SCENE STUDY4-5 weeks

Objective: work on an excerpt from a play

7 steps to successful scene study• Scene selection: scene 7 from the play The Glass Menagerie by

Tennessee Williams• Script analysis: What is the play really about and how does the scene fit

into the whole?• Cutting: how do you edit the scene for time and to benefit the actors? • Character analysis: how do you get to know this character well enough

to deserve to play him/her?• Staging: how do you sue the stage to tell the scene? How does your

characters’ relationship become clear through the space you will use?• Script awareness improvs: how can you use improvisation to help you

own your roles?• Shaking up the scene: how do you keep form getting bored or

predictable? How do you keep it fresh?

Script analysis

• Classification: What type of play is this? Choose a phrase

• Style: (need to know definitions/matching column)

– naturalism: totally life – romanticism: beautifully extravagant – absurd: life totally out of whack – Satire: life making fun of certain targets– Farce: life as a largely physical joke– Melodrama: a series of overblown coincidences

Structure:

• How the play is put togetherYou will answer: – One act/full length?– How many acts/scenes is it divided into?– Are the scenes lengthy/short/combo?– You will have to make up a title to each act…what will it

be?– Where does the scene you will be given fit into the overall

pattern? Is it close to the climax of the play? How much new information does it provide compared with other scenes?

Theme

• What does the play say about life? What is the author’s message? What issues are raised and what position does the playwright take regarding the human condition? – How does the action of the play begin?– How does it end?– How are the central characters different because of

the journey?– What does the title mean?– Put the theme in a single sentence.

Cultural binding

• When was the play written? What were the social customs, attitudes, language

• Should the scene be kept in its own time or would you push it into the present?

• Is there a strong geographical economic or ethnic bias?

Production Historycomputer lab on-line searchgroups of 3 presentations

• Was the play popular? Have well-known actors played the role you are playing?

• What kind of reviews has it received?• What can you find out about the playwright?• Summarize the play in no MORE than 6

sentences.

What we will do:• Watch film of play• Go to writing lab for research of STRUCTURE/THEME /BINDING HISTORY slides #4, 5,

6, 7 info available on my website• Read chosen scene out loud in class

• Class work grade slide 3 : Style (need to know definitions/matching column)

• When complete, handout #1, Analyzing the Play, for a class work grade• With your partner, cut the scene for a grade Handout # 2• HW- Create a character autobiography • Stage the scene• HW- DEADLINE FOR MEMORIZATION • Act different ways using script awareness improvs• Character explorations• PERFORMANCE