Sunny and Seventy...at least for today

I need to finish this and get outside!

E3H: Monday and Tuesday will be very important days for our Shakespeare unit. On Monday, of course, it is T-Shirt Day! Wear your Shakespeare t-shirt all day long as your outermost garment and come to class with a short presentation ready about what you have done to interpret your quotation. (You might write your quotation down; you'd be amazed how many people forget theirs...and the fact that they cannot see it while wearing it!) Tuesday we will briefly discuss the PSAE and then do more of our ongoing Shakespeare-mania.

Bring goodies on Monday! Post this weekend! Don't forget G2^3! Look for updates...

E2H: Monday and Tuesday we will be in Writing Workshop for the penultimate and ultimate times this year. This weekend you should post as much as you can on Catcher. Work with the topics already posted there... Don't forget G2<sup>3!

Drama: Monday and Tuesday will be pretty important as we try to cover most of the remainder of Stanislavski's System. Thus far we have encountered two elements: Given Circumstances and The Magic If. I'm going to take this opportunity now to introduce you to two more.

We already understand the concept of Objectives. Stanislavski said that, as important as it is to understand our objectives from moment to moment, it is equally important to understand the overall objective we are trying to achieve in the entire course of the play. That overall objective he called the Super Objective. The playwright does not usually come out and tell you what the super objective is; you need to figure it out for yourself. But it is the character's major focus in the play. For example, one could argue that Willy Loman's super objective in Death of a Salesman is to see his son Biff get started again and his world vision vindicated. If the actor playing Willy believes that, every smaller objective is played toward this goal.

This leads directly to the fourth element, the Throughline of Actions. Over a play, patterns of action recur as a character runs into various obstacles. Sometimes the character changes objectives, sometimes he fights; sometimes he alters tactics; sometimes he bulls ahead. This pattern, taken together, becomes his ithroughline. Every action he makes (no matter how small) contributes to it.

These throughlines extend to any aspect of the play that creates sequences of actions, whether it is toward the superobjective or a smaller internal objective. If you need to start your car, there is a very clear sequence (or throughline) of actions you must go through in order to do so, and you must accomplish each of these actions successfully in order to get to the next. Robert Barton, a theatre professor from the University of Oregon, calls these "Tiny Triumphs." If you are performing a complicated role, don't try to deal with the vast complexity of it all at once; rather, break the thing down into tiny bits and play each in sequence. Succeed one tiny bit at a time, and with each tiny triumph you'll be that much closer to achieving your objective.

Over the weekend, do this exercise to develop an understanding of this concept:

Break down (and record on paper) at least three different experiences into the tiniest bits possible. Examples of eligible experiences include brushing your teeth, tying your shoes, preparing to go to bed, etc. Remember that no action is too small to consider. So "put toothpaste on brush" might itself be comprised of 20 or more discrete actions including things like "Angle the tube at 45 degrees overe the brush."

Note: Stanislavski preferred to do this as an exercise, not as a need throughout the play. But it is valuable to illustrate how an actor breaks down a role.

and for those who venture onto facebook this weekend...



j: 12 seconds
music: time taketh away--cheryl wheeler
silly 70's: i ain't got time anymore--the glass bottle

--kt</sup>