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In this lesson, students will choose a monologue from Act I or II and apply the performance elements they’ve have learned so far: character development exercises, punctuation, and keywords to develop, memorize, and perform a monologue.

In this lesson, students will participate in a couple of hook activities for theatrical adaptation and discuss the definition for adaptation that we will apply throughout the unit.

In this lesson, students will explore a variety of methods for learning about Shakespeare from a specific character warm-up, fast facts, using Shakespeare’s words as the jumping off point for a tableau, and reflecting in role as they take on acting “Shakespeare style.” Finally, students will read a synopsis of A Midsummer Night’s Dream so that everyone is on the same page with the story and characters.

There are many things to pay attention to when preparing a Shakespearean monologue. So much so that character development often falls by the wayside. In this lesson, students apply exercises to a character from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by examining the character’s foreground and background, answering character questions, and creating the character’s physicality. This will demystify the process of preparing a Shakespearean monologue and give students the modern tools they need to prepare a monologue on their own later in the unit.

In this lesson, students will read Act II in sections. Students will also go through an acting technique that can help them become confident performers of Shakespeare. Students will learn about keywords and how they can help student actors with Shakespeare.

In this lesson, students will read Act III in sections. Students will also go through an acting technique that can help them become confident performers of Shakespeare. Students will use analysis to explore finding emotion and action in the text.

In this lesson, students will read Act V in sections. You can either move on to Lesson 9 and the culminating project, or you can add a class period and have students work in groups on the Pyramus and Thisbe section.

Students have spent time being introduced to the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, studied a monologue, and reviewed some character development exercises. It’s time to read through the play. We will be reading Act I in sections, making sure students fully comprehend the characters and story. Students will also go through an acting technique that can help students become confident performers of Shakespeare. In this lesson, students will analyze the punctuation in A Midsummer Night’s Dream from an acting perspective.

In this lesson, students will look into the key elements of choosing a text for theatrical adaptation: copyright, the thesis for the adaptation—the “what” and the “why” of the adaptation—and discussing how changes will affect the original source material, meaning, is the original iconic?

There are two parts to this lesson. Part 1: Students (or you) choose the text they will work on for a theatrical adaptation and apply all the pre-writing steps they’ve practiced in this unit so far. Part 2: Students will write a first draft of their theatrical adaptations.

In this lesson, students will read Act IV in sections. Students will also go through an acting technique that can help them become confident performers of Shakespeare. Students will research and discuss character interpretation.

In this lesson, students will practice applying the elements and efforts before choosing an effort to perform a monologue based on text analysis and the given situation for their characters.

The Ancient Greek Theatre is the birth of the modern theatre. We can look at the production of theatre in that time and see similarities to how we present theatre today. But where do we start? And how do we make theatre history more than the collection of data?

In this lesson, students trace the journey from ancient storytelling to modern day theatre thousands of years later. One of the main reason theatre evolved like it did was because of performance opportunities during City Dionysus festivals in tribute to Dionysus. The performance framework moved from one person telling a story to a group, to a choral group performing, to one person stepping out in front of the chorus as an actor and so on. It’s interesting for students to see that the more you perform a form, the more that form evolves.

The Greek Theatre is the ancestor of the modern theatre. It is the birth of the actor stepping away from a chorus of unison speakers, as well as the catalyst that triggered the practice of building theatres. We can look at the production of theatre in that time and see similarities to how we present theatre today. But where do we start? And how do we make theatre history more than the collection of data? In this lesson plan, students will explore the connection between the past and present by asking the question, “Does the “where” affect performance?” Students will compare and contrast the modern stage with the Ancient Greek Amphitheatre.

Students discuss what it means to not “force” the humour. They play all the games from the unit in a high risk setting, as volunteers in front of the class.

Students label parts of an Ancient Greek Amphitheatre and apply their knowledge in an exercise.

Students continue their exploration of script analysis by applying objective, obstacles, tactics, and stakes within an open scene. They learn that they must apply their script analysis to their performance.

Students learn about different commedia lazzi and create their own.

In this class period, students must decide what makeup application they are going to strive for and determine what skills they need to make it happen.