UNIT II. Stage Technique

 

Moving and Standing on Stage/Stage Conventions

MAIN OBJECTIVES:
1) Review stage directions
2) Learn about stage conventions for movement and body placement and the vocabulary that describes it.
3) Learn about basic mime practices.

1. WARM-UPS

 

Drop and Give me Ten (Physical Warm-up) CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS (No video available.)

Me May Ma Moe (Vocal Warm-up) CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS AND VIDEO

Morph the Motion (Physical Warm-up) CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS AND VIDEO

2. SKILL BUILDING

 

REVIEW: Ask if anyone can demonstrate upstage, downstage, stage left, and stage right. Ask the entire class to demonstrate a “freeze” on the count of three.

Scene Setting (Teamwork, Body Awareness, Stage Conventions) Start playing the game “Scene Setting” where one student starts miming a scene and the others join in one by one. CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS AND VIDEO

Stage Conventions - After the first scene, pause to demonstrate the following stage conventions and vocabulary.
CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS AND VIDEO

Cheating Out - aiming your body out toward the audience when talking to another character.
Staying Open - making sure your body is turned toward the audience as much as possible.

You should also demonstrate: 1) pointing with your upstage hand, 2) kneeling on your downstage knee, 3) turning to stay open to the audience, and 4) how to stand and move in a way that doesn’t hide other actors -- which will involve being aware of your body size and placement.

After demonstrating these stage conventions, continue playing the game “Scene Setting,” but encourage the students to incorporate the concepts you’ve just shown them—correcting them when necessary. 

Introduce Mime Basics (Body Awareness, Stage Technique)
 1) Simplify your movements and make them specific.
2) Maintain the reality of an object once you’ve mimed it.
3) Give mimed objects the illusion of volume and weight.
CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS AND VIDEO

One Hundred and One Ways to Paint a Wall (Stage Technique, Body Awareness) Students mime painting an invisible wall, each in a unique and creative way. CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS AND VIDEO

3. CLOSING ACTIVITY

 

Review -- Ask the student to choose a favorite game or exercise from the past three lessons. Repeat the game, and reemphasize the purpose of the exercise as it relates to theater and acting.

 
 

© 2023, Friends of the Groom Theater Company

 

Curtains Up Curriculum by Friends of the Groom Theater Co. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Curtains Up is a training program designed for young actors, sponsored by Friends of the Groom Theater Company.
It is available to the general public for free under the terms of the Creative Commons License above.