10:05- 11:45- Session III
New Coaches- Ken Bradbury and Roberta Neumann
Reading the rules… Entry limitations
Organizing your team... various methods, depending on the size of your group, the amount of help you have or don’t have, and the time available. Methods of Payment ---school pays all ---students pay ---students pay initially then get money back on contest day
Getting materials.. Consortium, Edna Means, others?
Rehearsals… Introductions…
Eligibility…
The contest… at lunch today, ask questions.
On contest day.. urge them to watch as many others as possible.
Signing kids up (some have them pay their entry) Go over entry limitations (some limit entries) rehearsals… deadlines anyone with a brand-new program? Finding materials the rules: define the categories
Much too big a topic to cover start to finish…so…just some random ideas and comments. A crash course in what to emphasize in your coaching.
Too often, our goal: just get it memorized and get it to contest. Too bad.
If we’d purposely teach acting all the way along the line, the kids would be more interested and they’d learn faster.
My theory of acting. We’re all born great actors. 3 categories: Those who lose the ability and never recover Those who lose it and recover it Those who never lose it. Sometimes misdiagnosed as ADD.
If we ever lose the sense of PLAY in teaching acting, we’ve lost it.
When you give the kids a script, never do a cold reading. Let them get used to it. See what they come up with. Ask questions… Why did you say that?
Most important: What does your character want? {Do Try Again excerpt… Ask questions}
In interpretation: Always try to avoid the obvious. {Do Gustaf and Mary…1) in love, 2) on the verge of divorce, 3) Mary has always thought his name was hilarious and fights to keep from laughing every time she hears it……and….Mary was the name of Gustaf’s cruel stepmother and every time he hears the name it brings back painful memories.} The most important acting tool is knowing your character’s motivation. In most good theatre, someone changes. That’s what makes it a play. Make sure your entire cast knows who this is and what must happen.
Understanding your character: {Do Returning. 1: straight; 2: can’t stand each other..Kelly comes from a wealthy family, has always looked down on Jean the farm girl, 3. Jean has been diagnosed with lymphoma.}
Getting your group to work as a team…tough. One of the problems with Jr. High Improv is that everyone wants to win. We teach them to win. Their parents want them to win. In Improv and in acting, you only win when your team wins…and that may mean your losing. New script…Hi Ho What? .. gave it to five 7th-grade boys. Four dwarves and Snow White. A play must play Snow White. I was worried about who to give it to. They read it. They all wanted to play Snow White. Why? Because she wins!
Pacing: essential. Utterly Ridiculous.. First without marks and then with.
Other miscellaneous tips: (probably covered by Tim Chipman).. Give your actors stage business…something to do. For a 7th-grader to stand still is at least an unnatural act and perhaps cruel and unusual punishment.
A motivation given by you will be the hardest to implement. A motivation they come up with themselves will become a part of the performance.
The golden rule in Acting: Make it interesting. All other sins can be forgiven. Dullness cannot.
You don’t have to have a degree in theatre to teach acting. I don’t have one and people think I know what I’m doing. Acting is the business of living and we’ve all done that. A year’s experience as a teacher has already given you a degree in acting.
The keynote of good acting is truth. .. even in ridiculous situations. Be true. And kids can’t be true to something they don’t understand. It’s your job to help them understand the truth of a scene or a character.
In conclusion: Don’t teach acting as and “add on” after everything else is done. Our kids are natural actors…let them.
A final story… last year, 4 7th-grade boys. Yo Ho Yuck. Brennan…a genuine clown. Kyle…a red-head who is a genius, but sometimes doesn’t know where his pants are…dreamy…sometimes saying the right lines and sometimes making up his own…seeing no problem with all of this. Steven…born with a smile on his face and can’t stop..even when the script doesn’t call for it. He practices frowning in the mirror at home, but by the time he gets to school or speech practice, the smile pops up. Josh…who cannot memorize more than three lines a year. Andrew…who’s face should be on Mt. Rushmore. Absolutely no expression. A born undertaker…or superintendent. The rehearsals with them were one long round of me complaining and them trying hard, then forgetting everything they learned. Long story short…they made it to contest. Judge’s Choice Award. Why? They were absolutely honest in their portrayals. Not accurate, not precise on lines, not organized in any way, but delightfully honest.
Never be onstage with a dog or a baby. Why? Because they are real and our eyes are drawn to what is real. Just teach your kids to be real and you’ll teach them to be actors.