Analysis

Characters in a Scene

by Karen Loftus

Students continue their exploration with script analysis by learning about objective, obstacle, stakes, and tactics and applying it to an exercise.

Attachments

# Acting # Analysis # analysis # acting

Close Reading Analysis of Monologue: Not Again

by Quincy Young

Close reading requires students to analyze a text more thoroughly then they might naturally be inclined to, and because of this, students will be required to read the text three times. The first reading focuses on what the text says, the second reading focuses on how the text works, and the third engages students in evaluating the text, comparing it with other texts, or thinking about its implications in their lives in relation to the text. This lesson applies the close reading technique to analyze a BIPOC-centred theatrical text.

# Analysis # bipoc # monologue

Close Reading: 21st Century Issue Play

by Lindsay Price

Close reading is a text-dependent analysis tool that allows students to read a text for in-depth comprehension. Students focus on the text to understand what’s being said, how it’s being said, and why. In this lesson, students will close read a teen issue play: Censorbleep by Lindsay Price. Reading something that was written specifically for them may help students connect to the analysis process.

# Analysis # close reading # analysis

Close Reading: Early Modern

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, we will close read sections of an early modern text: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. This play fits the criteria well for a close read text: Lots of details both in story and character, lots of structural “hows” to analyze, and Oscar Wilde makes a lot of statements with this play about Victorian England, about how people behave, about marriage, and about being truthful (earnest). Students will approach the text through a variety of exercises, from close reading the title, to single sentences, to a small section, to a culminating assignment.

# Analysis # close reading

# Analysis # close reading # monologue

Close Reading: Monologue

by Lindsay Price

Close reading is a text-dependent analysis tool that allows students to read a text for in-depth comprehension. Students focus on the text to understand what’s being said, how it’s being said, and why. In this lesson, students will use this analysis technique on a monologue. They will go through the process on a model and then apply what they have learned in a culminating activity.

# Shakespeare # Analysis # close reading # Shakespeare

Close Reading: Shakespeare

by Lindsay Price

Close reading is a text-dependent analysis tool that allows students to read a text for in-depth comprehension. Students focus on the text to understand what’s being said, how it’s being said, and why. This tool can be an excellent method for getting students to connect to Shakespeare. Where students take a left turn with understanding Shakespeare is that they can’t see past the language. They can’t see using the same tools analyzing a Shakespeare play as they would a modern play. So use close reading to break the language down, move past it, and treat Shakespeare like a modern text.

Compare and Contrast: Adaptation

by Lindsay Price

Students will compare and contrast a scene from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Lindsay Price’s adaptation Humbug High.

Critic Case Study: "A Dirty Act Done Publicly"

by Lindsay Price

Students will continue to evaluate the role of the critic and the purpose of criticism. In this case study lesson, students will examine a 1891 production of Henrik Ibsen’s play Ghosts. The single-night performance resulted in 500 reviews, many of which were negative and caustic.

Critic Case Study: The New York Times

by Lindsay Price

Students will continue to evaluate the role of the critic and the purpose of criticism. In this case study lesson, students will examine the power of the New York Times drama critic in the mid to late 20th century. While there were many outlets reviewing shows, there was an ongoing mythology that a review from the New York Times had the power to keep a show running or close it. Students will discuss and infer if this is true. They will also reflect on the role of the critic who has such power.

Critical Thinking: Fight Scene Analysis

by Drama Teacher Academy

Stage combat is a form of storytelling. The fights need to continue the story that the actors are telling through their lines and scene work. And what makes a fight look even better is the performers’ actions and reactions to the fight. If a character resorts to violence, they’re obviously feeling strong emotions. This lesson allows students to think critically about how a fight affects a character physically and mentally and how the fight tells the story.

Dorothy Parker

by Lindsay Price

Students will continue to evaluate the role of the critic and the purpose of criticism. In this case study lesson, students will examine a single critic from a specific era. In 1918, at 24 years old, Dorothy Parker became the drama critic for Vanity Fair. This was a time period when there were upwards of 80 Broadway theatres and over a hundred shows opened each year. It was also a post-war era where audiences were looking for release, and the wit and tone of Dorothy Parker’s reviews were exactly what people were looking for. It also got her fired.

# Analysis # Emergency Lesson Plans # emergency lesson plan # analysis

Emergency Lesson Plan: Prose vs Drama

by Lindsay Price

In this ELP, students will read two ghost story texts: a prose version and a theatrical adaptation of the same story. Students will then compare and contrast the two texts: How does each handle the ghost story genre? How does each create mood and atmosphere for the genre? What are the similarities in the texts? What are the differences? In your opinion, which suits the genre better?

Attachments

Prose vs Drama Venn Diagram Worksheet

# Analysis # Emergency Lesson Plans # emergency lesson plan # scene work

Emergency Lesson Plan: Scoring a Scene

by Lindsay Price

In this ELP, students will read a scene, identify the beats, apply action words to each beat, and reflect on how they would use this information to present the scene.

Attachments

Scene: Bottle Baby

Getting to Know a Character

by Karen Loftus

Students learn the 5 ways we learn about a character in a script.

Attachments

Slide Deck Lesson 1

# Acting # Analysis # analysis # acting

Introduction

by Lindsay Price

In this introduction lesson, students will begin with terminology, discussion about their own knowledge and views, and try out the role of the critic in a low-stakes exercise. Is it possible to give an informed opinion about a crumpled up piece of paper?

# Analysis # close reading # monologue # analysis

Introduction to Close Reading

by Lindsay Price

Students will work on their critical thinking skills through close reading. Teachers will first model the technique with a sentence, students will practice the technique in groups and then apply their knowledge with a close reading of a monologue. This lesson comes with an individual assignment and close reading handout.

Introduction to The Bald Soprano: Cliché and Stereotype Exercise

by Lindsay Price

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.

John Douglas Thompson: Diversity in Shakespeare

by Drama Teacher Academy

In this lesson, students will be introduced to John Douglas Thompson specifically through the lens of diversity in Shakespeare. Students will research and share their findings on his career, read and discuss quotes on the topic of diversity in Shakespeare, and create their own scenes to respond to the concept of being in a space where you might not previously have been welcomed.

# Analysis # bipoc

Mise-en-scène: Acting

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will continue their examination of the individual elements that work together to create mise-en-scène. The next element is acting. Students will apply their knowledge of how acting helps visualize the story and create impact.

Attachments

Lesson 5 Slide Deck

Mise-en-scène: Composition

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will continue their examination of the individual elements that work together to create mise-en-scène. The next element is composition. Students will apply their knowledge of how composition helps to visualize the story and create impact.

Attachments

Lesson 6 Slide Deck

Mise-en-scène: Costumes

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will continue their examination of the individual elements that work together to create mise-en-scène. The next element is costumes. Students will apply their knowledge of how costumes help visualize the story and create impact.

Attachments

Lesson 4 Slide Deck

Mise-en-scène: Culminating Activity

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will demonstrate what they have learned about mise-en-scène with a culminating analysis activity. Students will analyze a scene from a film, identify elements of mise-en-scène, and determine the visual impact and emotional engagement in the scene based on the elements.

Mise-en-scène: Lighting

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will continue their examination of the individual elements that work together to create mise-en-scène. The next element is lighting. Students will apply their knowledge of how lighting helps visualize the story and create impact.

Attachments

Lesson 3 Slide Deck

Mise-en-scène: Setting & Location

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will continue their examination of the individual elements that work together to create mise-en-scène. The first elements are setting and location. Students will apply their knowledge of how location helps visualize the story and create impact.

Attachments

Lesson 2 Slide Deck

Play Analysis of The Post Office by Rabindranath Tagore

by Quincy Young

Students will begin the lesson by applying research skills to produce a mini-project presentation on author Rabindranath Tagore, his work as a playwright, and themes explored in his play The Post Office. Students will read the play with an analytical eye and rehearse a scene to perform as a staged reading.

Attachments

The Post Office Script

# Analysis # bipoc # analysis

Susie King Taylor: Memoir of Service

by Desiree Dabney

Students will learn basic critical-thinking and communication skills through learning the life of Susie King Taylor. Students will be able to identify key events that occurred during the life of Susie King Taylor after reading an original article and completing questions. This lesson explores how Susie King Taylor became the first Black nurse during the American Civil War and changed education. The lesson gives students the opportunity to create and present their own memoirs.

Attachments

# Analysis # bipoc

The 21st Century Critic: Culminating Assignment

by Lindsay Price

We have now made it to the 21st century. The 21st century is a time of great change for criticism and the role of the theatre critic. There is the tumultuous world of social media criticism with both pros and cons. People consistently choose online options over print. The audience has become the critic. What does that mean for the professional critic? Do we need professional informed opinions of art in the 21st century? Are audience reviews as valuable as critic reviews? Students are given a variety of culminating assignment options in order to apply what they have learned throughout the unit.

The History of Blackface in Theatre

by Quincy Young

Students will read an article about the history of blackface in American Theatre and use critical thinking skills to annotate the article. Students will then produce a written reflection on why the use of blackface was and continues to be a problematic issue in American Theatre.

# Analysis # bipoc # analysis # reflection

The Masque of Red Death and Coronavirus

by Lindsay Price

In this compare and contrast lesson, students will read a dramatization of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Masque of Red Death. This story is the ultimate example of “social distancing.” Students will compare and contrast the dramatization to the current events surrounding Coronavirus and then write an adaptation focusing on modern viruses.

# Playwriting # Analysis

The Problematic Use of Brownfacing in Film

by Quincy Young

Students will view examples of Brownface in film and use critical thinking skills to annotate a text about the issues of Brownface in the film West Side Story. Students will then produce a written reflection on why the use of Brownface in the 1961 film version of West Side story is problematic and offer their opinion on why it perpetuates a negative stereotype of the Latinx community. Includes options for distance learning delivery.

# Analysis # bipoc

The Stanislavski Method

by Karen Loftus

Students continue their exploration with script analysis by learning about objective, obstacle, stakes, and tactics and applying it to an exercise.

Attachments

Slide Deck Lesson 3

# Acting # Analysis # acting # analysis

The Vito Russo Test

by Drama Teacher Academy

Using a set of criteria, students will watch a movie (or read a play) and analyze it based on the criteria. The Vito Russo is specific to LGBTQ+ representation in a work. Does the movie meet the criteria and, therefore, pass the test? Students will then reflect on the results: Is the criteria a good way to assess representation? How could the movie be changed to meet the criteria?

# Analysis # LGBTQ+

Theatre in the Real World | Create Your Own Company

by Drama Teacher Academy

This lesson plan works as a great complement to the DTA Research Lesson Plan: Theatre Company Profile. In that lesson, students are introduced to various theatre companies, all with unique histories, facilities, and artistic goals. It’s a natural next step to have students create their own theatre companies, specifically tailored to their unique interests and personalities.

Attachments

Company Presentation Response Sheet

Theatre in the Real World | Research Lesson Plan: Theatre Company Profile

by Kerry Hishon

To research in order to expand knowledge of how theatre is used in the real world. Students will research an existing theatre company and complete a project that demonstrates their knowledge (be it a written response, slide deck presentation, or a physical display board/presentation).

Themes in the Crucible: A Good Reputation

by Lindsay Price

Students will discuss the theme of a reputation in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Students will participate in activities, scene work and written reflection on the theme. It is assumed that students are in the middle of reading the play or at least have been introduced to the story.

Themes in The Glass Menagerie: Traps vs Escapes

by Lindsay Price

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.

Unit Project

by Karen Loftus

For the final project, give students an assigned scene to analyze as if they were going to perform it. One option is to have students continue working on the “Still as Stone” scene. Alternatively, you could provide a selection for them to choose from, or have students choose their own scenes.

Attachments

# Acting # Analysis # acting # analysis

What is a Monologue: Analysis

by Lindsay Price

Students will identify the elements that make a good monologue. Have student groups read aloud existing monologues and then discuss, answer questions, and evaluate the elements of the monologues. Do these existing monologues meet the criteria of a good monologue?

# Analysis # monologue # analysis

What is Mise-en-scène?

by Lindsay Price

In this lesson, students will discuss the difference between film and theatre, identify their prior knowledge of film, and identify the definition of mise-en-scène.

Attachments

Lesson 1 Slide Deck

Writing a Reflective Review

by Lindsay Price

Writing a play review is an excellent way for students to apply critical thinking skills. A review is a subjective but educated response to a play. The reviewer gives an opinion and supports it with thoughtful analysis. What are the parts of a well written review? What should a student do before, during, and after a performance? The culminating exercise involves students writing a review of a show. Use this lesson as a precursor to students seeing a performance (i.e. a school production, a community play, or a touring show).

# Analysis # Reflection # analysis # reflection

Writing a Review: Introduction

by Lindsay Price

A review is a subjective but educated response. The reviewer gives an opinion, then supports it with thoughtful analysis. Students will examine existing reviews, identify the elements of a review, compare and contrast reviews, and practice supporting their opinions (i.e. not just “I like this” or “I don’t like that,” but explain the “why” behind their response).

# Analysis # Reflection # analysis # reflection