That is it. That was Drama 10. The four unit “fundamentals of movement, speech, theatre games, and improvisation” course, has come to an end. I must say that this class truly flew by at the speed of light. One day we are learning about improvisation and the next day we are performing our final scripted scenes. Although this may be true, I have been, through my time in this class, thrown into a pool full of theatre knowledge; including the terms, phrases, and an opportunity to witness a full theatre production.
This plethora of new information and skills have been developed from reading the Drama 10 reader, the process of writing a script, the rehearsal time spent getting ready for the final, and seeing an actual theatre performance. The Drama 10 (Introduction to Acting) reader has been a staple in this course. This piece of literature essentially outlines what acting is, it’s history, how one can become a decent actor, and helpful tips and tricks to better an actor’s craft. A special section in the reader that really resonates with me, discusses improvisation “necessities. This part of the reading urges the actor to Imagine a definite setting in which you have to improvise;the the location of the audience; then decide whether your improvisation is tragedy, drama, comedy, or farce. Also try to improvise as though you were performing a period play, and in this case ress yourself in an imaginary costume of the chosen period. (“Improvisation and Ensemble”) This short and straightforward statement was the foundation in which I based my improvisation performances on.
This is due to the fact that prior to reading this passage, I believed that improvisation was one-hundred percent off the top of the actor’s head and neither required nor allowed prior preparation. However, the statement above opened my eyes to the truth of improvisation and guided me on my path to becoming better with improvisational scenes. The passage written by Bella Merlin also discusses improvisation by speaking about how “you can not really go on stage or in front of the camera unless you know what it is you are doing” (“The Complete Stanislavski Toolkit”).
This comment prompted me to ask myself many questions regarding the consensus of what improvisation is. “Is improvisation truly random? ” and “if there is planning involved, why would it be considered to be something that was performed without preparation? ” Similarly, David Ball, in his “Backwards and Forwards” writing, sets the record clear as to what an action truly is, seeing as though action is what runs a theatre production, as it does our daily lives.
Ball defines action as “an action [that] occurs when something happens that makes or permits something else to happen” (“Backwards and Forwards”). This definition is followed by an example, which further clarifies this term. The example is as follows, “stealing [a] stamp collection is not an action until I sell it” (“Backwards and Forwards”), meaning that taking a stamp collection is not an action, until it is sold. Although there are many more, this one example resonated with me and further caused me to reevaluate my life and rethink what I thought an action was.
With this new information, I was also prompted to ask questions, such as “does this definition only apply to drama? ” and ” why does it take two actions, to make one action? ,” which slightly contradicts this definition. At any rate, this information provided me with a learning experience. From reading this piece of literature, I have gained a new insight into what skills are necessary in order to work in the theatre, as well as, new and helpful techniques to incorporate into my work. This fall quarter, drama students campus-wide were required to watch Government Inspector.
This is a play, that according to the director, Patricia Miller, is set in a remote Russian provincial town that knows no justice, rife with corruption, misappropriated funds, and bent cops. This highly stratified society is thrown into a panic when a mysterious stranger comes to town. Is he really a “government inspector” sent to spy from St. Petersburg? The over the top characters shift and slip between fantastic delusions of big city grandeur to nightmares of a provincial hell of their own making.
Although many of the students in the drama classes, including myself, have never seen a play, we were pleasantly surprised. Even though I watched this play as a critic, I could not help but love all of the actor’s and director’s choices. From sliding under and jumping over beds to stepping on the other actor’s backs to show status. I could not help but to “ooh” and “aah” throughout the entire performance. Because of this, I had an extremely hard time trying to depict what aspects of the play and/or the characters, that were not as good as it or they could be and that could use improving.
The play was so good in fact, that I actually attended two times and seriously considered going a third and fourth time, but could not due to the forty dollars I would end up spending. Nevertheless, I still think about the play every now and again, in an effort to motivate myself into becoming a better actor. I truly thank the cast and crew for leaving such a lasting impression on myself and others who have attended the show, because it has changed my thoughts about acting and actors significantly. Writing a script is no easy feat.
Right after the class midterm, where we improvised a scene with a random partner, we jumped right into script work. This was actually a relief, because I felt as though improvisation caused me too much stress and anxiety, whereas performing a planned performance, was much less stressful. On October 27th, 2015, the true transition began. This was the day where everyone in the class was given a script and were expected to make a story, conflict, and resolution for it. This was due to the fact that the script only contained lines of one or two words and could apply to any situation.
Soon after this session, we were then given another script, where we were expected to do the same; however once this task was complete, we were to write our own scripts. Coming up with an overall story was the hardest part. One reason for this, was because | was in a trio, which meant developing a story where all three characters have a relationship to one another, while also making sure that everyone had dialogue. Not to mention, making a conflict and finding a resolution. Nevertheless, my group and I came together and laid our ideas out on the table, and put a story together.
Although at first it was hard to think of dialogue for the characters, knowing who the characters are, their status, and the relationship that the three characters had, made it easier to write. Once the script was written, it was time to rehearse and to go off book. It was not clear before, but after knowing the lines and stage directions, rehearsal flew by and the performance felt natural, instead of robotic. What also helped, was taking a few minutes after each time we performed, to talk about what was wrong and what could make the scene better.
With all of these factors in mind, I felt as though my group’s final performance was as good as we could ever hoped it would be. With practice, effort, perseverance, and hard work, the final scene and it’s script has been completed, and I could not be more proud. Through preparing for the final scene, critiquing a theatre production, participating in in-class exercises, and reading literature regarding drama and the acting process, I have grown not only as an actor and a person, but as an artist in general.
I have learned that writing a script and performing that scene is more difficult and requires much more work than one may infer, thoroughly enjoying a play can change your life, stage directions and conflict make a scene, and that drama is more complex than it may appear. All of the information and experiences | have gained from this class, will resonate with me for years to come. Drama 10 has sincerely changed my life in the most positive way possible and I am very thankful for the time I spent taking this course.