Theatre 1: 2013-2014

UNIT 3: ACTING
ACTING TOOLS
Body Blocking: coordination of actors' movements and positioning onstage. The term derives from the practice of 19th century theatre directors such as Sir W.S. Gilbert who worked out the staging of a scene on a miniature stage using blocks to represent each of the actors. Scenario: a standard plot outline; the outline of choices about characters, setting and problem or plot. Pre-Blocking: blocking on paper that a director does before blocking rehearsals begin. Cheating Out: when an actor "cheats out" they position themselves towards the audience. - Very often, when an actor is rehearsing on stage, they might turn their back to the audience, or oer only a limited view. The director then might say, "Cheat out, please." - To "Cheat Out" means that the performer readjusts his or her body so that the audience gains a better view. - This might mean that the actors stand in a way that's not quite natural -- which is why it cheats reality just a bit. But at least the audience will be able to see and hear the performer! Cross: to move from one place onstage to another. Gesture: an expressive movement of the body or limbs. Master Gesture: a characteristic gesture. Mime: an art form based on pantomime using conventionalized gestures to express ideas rather than represent actions; a performer of mime. Pantomime: to act without words through facial expression and gesture. Open: to keep your face and the front of your body visible to the audience as much as possible. Shared Position: a position onstage in which one actor mirrors another actor's body position. Stage Business: movements employing props, costumes, and makeup; used to strengthen the personality of a character. Stage Combat: physical conict onstage, both armed and unarmed. Subtext: information that is implied but not stated by a character; thoughts or actions of a character that do not express the same meaning as the spoken words. Upstage (verb): to stand upstage of another actor on a proscenium stage, forcing the downstage actor to turn away from the audience to communicate with the upstage actor; stealing the focus of a scene. Voice Articulation: the clear and precise pronunciation of words. Articulators: the parts of the body that create consonant sounds. Diction: the art of speaking; also a speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices. Inection: variety in speech reecting changing thoughts and emotions. Pitch: how high or low your voice is, varying your pitch to give meaning to what you say. Project: to make the voice ll the performance space. Rate: how fast or slow you speak. - This also adds interest to what you say, but speaking too fast can make it hard for the audience to understand what you are saying. Resonance: a quality caused by vibration that enriches vocal tone. Resonators: the parts of the body that create vowel sounds. Mind O Book: rehearsing without a script after lines are memorized; as opposed to on book, rehearsing with a script.

METHODS

 Improvise: to speak or to act without a script; the practice of acting, dancing, singing, playing musical instruments, talking, creating artworks, problem solving, or reacting in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings; without a script. (also referred to as improvisation / improv) Stanislavsky Method

ELEMENTS OF A PLAY
Character Dnouement: the nal resolution of the conict in a plot Dialogue: a literary or theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people. Rising Action Climax Script: the text of a play. Script Analysis Score a script with analysis and blocking Beat: small section of a scene, divided where a shift in emotion or topic occurs Book: the script. Actor's Journal Project Setting: where the play takes place.