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Students will take a memorization quiz and perform for their peers. Students will also critique each other based on what they have worked on during this unit.

Students will demonstrate their understanding of textual analysis, painting with words and imagery, creating a character, and preparing a monologue by performing a Shakespearean monologue and reflecting on their experience.

Students will warm up using a pantomime interview and a relaxation exercise. Students will go on a pantomime hike and participate in a “pretend you are walking” game at the end of the lesson.

Students will explore body language by examining the art of flirting. Body language is further examined and explored through a living museum, as well as frozen scenarios that students will create.

Students will explore characterization by examining posture and playing a version of Musical Chairs with “proper” posture. Students will also explore specific character physicality by playing a relay game where they must take on and then pass along the physical characterization of specific characters.

Students will explore the details associated with objects through a “Magic Box” activity. Students will then explore the importance of consistency in pantomime by preparing a simple action for performance. They will practice ensemble work and consistency by preparing a group task pantomime, then performing it in synchronized form.

Students will play with exaggerated resistance through a pantomime Tug of War and Object Toss. Students will further explore exaggerated emotion through a mirror exercise with a partner where they will progressively exaggerate an emotion physically. They will demonstrate their understanding of both exaggerated resistance and emotion by performing a short skit based on over the top soccer injuries.

Students will create a simple pantomime story and prepare a pantomime for performance.

In this lesson, students will reflect on their personal style, learn clothing vocabulary, and identify how to apply personal style to creating costumes for a show. They will also learn the difference between a costume designer and a costumer.

How do you take existing pieces and create a costume? One of the keys to successful costuming is knowing how to adapt staples into a variety of different costumes for different productions. As highlighted in Lesson One, when it comes to costuming, sometimes what you come up with won’t be the perfect costume. It’s important to learn to work with what you have. This lesson allows students to continue working on their clothing vocabulary document.

One issue that costumers run into is that because they’re pulling together from existing pieces, the costumes’ overall look can lack unity. The best way to achieve unification is by creating and executing costumes through a costuming vision. In this lesson, students will answer questions in order to develop a costuming vision for a show.

Sometimes a costumer not only has to put together clothes for a modern production, but they have to create a period look. This lesson identifies the items of clothing most associated with specific eras and how to emulate those eras using modern clothing. This lesson also enforces that costuming is an illusion. You work with what you have to create the atmosphere of an era. What can you do to create the illusion of the original?

Costuming with colour is another technique to unify a look for a show. It’s a great way to visualize theme and mood. How do different colours make you feel? What colours are associated with different moods? Can colour be used to identify a group? Students will first assess character types and use the colour wheel to create a costume look. Their task for the lesson is to assign colours to different groups in a play, based on relationship, mood, and era.

Students will apply what they have learned to two possible culminating assignments.

Introduce your students to Uta Hagen and the nine questions she uses for character development.

To introduce the idea of “objective/goal, obstacle, stakes, and action/tactic” as a powerful building block for actors and to introduce the concept of working with verbs as tactics

To introduce the idea of “objective/goal, obstacle, and action/tactic” to simple scenes by scoring those scenes and playing the scored text.

To learn how status influences characterization and character actions by participating in “Status Monkeys” and other interactions based on status

To demonstrate comprehension and understanding of content and concepts through the analysis and performance of an open scene.

Students will learn the Rashomon plot device, then put it into practice through improvised character monologues.