REHEARSAL Is a Simultaneous Study, on One Hand, of Acting Technique (I

REHEARSAL — Theater and Dance 66

Peter Lobdell: — Webster G26

Office hours — Wednesday: 11:30 - 2

REHEARSAL is a simultaneous study, on one hand, of acting technique (i.e. a variety of tools and procedures from an array of traditions/systems used by the actor to augment intuition) and, on the other, of the actor’s process (homework and rehearsal). This class’ goal is to introduce the student actor to tactics for solving problems rising within rehearsals and to develop his or her individual sense of process. The class maintains that actors are creative artists. The creative work which occurs in collaboration with the director and the company is made possible by the actor’s work outside the rehearsal situation.

Additionally, as a company we will develop ways of watching rehearsal and mechanisms for giving and receiving criticism towards solving problems within the material and/or the actor.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE

• You will rehearse one monologue several times across the semester (choose something you can stay with), three scenes and three exercises outside of class for directed rehearsal in class.

• The most important work in this course occurs in your rehearsals outside our studio. You are expected to rehearse (individually on “homework” and with your scene partners) at least six hours a week. Several times in the semester you will be rehearsing a scene and an exercise within a limited period.

• You will keep a journal for the course. This journal is your record of your work and is private. You will write three rehearsal reports, modeled after laboratory reports, following your work on each scene. Entries from your rehearsal journal must be included.

• You will be permitted 2 unexcused absences before your attendance will affect your grade. The work we do in class cannot be made up. Ask for an excused absence before missing the class — if at all possible.

THE JOURNAL

The actor's journal is a record of the rehearsal process. It is a tool to trace the course of the rehearsal. This tracing serves three functions:

1) to give the actor a sense of where he or she has gone in the rehearsal so that any discoveries can be remembered and utilized.

2) to record the exploration of character, situation, and moment away from rehearsal. That is the “homework”.

3) to plan the integration of the “homework” with rehearsal.

4) to record thoughts about class, exercises, comments, etc.

FORM

Find your preferred journal. Glue the script in page by page so that there is a blank page on the right for each page of script on the left — or vice versa, or several. The blank pages are for script analysis and breakdown.

Second Section: used for a regular notation of homework exercises and a personal record of the work of each rehearsal. This section is used to plan particular and distinct goals for each rehearsal. Following each rehearsal the actor goes back to this section to record discoveries, impressions, and first plans for the next rehearsal. Some actors may prefer to keep these notes near the page of text to which they refer.

Third Section: an image (visual and auditory) bank. Collect pictures, quotes, music, newspaper clippings, observations from life — bits of intuitive connection to your character and to the play.

Fourth Section: your notes from/about the class — Do these notes from the back of the journal forward. This section will serve you years from now. Be rigorous and regular in your notes.

SCHEDULE

The work of this course requires us to become an acting company. The semester’s work will be rigorously scheduled, as if we were working on a production towards an opening. Every actor will be held responsible for his or her preparation for in class rehearsals. If for any reason you are unable to attend on a day you are scheduled to rehearse your scene, you must inform your scene partner and me well before class.

Sept. 8-19TuesdayThursday

Introduction, games, exercisesmore games + reading of

Select a monologuemonologues: assign first short scene

Sept. 14-16TuesdayThursday

MonologueMonologue

Sept. 21-23TuesdayThursday

Selected moments from sceneSelected moments from scene

Oct 5 – 7 TuesdayThursday

rehearse first scenes in classrehearse first scenes in class

assign first exerciseassign second scene

Mid-semester Break

Oct 14Thursday

First exercise

Oct. 19 - 21TuesdayThursday

First exerciseFirst exercise

assign second exercise

Oct. 26-28TuesdayThursday

Selected moments of 2nd sceneSelected moments of 2nd scene

Nov. 2- 4TuesdayThursday

second scene rehearsed in classsecond scene rehearsed in class

assign third scene

Nov. 9 - 11TuesdayThursday

second exercise in classsecond exercise in class

Thursday November 11: second rehearsal report due.

Nov. 16 - 18TuesdayThursday

Selected moments of 3rd sceneSelected moments of 3rd scene

Thanksgiving Break

Nov 30 - TuesdayThursday

Dec. 2third scene rehearsed in classthird scene rehearsed in class

Dec. 7 - 9TuesdayThursday

third scene rehearsed againthird scene rehearsed again

third exercisethird exercise