Theatre 404: Acting Theory
Theatre 404: Acting Theory
Fall 2011
Dr. Sharon M. Carnicke
Professor and Associate Dean, School of Theatre
116 Drama Center, Telephone: (213) 740-2202; Email:
Office Hours by Appointment:
Schedule appointments with Dr. Carnicke through Sonia De Mesa at (213) 740-8686, .
Course Purpose:
Methods of acting from the eighteenth century to the present are explored through a combination of historical readings and practical exercises. Major issues that will organize class discussion include: How do we describe what the actor does? Do theories of acting differ from practice? Do different rehearsal techniques lead to different kinds of performances? What relationship to the character does the actor develop? How does evaluation of performance change over time, media, and different cultures? The course includes both academic and studio work.
Class Meetings:
· Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00-3:20
· CLASSROOM: MCC 111 [NOTE: Come to this room unless you are requested to appear elsewhere.]
· Be on time; this is a short class. It will start promptly at 2:00 and end promptly at 3:20! Be ready to work at 2:00 sharp!
· For academic class sessions--required reading is due on the listed date. Bring the material with you to class for reference during discussions.
· For studio sessions—kindly help set up the room at the beginning and reassemble it at the end of class.
· Courtesy dictates that you turn off your cell phones during class sessions. If your phone is on during performances or the final examination, you will be asked to leave the room.
Required Texts:
The following paperbacks are waiting for you at the USC Bookstore:
· Course Reader THTR 404.
· Carnicke, Sharon Marie. Stanislavsky in Focus: Second Edition (Routledge)
· Hodge, Alison, ed. Actor Training: Second Edition (Routledge)
Required Work:
All assignments must be completed on time. No late work or make-ups will be accepted; if you miss a graded or a P/NP performance, no in-class make-ups will be possible. If you have any illnesses or emergencies, contact me or the assistant instructor at least 24 hours before the due date.
1. Four performances: two graded assignments and one P/NP assignment concern a single monologue with heightened language; and one graded assignment concerns a two or three person scene. 50% of the Final Grade.
· Each graded performance is to be prepared as assigned and accompanied by a 3-4 page typed, double-spaced report, which describes and then assesses your rehearsal process and links your rehearsals to the class readings and lectures. NOTE: Your paper must delineate (1) how your preparation fits into the historical framework of the class and (2) refer to class readings for full credit.
· The P/NP performance is to be prepared as assigned and accompanied by a 1 page, typed, double-spaced paper. The assignment will be described in class.
RE Sessions Entitled “HOW TO REHEARSE…”
· These will involve work-in-progress demonstrations of the technique under study.
· Volunteers will be drawn from class participants.
· If you wish to serve as a demonstrator, please make that known in advance.
RE Monologue Performances:
· Monologues may be chosen from the plays of Shakespeare, ancient Greek plays, or from poetry.
· Your monologue must be no more than two minutes (about half a page).
· NOTE: The large enrollment this term makes it imperative to abide by these time rules.
· Judicious cutting is allowed; please discuss cuts in advance with Dr. Carnicke.
· Your choice of monologue must be approved by Dr. Carnicke before in-class rehearsals for the first performance begin.
RE Scene Study:
· Scenes will be assigned shortly after the Midterm Examination.
· If you wish to select your own scene partners, please alert the instructors prior to midterm.
· Scenes will run no more than five minutes (about three pages).
RE In-Class Rehearsals:
· Come to rehearsals having prepared your work. If you come to class unprepared, you forfeit your opportunity to work.
· These sessions are intended to give you feedback on your performance prior to its being graded. They are not intended as a first read-through of your text.
· Class rehearsals will not obviate the need to rehearse on your own outside of class; nor does class discussion and lecture obviate the need to read and think about the assigned texts.
2. An in-class, written Midterm that will test the objective information imparted in readings and class lectures . 25% of the Final Grade. TIP: Study as you go and keep good class notes.
3. A Final Comprehensive Examination that will include the repetition of one previously graded performance from the term and a written component on the academic content of the course. You will not be excused from this assignment; be sure to make your holiday plans with the examination date in mind. 25% of the Final Grade.
4. I reserve the right to give pop quizzes on the reading, if I feel that members of the class are unprepared for discussions.
Grading:
The final course grade is determined according to the following scale:
Excellent: A (4) = 100-96; A- (3.7) = 95-90
Good: B+ (3.3) = 89-86; B (3) = 85-84; B- (2.7) = 83-80
Average: C+ (2.3) = 79-76; C (2) = 75-74; C- (1.7) = 73-70
Poor: the D range (.7-1.3) = 60’s; F (0) = 59 and below
“Excellent” means that clear understanding of the class material is coupled with original and creative insight; “good” means that the class material has been understood clearly; “average” means that the class material has been generally understood, but gaps in understanding remain; “poor” means that there are identifiable gaps in the understanding of class material; “failure” means that gaps in the completion of work is coupled with poor understanding of class material.
When the mathematical GPA falls between two grades, the final grade will be weighted toward the positive end of the scale for students who are consistently on-time and whose attendance and participation in class have been excellent or good; the final grade will be weighted toward the negative end of the scale for those who are late for class, who have average or poor attendance and participation.
Grading Notes:
1. Dishonesty in any form harms the individual, other students, and the School of Theatre. Therefore, USC policies on academic integrity will be enforced in this course. Papers suspected of containing plagiarized material (the unacknowledged or inappropriate use of another’s ideas, wording, or images) will be verified for authenticity by the School of Theatre through internet services. I expect you to familiarize yourself with the academic integrity guidelines found in the current SCampus (www.usc.edu/dept/publications/scampus).
2. Any work that does not fulfill the required assignment is an automatic F.
3. If your work in class is unsatisfactory, you will be warned before the deadline for dropping the course with a grade of W.
4. I will be happy to discuss your work at any time during the semester, and I encourage each of you to meet with me at least once before the scheduled exam.
5. Students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when adequate documentation is filed. Please be sure the letter is delivered to Dr. Carnicke as early in the semester as possible. DSP is open Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:00. The office is in Student Union 301 and their phone number is (213) 740-0776.
6. If you are not a native speaker of English and/or you are an international student, make an appointment with me in the first two weeks of classes to determine whether language accommodations might be necessary.
DATE ASSIGNMENTS
I: THE ACTOR AS PORTRAIT PAINTER : GESTURAL ACTING
Aug. Tu 23 INTRODUCTIONS TO THE COURSE
EXERCISES ON GESTURES
Aug. Th 25 THE POWER OF PHYSICAL GESTURE
READ in Course Reader: “Acting" from The Cambridge Guide to Theatre; selections from Clairon, Garrick, Coquelin from Actors on Acting; selections on Delsarte.
Aug. Tu 30 DUE: Your choice of monologue for performances #1, #2 and #3..
VIEW: Selections from Silent Films (John Barrymore, Rudolf Valentino, Lon Chaney) to illustrate gestural acting;
HOW TO REHEARSE Your Monologue Using a gestural approach.
Sept. 1, 6, and 8 In-Class Rehearsals of Monologue #1: Be prepared to show your best attempt at your rehearsal in order to get the most helpful feedback.
RECOMMENDED READINGS: in the Course Reader: selections on Michael Chekhov and Vsevolod Meyerhold as two contemporary training programs that use gestural acting; and Dillon, excerpts from Modern Acting on film acting.
TIP: During these rehearsals start reading the selections for Sept. 15.
NOTE: Friday, Sept. 9, is the last day to drop this class without a "W" or to select the "P/NP" option.
Tu 13 Monologue, Performance #1: Graded performance and written report.
II: ACTING AS EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS: EARLY STANISLAVSKY
Sept. Th 15 INTRODUCTION TO NEMIROVICH-DANCHENKO’S INNER MONOLOGUE
INTRODUCTION TO THE EARLY STANISLAVSKY SYSTEM
READ in Course Reader: Salvini and Nemirovich-Danchenko; in Actor Training, the chapter of Stanislavsky, "Pathways for the Actor”; in Focus: Introduction and Chapters 1, 2, and 3
Tu 20 FIRST STUDIO EXERCISES on Concentration, Observation, Imagination,
and Communication as Radiation (detailed in "Pathways", pp. 18-21).
TIP: Start reading the selections for Sept. 27..
Th 22 WHAT IS AN INNER MONOLOGUE?
VIEW: Russell Crowe/Kim Bassinger in LA Confidential and Sissy Spacek/Anne Bancroft in ‘Night Mother.
HOW TO REHEARSE Your Inner Monologue.
Sept. Th 27 THE GREAT DEBATE: OUTER OR INNER, REASON OR EMOTION
STANISLAVSKY’S HOLISTIC ANSWER
READ in Course Reader: Diderot, “The Paradox of the Actor;” and Archer, “Masks or Faces;” in Focus, Chapter 7.
Sept. Tu 29 AMERICAN RESPONSES TO EARLY STANISLAVSKY
LEE STRASBERG and STELLA ADLER: Exercises
READ in Course Reader: Strasberg, excerpt from A Dream of Passion; Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares, Chapter 9; Carnicke, "Lee Strasberg's Paradox of the Actor.”
VIEW: Classes by Strasberg and Adler.
Oct. 4*/6*/11* In-Class Rehearsals of Monologue #2: This uses the same monologue as in earlier assignment.
RECOMMENDED READING on Inner Techniques in Acting: Focus: Chapter 9.
Oct. Th 13 Monologue, Performance #2: Graded performance and written report.
III: FOCUS ON ACTION: LATE STANISLAVSKY AND ACTIVE ANALYSIS
Oct. Th 18 THE CENTRALITY OF ACTION
READ in Focus: Chapter 6 and pp 194-206 and Chapter 10, pp. 185-194; in Course Reader Stanislavski, An Actor Prepares, Chapters 3; in Actor Training in “Pathways”: the section on Active Analysis and “The Knebel Technique.”
Tu 20 Midterm Review
Th 25 MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Oct. Tu 27 WHAT IS A PLAYABLE VERB?
Exercises on Actions from Stanislavsky and Knebel.
HOW TO REHEARSE using a verb.
Nov. 1 and 3 Non-Graded P/NP Workshop: Perform your monologue an strong and dynamic active verbs (as detailed in “Pathways,” pp. 24-26). When you perform, submit a one page paper giving your chosen verb, any other additional choices you were considering as you prepared, and your justification for your choice based upon your character’s given circumstances.
. Tu 8 THE ACTIVE ANALYSIS OF A SCENE: Workshop on Actions and Counteractions
HOW TO REHEARSE Your Scene Using Active Analysis.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Once you have your assigned scene for this part of our class, be sure to read the whole play before working on it. Also, do not begin to rehearse or memorize your scene before our introduction to Active Analysis.
Nov. Tu 10 VIEW: Russian Actors and Acting Teachers in America.
NOTE: Friday, Nov. 11 is the last day to drop this course with a mark of "W.
Nov. 15/17/22 In-Class Rehearsals of Scene for Performance #4.
Nov. 24 is our THANKSGIVING DAY HOLIDAY!!!
Nov. Tu 29 Scene, Performance #4: Graded performance of the scene and written report.
Dec. Th 1 CLASS CONCLUSIONS
REVIEW FOR FINAL EXAMINATION.
READ in Course Reader: “Why Johnny Can’t Act!”; Ed Hook’s “Craft Notes”; and “Balancing Acts” (Linklater and Bogart)
DEC. Th 8 Final Examination at 2:00-4:00
Have a great holiday break!!
5