or theatre has. But don’t be limited to only the high-tech stuff – effective theatrical performances can be achieved with simple household items like flashlights, tinfoil, and cardboard cutouts! Here are some sample story ideas to get you started: • “A Holiday Surprise” • “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…” • “My Favourite Childhood Memory” • “The Worst Day Ever” • “A Mixed-Up Fairy Tale” • “…And Then It Went Horribly Wrong” How will your group tell your story without the actors?

Figuring out what your character wants will help you add depth and interest for your character, making them more realistic and believable. A character that doesn’t want anything is a boring character. Having a want, wish, goal, or desire will push your character throughout the show – what do they want and how will they go about achieving it? The following series of questions will help you figure out exactly why your character is in the scene and what they want. Go through your script and make notes while you’re thinking about these questions. The script will give you clues and information about what your character wants. For each question, note what it was in the script that gave you that information. List the page number and/or the line number in the script, for you to refer back to. It could be a line spoken by your character, a line spoken by another character, a stage direction, or something else. If you can’t find proof in the script, you may wish to brainstorm some ideas about your character and what they want. Talk to your teacher or start a class discussion to get more ideas and insights! The following written exercise consists of three sections. You may wish to use just one or two of the sections for your character analysis. You might decide to use just one or some of the questions. The questions will help you start thinking about your character and raise more questions to explore in class. Overall Analysis1. What does your character want? What is their wish, goal, or ultimate desire? • This should be big – it’s the reason your character exists in the show. • Why is your character essential to the story? 2. How do they attempt to achieve their wants? What actions do they take to achieve their goals? 3. Why does your character want what they want? What pushes or drives them? 4. Does your character end up getting what they want? Why or why not? 5. How does your character grow and change from the beginning of the show to the end? Changing What You Want1. Does your character’s want stay the same throughout the show, or does it change? 2. If your character wants change, what causes the change? • Does something happen directly to the character to cause the change? • Does another character influence your character? • Does your character make a choice to change? Influencing Others1. Does your character’s want influence other characters’ wants? 2. Does your character help or hinder other characters’ attempts to achieve their wants? • Does your character know or realize that fact? • How does that make your character feel? • Does that help your character get what they want? That’s a lot of questions, isn’t it? But asking these questions will get you thinking about your character. Will they get what they want? You’ll have to wait and see! Kerry Hishon is a director, actor, writer, and stage combatant residing in London, Ontario, Canada. Check out her blog at www.kerryhishon.com.

Tongue twisters are a fantastic tool to use in drama classes and rehearsals. They help students to warm up their voices, improve diction and enunciation, and get their brains moving! But repeating tongue twister exercises in unison can get boring. Here are five ways for your students to use tongue twisters in a different way– to build teamwork and cultivate ensemble thinking! 1. Brainstorming ExerciseThe students will create two lists. First, have them brainstorm for as many different tongue twisters as they can think of. Second, have them come up with a list of the benefits of using tongue twisters in the classroom/rehearsal space. How does using tongue twisters benefit you as an actor? Bonus exercise: Divide students into groups to create a poster of the tongue twister list and benefits list to display in the classroom. Or have them do a video or PowerPoint presentation to share with younger students. 2. Listening/Matching ExerciseStart with the basics. Choose a tongue twister. Have your students pair off and practice saying the tongue twister to their partner in their own voice, focusing on over-enunciating and exaggerating the words. This will help with vocal clarity and projection. Then have your students come back together to work on tongue twisters in a big group. Have one student say a tongue twister in a character voice (for example, as an old person with a slow, scratchy voice). Have the rest of the group match the tone and tempo for the first student. Have them try to breathe at the same spots. This encourages your students to really listen and work as a team! From there, try different voices–like a baby voice, a surfer dude voice, different accents–while continuing to focus on diction and crisp enunciation. 3. Listening/Teamwork ExerciseHave your students stand in a circle. Choose a tongue twister. Each student says one word of the tongue twister in succession. Focus on making the tongue twister flow smoothly from one student to the next, as if only one person was speaking. Try not to pause or jump ahead of the student in front of you! 4. Teaching/Leadership ExerciseThis exercise can be done in pairs or small groups. Get a calendar and assign each student pair a day to teach a new tongue twister to the class. Alternatively, the pair could invent their own tongue twister to share with their peers. 5. Mixed-Bag Challenge ExerciseHere’s the ultimate challenge! The Mixed-Bag Challenge Exercise requires your students to be brave. They reach into a bag or hat, pull out a slip of paper with a prompt on it, and try to complete the challenge listed on the slip! This challenge can be done as individuals, pairs, teams, or as a whole class, depending on how competitive you want to make it. Prompts might include: • Use a tongue twister as the starting sentence of an improv scene. • Divide into two teams: Who can say a tongue twister the fastest? • Make a tongue twister into a song. • In a group, create a new tongue twister, starting with the letter _____. Don't miss the giveaway below that includes 25 tongue twister challenge prompts that you can use for the Mixed-Bag Challenge Exercise - plus a reflection sheet your students can complete after the challenge.

Collaboration games are a great go-to exercise throughout the entire school year. At the start of the school year, they work for ‘get to know you’, and warm up activities. Later on in the school year, they can help get the class out of rehearsal ruts, energizing both the students and the teacher. These are 5 of our favourite collaboration games. Each post comes with a PDF download so you can walk into class the next day, ready to play the game with your students! 1. Three Things in Common The point of this game is for students to not just talk to each other, but to go beyond surface connections. Great for the first week of the term! 2. The Marshmallow Challenge It works because it’s so simple. Groups of four are given 18 minutes to build the tallest freestanding building they can with 20 sticks of uncooked spaghetti, one yard of masking tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. 3. The Negotiation This game will give your students practice negotiating, not just following one or two leaders. 4. The Human Knot Students must not only achieve the knot, but they must also work together to undo it. This game will challenge students to communicate with each other without resorting to commands. It will also boost their negotiation skills. 5. Big, Tiny, Twisted This exercise is a great last warm-up before transitioning into classwork or rehearsal.

We’re counting down the 12 Days of Christmas with 12 of our most popular Classroom Exercises! No matter which holidays you celebrate, these exercises are a useful tool to keep in your back pocket – and every exercise comes with a free download for immediate use in the classroom! 1. Devising Exercises 2. “Worst Case Scenario” Exercise 3. “Improv Games for Collaboration” Exercise 4. “Monologue Evaluation” Exercise 5. “I Would Never…” A Pre-study Romeo & Juliet Exercise 6. “What’s in Your Bag?” Character Development Exercise 7. “Instagram Journaling” Expression Exercise 8. “Collaboration Games: One to Twenty” Warm-up Exercise 9. “Relationships in Romeo & Juliet” Exercise 10.“Indoor Clouds” Playwriting Exercise 11. “Playing with Change” Devising Exercise 12. “Reality vs. Illusion” Exercise

A mixed message is when our words say one thing and our bodies/vocal tones say another. (tight, deadpan voice) _ I love you._ Good communication is all about being clear across the board. Use this exercise to explore the concept of mixed messages and what they communicate. Sometimes we want a character to present a mixed message! Instruction:1. Start the exercise with a discussion. What is a mixed message? What does it look like and sound like? Give this definition: Mixed messages say one thing with the body and another thing with the voice. 2. Have your students ever been on the receiving end of a mixed message? It would help the discussion if you could provide an example of your own. Has anyone given a mixed message but was surprised to find out? How did the message come across? What is it like to receive a mixed message? 3. Model an example of playing a mixed message. Start talking about a presentation that you have to give. Use confident words. So I have to give this presentation and I’m totally prepared for it. I can’t wait to get in front of the class and share my information. I’ve got this. Contrast these confident words with an insecure tone. Hum and haw. Sound nervous. Sound unsure. After you present this, ask students about what they heard. Did they believe your words? Why or why not? Get them to be specific about their doubts to your sincerity. Highlight the contrast. The message is confusing because the words say one thing and the vocal tone says another. 4. Use the same example and use a physical contrast. Contrast the confident words with a physical insecurity and anxiety: pace, run your fingers through your hair, hold your arms across your chest. Be physically anxious. After you present this, ask students about what they saw. Did they believe your words? Why or why not? 5. Now students are going to try this for themselves. Get everyone up and in partners. Tell students to decide who is Partner A and who is Partner B. 6. Instruct the pairs that they are going to start a scene. Everyone will go at the same time. Partner A will start the scene with the line. “Hey! It’s great to see you.” Coach them to be sincere with their vocal tone and their physical body. They are indeed happy to see the other person. Let this run for about a minute and bring everyone to neutral. 7. Instruct the pairs that they are going to switch. Now Partner B is going to start the scene with the line “Hey! It’s great to see you.” This time, Partner B is going to send a mixed message. Ask students to decide on their mixed message: if the words are positive, something has to be negative. They can choose a vocal contrast. They can choose a physical contrast. Have them do the scene for a minute. 8. Afterwards, discuss the exercise. How did it feel to be on the receiving end of a mixed message? Was it frustrating? Why or why not? How did it change the scene? What was being communicated? 9. Ask students to think about how presenting a mixed message might be useful in a theatrical context. What would it be like to be a character who delivers mixed messages? Can they think of a character in a play they’ve studied who presents mixed messages? 10. Reflection: Have students reflect on mixed messages. Get them to describe the concept in their own words. How do mixed messages affect communication? How can they use mixed messages in their future acting work?

Communication is not just what we say – nonverbal actions play a huge part as well. How we stand, gesture, make eye contact, all of these physical choices communicate. Use this nonverbal exercise to practice the act of communicating without words. Instructions:1. Divide the class into groups. 2. Have the groups letter themselves (A, B, C, D, E) 3. “A” will be the first to go. “A” is given a card with an object/location written on it. 4. “A” must get the rest of their group to form a tableau which visualizes the object or location. All communication must be nonverbal. No words or sounds allowed. 5. You can make the exercise a competition. Give a two minute time limit for the group to form the picture based on the nonverbal communication of “A”. If they are able to form the picture within the time limit, they get a point and move on to the next card with “B” giving the nonverbal communication. If time runs out, they move onto the next card but don’t get a point. Keep repeating the exercise so that everyone has a chance to lead the group. 6. Discuss the exercise afterward. What was it like to try and understand someone without any verbal cues? Did they use any shorthand? Did they get frustrated at any point? Which objects/locations were easier/harder to communicate?

Use this exercise for the first week of class, especially if you have a group of students who don’t know each other very well. The point of the game is to get students to not just talk to each other, but go beyond surface connections. They have to think together to come up with commonalities within the time limit. Instructions:1. Get your students moving around the room. Tell them to move swiftly but with purpose – be aware of their surroundings and focus on not bumping into each other. Tell them also not to chit chat with their friends. Head up, walk with purpose, walk with focus. 2. Explain to students they are to find someone in the room that they don’t know very well. That person is going to be their partner. Before you begin this exercise, I would suggest you pay attention to who students walk into the room with and who they’re chatting to. You want students to choose someone new. 3. Explain to students that they have three minutes to find three things in common with their partner. They are not allowed to use “known” things. For example, it is known that they are in the same drama class. It would be a known thing if they both have brown hair or are wearing the same colour shirt. It would not be a known thing that they both have two dogs or that their families go camping every summer, or that they can curl their tongue. Students will have to question each other quickly and think together to find possible common ground. 4. At the end of the three minutes, get students to walk around the room again with purpose and focus. At your signal, they choose a new partner and search for three things in common. 5. After a few rounds, gather students in a circle. Each student has to share one thing they found they have in common with another student.

“Go, counsellor: Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.” Juliet, Act III, scene v There are more relationships in Romeo and Juliet than just the one between Romeo and Juliet. We have relationships between parents and teens, between friends, and between enemies. Read the article and try the exercises with your students. You can download a printable PDF of this article and all the exercises below. Adults and Teens“Away from light steals home my heavy son, and private in his chamber pens himself, Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out, and makes himself an artificial night.” Montague, Act I, scene i Romeo and Juliet not only have a relationship with each other, they also have relationships to the adults in their lives. Though the play is several hundred years old, these relationships are very similar to those between adults and teens today. Youth vs age is a running thread, old and new. Juliet observes that if the Nurse were young she would be “swift in motion as a ball,” but as it is she’s old and slow. Change the word choice and it could be taken from a conversation heard in any high school hallway. First are the parent/teen relationships. Romeo’s parents rarely talk to him. They seem as confused by his behaviour as many parents today are confused by their sullen teens who lock themselves in their room. Juliet’s parents demand that she obey them in a “my house, my rules” kind of way. Capulet initially seems protective of his daughter, but later his true nature comes out. It’s interesting how the parents react to their children’s deaths – Lady Montague kills herself at Romeo’s banishment, and the Capulets show intense sorrow at finding Juliet “dead.” But if they truly feel such grief when their children are gone, why aren’t they more connected to them before this moment? One aspect of the parent/teen relationship (perhaps not as prevalent today) is the surrogate parent. Juliet was not raised by her mother but by the Nurse. to the point that the Nurse even breastfed Juliet when she was a baby. Juliet’s mother is so detached from her daughter that when she has the big news at the beginning of the play about Paris, she asks the Nurse to stay and witness the conversation. The Nurse is Juliet’s only confidante and friend. It’s clear that Romeo and the Friar have a bond, and this bond is stronger than with any of his friends. When Romeo is in trouble, he doesn’t turn to his parents. He runs to the Friar. Both sets of parents, real and surrogate, fail to be good parents. Lord and Lady Capulet would see Juliet disowned before disobedient. Romeo’s parents are absent in his journey. Both the Friar and the Nurse put themselves ahead of their charges – the Nurse sides with her employers over Juliet and the Friar abandons Juliet in the tomb so he won’t be caught. What message does this convey about whether or not the teens should trust adults? Exercises • Journal Prompt: Are the adults in your life trustworthy? Are they looking out for your best interests? Compare your relationships with adults to those of Romeo and Juliet. • Journal Prompt: What do you share with the adults in your life? What do you keep secret? Is there an adult in your life that you consider a friend? What do you think it means to be an adult? • Journal Prompt: Sometimes adults don’t want to know the truth, they just want a teen to “present” as a good person. Have you ever had to lie because an adult didn’t want to know the truth? • In groups, discuss the idea of the good parent. Should we cut the parents in Romeo and Juliet some slack because they were only behaving as parents would in that time period? Are we thinking too much in 21st Century terms? Or should a good parent always put their children first? • Compare and contrast Juliet’s relationship with the Nurse with her relationship with her mother. Why does Lady Capulet not want to be alone with Juliet in Act I, scene iii? Why does the Nurse decide to tell Juliet to forget Romeo? • Reflect on Romeo’s relationship with his mother. We learn at the end of the play that she killed herself from grief at his banishment, but we have no text between them. • Reflect on Youth vs Age in the play. Examine the first conversation between Romeo and the Friar (Act II, scene iii) and Juliet’s conversation with the Nurse when she’s waiting to hear news from Romeo. (Act II, scene v) • Montague says that he has tried talking to Romeo to find out what’s wrong with him with no success. In groups, discuss what it’s like when parents try to get information from you. • Using Act I, scene i as a guide, write a modern scene about a parent’s concern for their teen’s behaviour. Have it take place outside the locked door of their son’s bedroom. What do they do to try and get the son to come out? Are they clueless in how to talk to a teenager? • Using Act III, scene iv as a guide, write a modern scene which explores the notion of “my house, my rules.” How would a modern set of parents embody this, compared to Lord and Lady Capulet? • In groups, examine Act III, scene iv and identify the words and images Capulet uses on Juliet. Mistress minion, for example. Would you like to have your father say those words to you? Choose a couple of terms and create tableaux to visualize them. What impact do the words have visually? • In Act IV scene iii, Juliet lies to her parents, saying that she’s realized the error of her ways and will marry Paris. Write Juliet’s inner monologue. What does she really want to say to her father? • In groups, read and examine Act IV, scene v. After Capulet has threatened and screamed at his daughter, after Lady Capulet has told Juliet “go ahead and kill yourself,” they both seem to exhibit genuine despair at her death. Why is that? What are they going through in this scene? Is it genuine? Friends & Enemies“Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy.” Juliet, Act I, scene v Romeo and Juliet is based on the nature of friends and enemies. [aside: The concept of “enemy” is so strong in the play but the word itself is only used six times. The word “friend” and its forms are used twenty times.] These powerful states are vital to the story – The prologue mentions the feuding families before it mentions the lovers. Everything happens because the two families are foes. Romeo is both friend and enemy to Juliet. When Juliet says goodbye to Romeo in Act III, scene v, she calls him both “husband” and “friend.” The word is used to symbolize someone you care for, even when it’s used ironically: The Nurse wails that Tybalt was “the best friend she ever had” after his death, even though one wonders if they ever had a conversation. The word “friend” takes on a chilling connotation in Act V: Romeo tells the apothecary, who is afraid of selling him the poison, that the world is not your friend. Juliet searches for one “friendly” drop of that poison to end her life and join Romeo in death. In act III, scene i, Romeo declares, “This gentleman, the prince’s near ally, My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt In my behalf.” In my research for this newsletter, I found many remarks that Romeo and Mercutio are best friends. I’m not convinced. Romeo may think so. But he is often so caught up in his own world he doesn’t see the reality of life around him. When Mercutio searches for Romeo in Act II, he mocks Romeo’s state of mind, and mocks the way Romeo speaks of love. “Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh: Speak but one rhyme, and I am satisfied.” Certainly it’s humourous, but there’s a bite to it. And there is a lot of bite when Mercutio curses the two families at his death. There’s a reason Mercutio asks Benvolio (not Romeo) to take him away. Exercises • Journal Prompt: Reflect on the word “friend.” What does it mean to you? Do you consider romantic partners to be friends? • Journal Prompt: Reflect on the word “enemy.” Do you have an enemy? What happened to make that person your enemy? Do you feel the reactions of characters in the play toward their enemies is realistic or exaggerated? • Write a song in which you use the word friend to mean loved one. What images will you use? • Compare and contrast Mercutio and Tybalt. How are they similar? How are they different? • Create a collage of textures, colours and images that represents Mercutio on one side and Tybalt on the other. What are the similarities? What are the differences? • Respond to the statement, “Romeo and Mercutio are not best friends.” Do you agree or disagree? Support your answer with examples from the play. • Write a modern, inner monologue for Mercutio as he lies dying, where he expresses what he thinks of his friendship with Romeo. • When Benvolio describes the fight, he says that Romeo said, “Hold, friends! Friends, part!” This is not what Romeo really said (“Hold, Tybalt! Good Mercutio!”) What does this tell you about Benvolio’s character? • Write a scene in which Tybalt and Mercutio meet up in the afterlife. What would their conversation be? How would they change? How would they stay the same? What would they think about their families and the outcome of the play?

Do your students have trouble coming up with titles for their work? A title is an important part of the writing process. The title acts as a doorway into the piece – be it a movie, a novel or a play. A bad title can drive an audience away from your work, or give the wrong impression of your work. On the other hand, pick the right title and your audience could march right through the door. Use this exercise to practice creating a variety of titles based on a picture. Part One1. Find a photograph. A great source for public domain photos is flickr.com/commons. Distribute copies of the picture to your students or show the photograph on a smart board or projection. 2. Have students take a few moments and study the photograph. Encourage them to analyze every inch of the photograph. What is going on? Who is in the photo? Who is in the foreground? Who’s in the back ground? What is the landscape? What might be happening outside the frame? 3. They are now going to come up with a variety of titles. All the titles will have a different focus, and but use the same picture as source material. • Title One: Come up with a title that you think best describes the picture. • Title Two: Create a title that defines the dominant emotion in the picture. • Title Three: Use a line of poetry, or a song lyric as inspiration for this title. • Title Four: Write a title that rhymes. • Title Five: What is the one word that captures this picture? Come up with a title that is just one word. • Title Six: Create a title that has a symbolic connection to the picture rather than a direct connection. • Title Seven: Create the absolute worst title for this picture. • Title Eight: Think about the person taking the picture. Come up with a title that describes the emotional state of that person. • Title Nine: Think about the person taking the picture. Come up with a title that hints to an upcoming action of that person. • Title Ten: This piece is a comedy. Create a comedic title for this picture. • Title Eleven: This piece is absurd. Create an absurd title for this picture. • Title Twelve: Come up with a tragic title for this picture. • Title Thirteen: Come up with a title that includes the name of the picture location. Part TwoDo this with the whole class. After everyone has come up with their titles, have each choose one. They are to write that title on a slip of paper. Everyone puts their slip of paper into a hat. Everyone then chooses a slip of paper out of the hat. Based on the title they receive they are to write a brief description of the play they think fits that title. Is the title easy to visualize? How easy or difficult is it to describe a situation based on the title? Alternative ExerciseHand out brief descriptions of movies or plays. Chose older works, you’re looking for movie descriptions that your class wouldn’t be able to identify immediately. Based on the description, have students create a title for that movie. Then share the real title. IMDB.com is a good place to get short concise movie descriptions, for example: • A lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice. (To Kill A Mockingbird) • Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. (The Shawshank Redemption) • A small time boxer gets a once in a lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champ in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect. (Rocky)

What makes a good monologue? What criteria do you give to your students? Before students start writing their own monologue, it’s important for them to be able to identify and assess the elements of a good one. Have them evaluate existing monologues. Start off with a discussion of What makes a good monologue? See what your students think. Ask them to identify the criteria for a good monologue and come up with five questions to assess that criteria. For me, there are three elements that should be included in every monologue: • a reason to speak. Why is the character talking at length? • a character specific language. Who is the character and how do they speak? • a journey. Where does the monologue start and end? Is there a journey from one emotion to another? At the end of the post, download a new monologue for your students to evaluate. I’ve included it in two forms: with questions and without. That way if your students come up with their own list of evaluation questions, they can still apply them to the monologue. Exercise1. Discuss with students What makes a good monologue. 2. Either have them establish their own criteria and questions or hand out the Monologue Evaluation Sheet 3. Have students work independently or in pairs. Read the monologue and answer the questions. 4. Students assess the monologue and answer the final question: Is this a good monologue? Why or why not? 5. Students discuss their findings with the class. What’s the consensus?

Who is the most interesting person you know? Who is the most interesting person your dad knows? Who is the most interesting person your boss knows? It could be a specific story, a whole history or a certain personality trait. That’s the interesting thing about being interesting – it’s never going to be the same quality across the board. This exercise takes a look at the question “What makes a person interesting?” and explores it in a theatrical context. After your students question someone about their most interesting person, they’re going to dramatize that person in a monologue. The more students can hone in on the specifics of “being interesting”, the easier it will be for them to write interesting characters. Exercise1. First, pick a person. The only rule is that it can’t be a classmate or someone your own age. Consider talking to a parent, a relative, a teacher, your boss, a neighbour, a family friend. 2. Ask that person the question: ‘Who is the most interesting person you know?’ The answer could be someone they know currently, or someone they knew growing up. 3. Get the basic details on this person: What do they look like? What did they sound like? The more you know, the more you’ll be able to visualize this person. 4. Get the details on what makes this person interesting: is there a specific story related to this person? Is it their everyday behaviour? Make sure you write it down. 5. Based on what you know, write a monologue in the voice of this person. 1. Decide who they’re talking to. 2. Decide where they are when they give their monologue. 3. Decide the one thing they want to share with the person they’re talking to. 4. Decide their emotional state. 6. Once the monologues are complete, divide students into small groups and have them read the monologues aloud. 7. Afterward, have students write a reflection on the exercise. What was it like to learn about an “interesting person?” Do you think the person was interesting? Why or why not? What was it like to try and write a monologue for this person? What was it like to hear other monologues on this topic? Which one did you like best and why? Bonus After everyone writes their monologue, have them prepare a presentation. They have to perform their monologue, in character with full costume and props.

Character analysis can be done in many forms: • You can analyze a character in a play you’re studying. • You can analyze a character you’re playing in a production. • You can analyze a character in a play you’re writing. This Character Analysis Exercise will work in all three circumstances: Analyze a character students are studying, playing, or writing about! Have students do this exercise once they’ve either read the play at least once or they’ve written a first draft and are ready to dive deeper into character development. The goal of the exercise is for students to learn about a character through the eyes of others. Instruction1. Entry Prompt • Students enter and respond to the prompt in drama journals or on a separate piece of paper. • Describe yourself (both your public self and your private self) using the five senses. What is your look, sound, texture/feel, smell? Have them identify a specific food for taste. 2. Activity: Mirror Monologue • This is a nonverbal exercise. It is suggested that everyone goes at the same time, so that no one is singled out. You can have students facing in different directions so that they are in their own space and not looking at others or being looked at. • Say to students, Imagine you are standing in front of a mirror. When do you look in the mirror? What do you do when you look in the mirror? The goal is to get students to start a simple action. You may want to give some suggestions: Do you brush your teeth? Do you check what your clothes look like? Do you wash your face? Do you wear contacts? What are you doing? • Say to students: How do you see yourself? When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see yourself as confident? Make a pose or gesture that shows that. Do you see yourself as insecure? Make a pose or gesture that shows that. • Say to students: How do you think others see you? When others look at you, what do they see? Make a pose or gesture that shows how others see you. • Bring students back to neutral, and change the tone of the moment with an upbeat game or improv. • Afterward, discuss the exercise. What was their experience? 3. Character Analysis • In the same way that we can reflect on how we see ourselves and how others see us, we can do with characters. What can we learn about a character through the eyes of others? • The first step is for everyone to choose the character they’re going to analyze. Students who are doing this as a rehearsal exercise should choose their own character. • Divide students into small groups. Have each person in the group share their opinion of their chosen character. What do they think of them? Why did they choose them? What do they like about this character? What don’t they like about this character? • Now that students have had a chance to verbalize their thoughts, have them write them down. Give students the Character Worksheet (download below) and have them record their thoughts on their chosen character. • Next, students will choose a second character. They will now go through the script and identify everything this second character says about the chosen character. • • What words do they use? • What attitude is behind the words? • What is the emotional context behind the words? • Have your students highlight in their script how the second character responds to the chosen character. Again, have them focus on the words they use, the attitude behind the words, and the emotional context of those words. • Bring the students back into groups. Have each person share what they’ve learned about their character from analyzing the second character. Are they surprised? How does this second character see their character? • Now that students have had a chance to verbalize their thoughts, have them write them down. On the Character Worksheet students will answer the question, “How does this second character see your character?” They are to use the text to support their answers. • Bring everyone together and discuss the exercise.

How do people create illusion out of harsh reality? In the play A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche Dubois works hard at creating an illusion. She tells lies about her past so that others see her in a specific light. She tells lies to herself to soften her own memories. She puts a shade on the bare bulb so that no one can see her as she truly is. Many people try to soften a harsh reality. It may be that is the only way they can cope. Characters who choose illusion as a coping mechanism are always going to be interesting to write about. Exercise1. Journal Prompt: Ask students to reflect on how they cope with bad news. What is your coping mechanism? 2. As a class ask students their opinion on dealing with bad news or sad events. What is the best coping mechanism? What is their point of view on people who soften the truth of a sad situation? 3. Choose a tragic event from the news or history. A real event, not fictional. Choose a past event rather than something happening currently. Assign students to research the event for homework either individually or in groups. They have to come up with a list of details and a list of individuals involved in the event. 4. As a class compile the details and individuals. Put the information on large pads, on a whiteboard, or blackboard so everyone can see them. 5. Divide the class into pairs. Each pair creates a two character, one location scene based on the event. In the scene, the two characters are doing an activity – give the characters something to do as they talk. For example: they are preparing the room to paint, they are both waiters preparing for service before the restaurant is open, they are working on a class project, they are folding laundry. 6. In the scene Character A represents the reality of the event; they are there to state the facts. Character B represents an illusion of the event; they shroud the tragedy in a softer light as coping mechanism. How do they shed positive light on the event? How do they change the details to make it less harsh? For example, if the tragedy is about a horrible murder, perhaps Character B believes the murderer is innocent. How does Character A deal with Character B? 7. Present the scenes.

“Shakespeare is too hard… Shakespeare is too old… I can’t relate to Shakespeare….” It’s one thing to tell students that they should study Shakespeare, it’s another thing to get them engaged in the plays. The language barrier alone is a tough barrier to overcome. Try this Pre-Study exercise with your students. It’s for Romeo and Juliet, but you could follow the template for any Shakespeare work. Before you even say the word “Shakespeare” give students the I would never… exercise. I would never….1. Give students the I would never…. Action Sheet. Download the sheet at the end of this post. 2. Ask students to rank the actions from worst to least with #1 being the worst. Some of the actions are: • Kill someone purposefully • Love someone who doesn’t love me back • disobey my parents • crash a party So if “kill someone purposefully” is something a student would absolutely never do, (one would hope!) it’s the worst action and therefore is #1. 1. After students rank the actions on their own, divide them into groups and have them discuss their answers. Where do they agree? Where do they disagree? Why might they disagree? I did this exercise with a class in which many of the students were Muslim. For them disobeying their parents ranked 1 or 2. This astonished the Caucasian students and made for a great discussion 4. Bring the class together to discuss the actions. Ask students what they would think of a play that has every one of these actions in it. Have them brainstorm what type of play it would be, who the characters would be, where and when it would take place 5. End the discussion by telling students that the play in which all of these actions occur is a Shakespeare. See if anyone can guess the play 6. If they don’t get Romeo and Juliet, reveal this to students. Ask students how they view Shakespeare based on these actions? 7. Have students write a reflection about the exercise and their view of Shakespeare after learning about the actions that take place in one of his plays.

Performances are rarely the only area where learning occurs in the drama classroom. What goes on during instruction, what happens in rehearsals and group work, how problems arise and are solved — these are all elements which can't be quantified in a final product. Journaling provides a way for students to record, track, and reflect on their journey from the beginning of the year to the end. Journals are also a great place for students to generate and gather source material for creative writing. Most drama classes will include a writing project of some kind and the journal is one way to keep material in one place. What should go into a drama journal?• Questions and answers • Reflection on a particular exercise or class • Evaluation of a student's own work and the work of others • Personal growth tracking • Challenges and possible solutions • Expectations and goals • Ideas/research/source material for creative writing • Character work for a scene • Reactions to performances • A record of achievements and areas of improvement What should stay out of a drama journal?A journal is not a diary, it is a classroom tool. It's easy for students to misunderstand the purpose of the drama journal. Reflection is different from writing in a personal diary. It's one thing to criticize yourself or a fellow performer; it's another to critique a performance, providing reasons for your opinion and offering suggestions for improvement. It is in this way that journaling is a learning tool and an opportunity to improve a skill. How do I ensure quality work from my students?Journal entries should use complete sentences unless otherwise specified (e.g., a collage). Every journal entry should start with the date. A standard length should be between 200 and 300 words. In terms of content, the purpose of journal entries is to show that the student understands and is able to comment thoughtfully on a specific experience, using examples from class. There has to be more than, “This was good, this was bad, I don't know what I learned.” There has to be effort. Having said that, some students don't know where to start and thus offer shortened answers simply because they have never had to write in this manner before. To encourage a fully realized response, journal entries can follow two templates: 1. The WHAT of the situation followed by the WHY. If a question asks students to give their opinion (WHAT struck you about the performance of Group A?), they must follow up their opinion with reasons WHY. This way, students can practice moving beyond simply criticizing what they see, because they have to back up their opinion. Students should be aware that the WHY is the most important part of the answer because it shows thought and consideration. 2. The WHAT of the situation, followed by the HOW. The HOW portion of the answer allows students to break down experiences beyond blanket statements. It's more than, “I acted in a scene.” Students have to consider how they approached the character, how they worked in their group, how they came up with the blocking. Here are some WHAT/HOW examples: • What exercise did you do? How did you approach it? • What was the audience response? How would you evaluate your work? • What can you change for next time? How can the exercise change? • What was the outcome of the exercise? How can you improve? • What did you learn? How will this apply to future exercises? • What did you dislike about the exercise? How can you improve the experience for yourself? • What was it like to work with your group? How well do you work with other people? You know your students best. You know if the act of old fashioned pen and paper writing in a notebook will inspire or repel them. Maybe they make videos instead. Maybe they create collages. The form of the journal is not as important as the act. Analysis, reflection, creative expression, self-evaluation, and peer-evaluation are what matters. Journaling is a skill that will serve your students for years to come.

Ideas are not magical ponies. They don’t appear instantly. Writers know they have to look for ideas. The more they look for them, the more ideas they have. The key with ideas is not to focus on the great idea but to write down every idea. You never know what will spark your interest until you get that pen moving. One way to look for ideas is to create a habit of observation. To observe is to look specifically at people, places and things. If you observe on a daily basis, if you’re always looking, you will come up with ideas on a daily basis. And of course, once you make an observation, you have to write it down and then try it out in a theatrical context. That’s how you’ll know if the observation is something that can turn into a play. Here’s an exercise to put this into practice Eavesdropping is a great exercise to get students in the habit of observing, writing, and trying out. Here’s what you do1. Sit somewhere inconspicuous. A food court in a mall or a cafeteria. Make sure you’re eavesdropping on strangers – don’t listen to a friends conversation as you’re going to be creating characters for this conversation later on. 2. Listen to a conversation behind you, off to the side. Don’t look at the conversation, just listen. It could be a fragment of conversation, it could be one side of a phone call, it could be something intense or funny. Write it down as much of what you hear, as close to word for word as you can. Write in all the mistakes you hear in the conversation, write in the pauses, the sounds you hear, the unfinished sentences. Don’t worry if you don’t get it all. You’re not making a documentary. You can use your imagination to fill in the blanks. 3. Be subtle. Don’t make it obvious you’re eavesdropping and worse still writing down what you observe. Don’t make noises or comment on what you hear. 4. Once you’ve written down a page you can stop. Look at what you’ve written down. Brainstorm on the characters who could be involved in this conversation. Remember you didn’t watch the conversation so you don’t know what they look like. 5. Come up with two character names, a relationship between the two characters and a location. Make it a different location than the one you’re currently in. 6. Turn this conversation into a scene. Write out the conversation in proper play form. Write what happens next. Including the conversation you’ve overheard, write a two page scene. ** ** Bonus Repeat this exercise, only focus on a conversation you can see but can’t hear. As you observe the conversation, decide what they are talking about based on their body language. Turn the conversation into a scene.

Ideas can come from anything and everything. But it’s always a good idea to give students a jumping off point. Pictures are a great jumping off point for creative writing. Today we’re looking at The Aftermath – a picture that shows the aftermath of an event. Something has clearly happened – so let’s decide what that is, and how a character might react to what has happened. Using the picture at the top of the post, take these steps: 1. Automatic write on the picture. Set a timer for two minutes and tell students to write down everything and anything that comes to mind when they look at the picture. Don’t self-censor or judge any thought, just get it down on the page. Explain to students they’re creating source material to draw from for future writing. 2. Have students answer the following questions: • What happened here five minutes ago? • What is the world like in the aftermath of this event? • Will this event happen again? Why or why not? • Who took the picture and why? • What is this person thinking about? • What happened to the owner of this car? 3. Based on the automatic writing and the answers to the questions, students will write a monologue. Here are some suggestions: • Write an inner monologue from the perspective of the photographer. What are they thinking about as they look at the car? What do they want from life? • Write a monologue from the perspective of the car. Personify the car. What were they like before the event? What happened to them? • Write a monologue from the perspective of the owner of the car. What is their response to seeing what happened? What do they want? • Write a monologue in which a person talks about life after the event. How were they affected? What is it like in the aftermath? • Write a monologue in which a person sees the event coming. What is their response?