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Students will explore the Absurdism theatrical convention of using meaningless language to communicate (or not communicate) a larger theme of interpersonal relationships and misunderstandings.

In this lesson, students will learn about Constantin Stanislavski, an actor and theatre director who profoundly affected modern realistic theatre with his system of actor training specifically for realistic plays. Students will participate in exercises from the Stanislavski system.

Students will explore the Absurdism theatrical convention of circular plot lines that appear to go nowhere and end in unresolved situations.

Students are introduced to the basic theory of Melodrama and its characteristics; predictable plots, stock characters, and exaggeration. Students will role play the stock characters of melodrama both physically and vocally. They will rehearse and perform a Melodrama scenario and as a written assignment be asked to write their own melodrama scenario. Lesson Plan comes with practical assessment and written assignment rubric.

Students will explore elements of Absurdism in their chosen Absurd play.

In this ELP, students write a series of letters between two characters in a play.

Students discuss what it means to take the active choice and apply the concept in Quiet Scenes.

Students will understand the importance of raising the stakes in their performance through their objective and tactics. Students will also understand how their choice of tactics, and their intensity, creates emotional shaping in their performance. Students explore tactics choices, obstacles and emotional shaping while playing the “Candy Bar Game.” Students have an objective to get a chocolate bar, but have a variety of obstacles in their way to do so. They have to choose tactics to help them get their objective and explore the emotions that come as they get closer and closer to the goal. An excellent activity to show students exactly what it means to have an objective, to employ a tactic and the emotions attached to doing so.

In this lesson, students will be introduced to lazzi. Lazzi are solo comic beats to show off a character and their needs. Students will then create and perform a solo lazzi.

Students will use “Show and Tell” to create a detailed background for their contentless scene character and improvise a personal interview with that character.

Students will explore one of the four background/historical elements for Theatre of the Absurd. Within their groups, they will create a way to share their area of exploration with the class. This works best as a multiple-class lesson.

Students will discuss and apply dramatically the theme of Traps vs Escapes in Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie. It is assumed that students have started reading The Glass Menagerie or know the story. Use this lesson as a supplemental to your study of the play.

In this ELP, students reflect and respond to a variety of questions and statements about the Theatre. The aim of the lesson is to have students identify statements they connect to and express their point of view on those statements.

Students will demonstrate their understanding of simple action by performing or coaching the performer to deliver a love poem while using three simple actions.

In order to partake in the audition process, students need to identify and comprehend the necessary steps in that process. What is the auditioning process? Why is it used? Is the process fair? Why or why not? The class ends with students playing director in the “Who Would You Cast?” Exercise.

In this lesson, students will explore the impact of censorship on an era of theatre and create a theatrical moment using a specific censorship prompt.

Students will identify the difference between pastiche and parody and then demonstrate comprehension by (a) analyzing a song and then (b) creating their own parody or pastiche.

Students will analyze the role of a producer as well as collaborate with a group to choose a play to produce and hire a creative team for the imaginary production.

Students explore Chinese opera and how some of what culture values can be seen in an exaggerated way on stage.

Students will compile modern-day clichés and stereotyped phrases and use these words/phrases to create a scene. The point of the exercise is to take something unfamiliar like the Theatre of the Absurd and identify a point of connection. A technique that we know well (the use of cliche and stereotype) is something Theatre of the Absurd Playwrights also know well. Use this exercise as a precursor to studying The Bald Soprano. You’ll need a scene from The Bald Soprano for the end of this lesson.