Action Plan for Julius Ceasar

For my parts as Lepidus and Cicero, there is not much I can do, since there arent that many lines, which is something that I like. The less lines, the more of a chance to project myself and drive my point across to the audience. To practice my lines I think that every day or at least every other day I should look over the lines that I have and once I have memorized them try to emphasize where needed and not analyze but try to figure out what is meant behind each line.

One of the tips that was given to us in London was to find the action behind each line, this was one of the most important points I remember about Shakespeare plays. Every line has an action behind it, so I just have to remember every line and then figure out the action behind it.

After I have memorized my lines and found the action behind each one and found where the emphasis is needed, I can add the acting to it. The acting is the last step, its not the least important, just the one that should come after the lines memorizing and analyzing. I should add the acting to everything which will be the final touch to making a good performance.

Julius Ceasar speech response

What was said on my paper for the response people had to how I spoke the short speech from Julius Ceasar was:

1. Speak the sense, not the lines. Punctuation indicates pauses and such.
2. More energy! Good pronounciation.
3. Good pace! But try to have more intonation
4. Emphasize! Bring the life in your lines
5. Great monologue to choose, but could've used more intonation and rhythm to emphasize it!

Response to:

1. I dont really understand what he/she meant. Speak the sense? I think theyre saying that I should speak whatever the lines actually mean, to actually add the feeling behind them, and understand what they mean...if that is what this person is saying, then I agree. I need to speak how it is written, and speak how it means as a whole. The punctuation point I also don't really understand either, what punctuation are they talking about? The punctuation already written on teh script? I think they meant that I should speak how the llines are written and enunciate where it is need, where it is meant for each word. If that is what this person meant, then I think I was already doing that...
2. I DEFINITELY agree that I need more energy. I need to add the force and "Epic"-ness behind each word. I think I was just a bit shy and I don't really like being too loud in front of people, I seem to get embarrassed very easily. But I should definitely work on it, and work on adding more feeling. As to the pronounciation part, I think I was alright at the part also, I don't think my articulation or pronounciation were too bad.
3. I guess that is another way of saying that I should add more feeling behind my words, more pronounciation, and louder pronounciation.
4. I think this is just reiterating what the other points were saying, I need to add mroe life to my lines, I need to add more feeling.
5. I like this response, because it makes me feel good about my monologue and is more constructive, saying something good and then something I need to work on. I know I need to emphasize, which I already know I need to work on. To work on emphasizing I think I should underline the parts of words that need emphasis and then use those underlined words to drive the point of the monologue through.

Elizabethan Theatre, Italian Renaissance Theatre

Elizabethan Theatre

Secularization
Theatre as a professional form of entertainment
Professional actors
Professional companies (e.g. Kings Men)

Conventions of Elizabethan Theatre
Male actors
Short run of productions
Playwrights sold plays to companies
Thrust stage
Actual Theatre Buildings
yard and galleries
standing
Costume:Elizabethan dress
Props: Basic props to identify settings and characters. etc.
Acting style:
need for projection
epic voice (non-naturalistic)
'Portraying' characters
Text: Authored
Both blank verse and poetic forms as well as prose
poetic forms-iambic pentameter

Italian Renaissance Theatre
lazzi
ensures there isn't chaos onstage
types of actors (Harlequin, Capitano)
Improvised

Julius Ceasar

I think I would enjoy being an actual character in our school theatre performance this year, although being lights and sound does sound interesting to me also. For my first production I would rather be someone with a fairly big role but not one of the main characters because it wouldnt be very wise to just jump right in and not watch and see how it works in this school, since different schools have different ways of handling a huge production. Being one of the more important but not most important character will help me see how things work while also being a helpful and productive role in the performance. Later on after I've gotten the feel for things I might think of being something bigger or think of working with lights and sound, which sounds very interesting and fun at the same time.

Julius Ceasar sound like its going to be an interesting performace, especially with the integration of making it set in more modern times. I wonder how some of the scenes are going to go, for example the war and slaying scenes. Its going to be an interesting and I think a fun play to do, liek a puzzle, trying to see how things will fit and how it will all lay out in the end.

Response to Theatre Sports

Altogether I think theatre sports was a great success, especially because we won! I didnt think that would be possible, but it was! I dont think we did as well as we could have, but I also dont think the other teams were at their highest potential either, so being one of the better teams we won. I would have like to participated more and definitely participated in Foreign Film but, the people in our group had already chosen who was to go up and speak so in the end it worked out, they did do pretty well.

My finest moment in theatre sports was being Jordan's guitar, which was fun but a bit awkward, seeing as I didnt really know what sound a guitar should make. The noise i gave it sounded more like it was coming out of a james bond movie...But other than being the guitar and one of the spies, I didnt do very much, which was dissapointing to myself. In sing song Jordan and Nick were very good, I was a bit surprised, but I knew from the practices that they could be that good.

I loved watching the other teams perform, although some were a bit crude in their jokes and seemed to be going more for the cheap laughs...I thought the Tea Sipperz were pretty funny as well as the "something of doom" (dont know how to spell floudeballe or w/e). And I also liked the DP2 group, Army of the SARS (Teddy), they were more of a higher level comedy. Some of the things other groups were making people laugh about were quite a bit degrading or just basically not very funny. For example the thing that I thought was teh worst was someone saying "Youre such a HOMO". I just thought that wasnt needed.

I didnt think theatre sports was going to be as fun as it was, but that's probably becuase I really had no idea what it was going to be like since id never seen it happen before. I liked watching and acting and wasnt as nervous as i thought i would be. The audience was a good audience also which definitely helped, they seemed to laugh at the right moments which is always good (although the people who always wanted the "Taco Man" were a bit annoying). Altogether Theatre Sports was a great experience and something I am definitely looking forward to next year.

Theatre Sports

We have been practicing many things so far to get ready for Theatre Sports, but i'm not really sure whether its going to be all taht helpful if we dont start supporting each other as a team and it also wont work if some of us dont start becoming more optimistic. There are a few people on our team who seem to have no positive input really, but who also dont provide any help with making it an easier/better time. They seem to complain quite a bit and say, "that's stupid" under their breath but then dont give any help or any fresher ideas. But i dont know, thats just what I have noticed, and i definitely could be wrong.

Other than that issue i think were moving along a bit more than before, because I think were more comfortable with making things more physical, but were still not there yet. We just have to work on being more spontaneous and just using whatver just pops into our head at the second it pops. We should also be more willing to take our own idea in a different direction if that is where the plot seems to be going.

So far my two most favorite games are props and also foreign film, especially when I am the translator. i like being the translator because that means i can take the scene in whatever direction i want, i have more control. Still, i also dont mind being the actor because then I dont have any control and its basically up to the translator to make the scene interesting, which takes off a lot of the pressure. So there are plusses and minuses to being whichever. As for "commercial break" i think I have to work on that a bit. i can easily come up with two totally different objects or uses (which is what most people seem to do) but then finding a small way to connect the two is the problem.

Altogether though i think our team is definitely coming along and will do a pretty good job at theatre sports.

Oh, and another issue is our cheer and group name. Like many other people on our team i think the name and cheer doesnt seem to be so funny and random anymore, it jsut seems a bit....dum. Its not funny its just like "ok this is stupid, what the heck were they thinking?". Its like someone put on some hideous colored dress and thought "ok, i can work this, it can be different, in good way" but then while walking down the street and looking into a window of a store they think "holy crap what was i thinking? i look embarassing!". So yeah, thats just my personal take on our name and cheer. But its too late now, so i think the best thing to do is just work that dress (while being in a figurative mood i chose to keep that analogy) and totally embarass myself and laugh about it later.

Theatre Sports Action Plan!!!

Here it is:...

Action Plan for Theatre Sports
Day 1:
· Keith Johnstone
· There are different teams and within each team everyone loves each other but while onstage there is:
o Mockery, hate, animosity, and then grudging acceptance

Day 2:
· Researched Keith Johnstone:
o Did the opposite of what he was taught
o Play Reader
o Performers were spontaneous
o Canada
o Status transactions
§ Lots of comic potential
· Human nature
o Royal Court Theatre
o Loose Moose
o Improv. Maestro
o Invented Theatre Sports, ETC
· Status
o The worth of someone/something (in comparison to someone else)
o Ex:
§ Salesperson-buyer
§ Doctor-nurse
§ School teacher-student

Day 3:
· Find a cheer/name of group
o Decided on Spider Pig Vs. the Seven Sins of Staggering Stupidity
§ Envy-Maria
§ Gluttony-Jordan
§ Lust- Laura (me)
§ Pride-Ezgi
§ Greed- Tasha
§ Sloth- Stacy
§ Wrath- Nick
o Costume:
§ All black with different color wigs
o Mascot:
§ Ezgi’s pig
o Cheer:
§ Spider Pig spider pig does whatever a spider pig does, can he swing from a web? No he cant, cause hes a pig. OH hes a spider pig…..sinfulllll

Day 4:
· Talked about layout:
o Intro:
§ Grade 9:
§ Grade 10:
§ DP1
§ DP2
§ ETC
o Die Game
§ With team captains
o Rolly Role
o Props
§ For scenes trying not to laugh, make it people who know each other
o Writers block
o Song song
o Freeze tag

Day 5:
· My costume:
o Black top with lace edges
o Black short skirt
o Black leggings or tights
o Red strappy heels
o Red wig

Day 6:
· Learn about the Action Plan
o Before each project you create one
o From the start till after the deadline
o Action planning, executing, and reflecting

Day 7(currently):
· Practice the cheer in our costumes
· Practice theatre games

Day 8:
· Another dress rehearsal
· Possibly practice with other teams, to get an idea of what to do

Deadline:
· Arrive early to get into costumes, warm up
· Start practicing a bit, before audience starts coming in
· Get introduced, say cheer
· Do THEATRE SPORTS!!!!
· Help clean-up
· Put away costumes, go home
· Or (if possible) have a little after-party with cast….
Day 1 (after deadline):
· Give feedback on how it went
· Give feedback on what we did well/what we did wrong

picture of our feet

During one of the warm-up games we all had to stick our feet into the middle of the circle. and here is the picture of it. I believe it goes in order like this :

1. Nicks tennis shoe

2. Stacy's flat

3. My flat

4. Mr. Sarstedt's...sneaker?

5. Ezgi's sneaker

6. Tasha's flat

7. Jordan's all star converse

8. Maria's flat....which is exactly like mine.

Well this is my first post, all my journal reflections i have written down but I promise Mr. Sarstedt that I will take pictures of all my journals and post them on this...blog.