THEATRE TWO CHARACTER ASSIGNMENT

The Assignment            Working Chart Example            Blank Working Chart            The Groups        Tentative Schedule

The Assignment

Scene Title ____________________________________________________________ 

Actors in Group: ________________________________________________________

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Who are you (each actor answer this in one sentence in terms of what you want/objective)

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Where is the scene taking place: ___________________________________________

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When is the scene taking place (era, time of day, time of year)

Why are you together at this moment when the picture is taken?

What is the relationship between characters?  _________________________________

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In one or two tight concise sentences, tell me what the plot of your scene will be

THE CREATING THE PERFORMANCE ART PROJECT

As a group, decide

·       Where you are

·       Why you are together

·       What is happening at the exact moment the picture is being taken

·       What is the primary “conflict.”  (example:  three guys—war.  Three shrouded women—prayer for peace.  Boy and girl—brother stealing sister’s jacket, etc)

What you will prepare

·       A short scene that will end with each character placed in the position shown in the picture

·       Short, 1-2 minute monologue that will begin each scene. 

·       Blocking with begin with each character in own area to defend p.o.v. in that monologue

·       Scene will then begin and culminate in final position

·       Conflict must be strong and plausible

·       Scene will justify monologues

·       If the picture is that of small children, you can up the age. 

·       Use the picture as a jumping off point to create the character, the plot, the conflict, the resolution

·       Character working chart

What is expected

·       Do not go for cheap comedy

·       Honesty in character

·       Something you can honestly relate to

·       Powerful scenework that is based in a reality you understand

·       Depth of character

Character Working Chart Example

SCENE TITLE:            ______Aner Clute___________________________________

ACTOR:              ________________YOUR NAME_______________________    

What do you want: USE VERB!!!

To Explain___:            _I want to make you understand why I do what I now do with my life in a way you can understand

To Defend__               I defend myself and my lifestyle and not apologize for any of it.  It is who I am

What is in your way

_Society______:            External_Society’s pov of prostitution____________________________________________________

                                    Internal__Some small sense of shame for what I do__________________________________________

__Myself______:            External__Screw you attitude__________________________________________________________

                                    Internal___How do I face my family if I ever do?___________________________________________

What do you do to get what you want

_use stealing analogy  __the boy and the apple______________________________________________________________

__confront ?’s:            __Everyone asks, so I have come up with a story that satisfies them (rich man and a promise of marriage

What are the “stakes” (what is at risk for you to lose?)

_dignity______:            _My pride if people discover that I really do hurt inside_________________________________

_privacy______:            __Sharing personal information can lead to relationships I don’t really want to cultivate

Past Life

Cheap Behavior:            _Slept around, society frowned________________________________________________________

Ran Away______:            __Town didn’t approve and made it clear that my kind of girl was not welcome

Long Range:

Get out of this lifestyle            Make enough money where I don’t have to “work”_______________________________

Go somewhere__:            __Move to a different place where no one knows me and I can create a new persona____

Short Range:

Avoidance_:     Avoid this conversation from taking place again__________________________________________

Escape_____:   _Shut people up and ignore them and their rudeness______________________________________

What part does the environment play and how is it used for character?

_In a bar with yet another customer I am trying to pick up.  He is a nice guy and I feel that if I tell him how I got into this business, it will take some of the pressure off the situation.  And, I’ve had a drink or two, which I don’t normally do, so that has loosened me up a bit.  Never again.___________

RELATIONSHIP CHART

Aner Clute

Over and over they used to ask me

While buying the wine or the beer,

In Peoria first, later Chicago, Denver, Frisco, New York,

Whereever I lived,

How I happened to lead the life

And what was the start of it.

Well, I told them a silk dress and promise of marriage from a rich man.

But that wasn’t really it at all.

Suppose a boy steals an apple

And they begin to call him a thief.

The editor, minister, judge, all the people

A thief, a thief, a thief wherever he goes.

And he can’t get bread without stealing it,

Why the boy will steal.

It’s the way the people regard the theft of the apple

That makes the boy what he is.

Blank Working Chart

SCENE TITLE:            _________________________________________________

ACTOR:              _______________________            __________________    

What do you want: USE VERB!!!

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

What is in your way

______________:            External___________________________________________________________________________________

                                    Internal___________________________________________________________________________________

______________:            External___________________________________________________________________________________

                                    Internal___________________________________________________________________________________

What do you do to get what you want

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

What are the “stakes” (what is at risk for you to lose?)

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

Past Life

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

Long Range:

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

Short Range:

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

______________:            __________________________________________________________________________________________

What part does the environment play and how is it used for character?

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RELATIONSHIP CHART

THE GROUPS

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE