Character Friezes

Character Friezes

Time: 35 minutes

Materials: Worksheets with 5 lines from each character of the play you want to study

Objectives: - To discover how specific lines can help to reveal character or propel action
- To experience how characters change their points of view of themselves and others

throughout the course of a play.

Focus: This exercise is an on-your-feet, active exploration of characters’ arch in a play.

Step 1

Students divide into groups of five and receive a worksheet with numbered lines of text from one character throughout the play. Each member of the group should choose a different line from the worksheet. Introduce the idea of what a frieze is, the statues all along a greek temple that show people doing things or representing things.

Sample Prompt: As a group, you are going to become one of those “Friezes” made up of a series of statues representing the life of one particular character. Imagine you are a piece of living clay. Each of you will become a statue expressing one line of text.

Step 2

Give the students about five minutes to create a sculpture. They may be tempted to be very literal – encourage them to think abstractly, using the images as inspiration.

Encouragement prompts and revealing questions: What words or images from the line jump out to you? What do you think the character is trying to express? Why do you think the character might say this line? Can you use your whole body to express that gesture? Can you say the line with your full voice? Can you incorporate this other part of the line into the statue? What I see is x/y/z, is that what you were trying to convey? If not, how can you make that more specific? If you were a sculptor how might you want your audience to feel after seeing the statue?

Step 3

The groups then introduce their sculptures to the rest of the class one by one, in the following way:

- The actors arrange themselves in the order in which their line appears on the worksheet, left to right facing the audience.
-The group introduces the work of art by character name, all speaking together.
- Each clay actor steps forward one at a time, assumes their sculpted position (or gesture), and says their line. They then hold that statue until everyone has gone.

Lead feedback about what the audience sees in the arc of each character:

·  What might an objective summary of the story of the character be?

o  How is a character presented to us and how do we see its progression?

o  Are there central ideas or theme’s that we can draw from these stories?

·  Is there a line that propels the action of the story? How does it reveal character?

·  Did any difficult lines or words become clearer after acting them out or viewing them?

o  Can we guess why Shakespeare chose one of those words? Were there any double meanings? Figurative or connotative meanings?

·  If we were to compare character A’s statues with character B’s, do we see similarities or differences in the structure of their archs? Does the text have similarities or differences in structure (i.e. verse vs. prose)?

·  Were there any lines of text that meant something different than what was directly stated?

·  Were there differences in the way we, as an audience, interpreted these statues?

Exercise originally created by Shakespeare and Co.

Adapted for Common Core Standards by San Francisco Shakespeare Festival

for 2014 conference Shakespeare Works When Shakespeare Plays in UC Davis