| Playing Shakespeare Spring 2013 |
| TH 3440 – Classical Acting Playing Shakespeare Instructor: Bruce Cromer Classroom: Herbst Theatre and Festival Playhouse Office: T148K CA Class Time: TTH 10-11:50 Office Hours: MWTHF 12-1 Phone: 775-2430 E-Mail: bruce.cromer@wright.edu Course Objective: To further young actors’ comprehension and use of Shakespeare’s language, through the study of a major role. Emphasis will be on text analysis (breaking the script into beats; choosing objectives, obstacles, and tactics), including scansion and key- wording. PLAYING SHAKESPEARE, the book and the tape series, will also enhance the scene work. You will work on three scenes or monologues from a major Shakespearean role; your entire package of scenes and/or monologues should 10 to 15 minutes in length. Tentative Course Outline: Week One: Sonnets and Role Choice Week Two: First Scene Rehearsed Week Three: First Scene Shown Week Four: Second Scene Rehearsed Week Five: Second Scene Shown Week Six: Third Scene Rehearsed Week Seven: Third Scene Shown Week Eight: All Scenes Rehearsed Week Nine: All Scenes Shown Week Ten: TBA Grading Criteria: Professional Skills: You are expected to attend every class prepared, punctual, polite, and with a positive attitude. There are no excused absences for this course! In accordance with the PATP attendance policy, if you miss 20% of the quarter’s sessions (6 classes), you will automatically fail the class. Wear clothing appropriate to your chosen scenes and/or monologues. If you are ill, inactive, improperly dressed, or late, you will lose half of your attendance points for that class. Written Work: You will turn in a scene-by-scene plot synopsis for your play, a complete list of textual clues for your characterization, and text analysis for your three scenes. Acting Work: The instructor will subjectively grade your scene work on your character choices and use of the language. Required Books (ordered in campus bookstore): PLAYING SHAKESPEARE, by John Barton. A complete works of Shakespeare. Recommended Books (*ordered in campus bookstore): ACTING IN SHAKESPEARE, by Robert Cohen. THE FRIENDLY SHAKESPEARE, by Norrie Epstein. *APPLAUSE FIRST FOLIO IN MODERN TYPE. COMPLETE WORKS, by Shakespeare (Contemporary Pub. Co.). *RIVERSIDE SHAKESPEARE, published by Houghton Mifflin. *SHAKESPEARE’S WORDS, by David and Ben Crystal. SHAKESPEARE’S METRIC ART, by George T. Wright. *SHAKESPEARE ALIVE!, BY Joseph Papp and Elizabeth Kirkland. CHRONICLE OF WESTERN FASHION, by John Peacock. *HIGH FASHION IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME, by Andrew Brownfoot. SHAKESPEARE ALOUD, by E.S. Brubaker. GRADE POINTS Professional Skills (38 possible points) Attendance (28 possible points; 1 pt. for each class punctually attended; .5 pt. for each time you’re late, improperly dressed, or inactive; there are no excused absences for this class --- missing 6 classes, for what ever reasons, will result in an F for the course!) Attitude (10 possible points; up to 5 possible for each area): Positive (open-minded, ready to receive criticism, supportive of classmates) Prepared (assignments completed, properly dressed, healthy and ready to work) Written Work (20 possible points) Sonnet (3 pts.), Play Synopsis (4 pts.), First Scene Textwork (3 pts.), Second Scene Textwork (3 pts.), Third Scene Textwork (3 pts.), Character Clues Paper (4 pts.) Acting Work (42 possible points) (13 points for each of the four showings of your scenes and/or monologues) Total Points for Course and Letter Grade (90-100 pts. = A, 80-89 pts. = B, 70-79 pts. = C, 60-69 pts. = D, 59 pts. or less = F) |
| TH 340 - Movement for the Actor Moving Shakespeare Instructor: Bruce Cromer Classroom: Herbst Theatre, CAC Office: T148K CA Class Time: TTH 1-2:50 Office Hours: MWTHF 12-1 Phone: 775-2430 E-Mail: bruce.cromer@wright.edu Course Objectives: *To introduce students to the wide range of characters (and necessary physical transformations) in Shakespeare’s plays. *To give students practical experience in brief scenes and monologues using period movement, Laban, Cohen tactics, and body language. *To give students practical experience using text analysis, improvisation, stage combat, and other skills previously taught in the Professional Actor Training Program. Tentative Course Outline: Week One: Clowns and Rustics Week Two: Clowns and Rustics Week Three: Nobility and Fools Week Four: Nobility and Fools Week Five: Mad Folk and Supernatural Week Six: Mad Folk and Supernatural Week Seven: Warriors and Breeches Parts Week Eight: Warriors and Breeches Parts Week Nine: Lovers Week Ten: Lovers Grading Criteria: Professional Skills: You are expected to attend every class prepared, punctual, polite, and with a positive attitude. There are no excused absences for this course! In accordance with the PATP attendance policy, if you miss 20% of the quarter’s sessions (4 classes), you will automatically fail the class. Wear mock-up period rehearsal clothes... For women that means long skirts, corsets, with rolled-up towels for bum-rolls. For men: sweat pants and tight vests. Both sexes should have "puffy" shirts and hard-soled shoes, and tights. If you are ill, inactive, improperly dressed, or late, you will lose half of your attendance points for that class. Written Work: You will fill in character sheets given for each character study you do. These will be collected at the end of the two weeks work on each scene. You will be asked to break the scene into character beats, with objectives, tactics, and obstacles noted in the margins. You will draw (or include an image you find of) the character’s costume. You will also give written feedback to your fellow students’ work. Acting Work: The instructor will subjectively grade your acting work, in terms of your demonstrated use of period movement, Laban, Cohen tactics, body language, and speech. Required Books (ordered for campus bookstore): SHAKESPEARE ALIVE, by Joe Papp and Elizabeth Kirtland. HIGH FASHION IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME, by Andrew Brownfoot. An edition of Shakespeare’s complete works. Recommended Books (some ordered for campus bookstore): SHAKESPEARE ALOUD, by E.S. Brubaker. SHAKESPEARE A TO Z, by Charles Boyce. THE FRIENDLY SHAKESPEARE, by Norrie Epstein. SHAKESPEARE’S METRIC ART, by George T. Wright. SHAKESPEARE’S COMPLETE WORKS: two versions have been ordered. APPLAUSE FIRST FOLIO IN MODERN TYPE, edited by Neil Freeman. CHRONICLE OF WESTERN FASHION, by John Peacock. GRADE POINTS Professional Skills (30 possible points) Attendance (20 possible points; 1 pt. for each class punctually attended; .5 pt. for each time you’ re late, improperly dressed, or inactive; there are no excused absences for this class --- missing 4 classes, for what ever reasons, will result in an F for the course!) Attitude (10 possible points; up to 5 possible for each area): Positive (open-minded, ready to receive criticism, supportive of ensemble) Prepared (assignments completed, properly dressed, healthy and ready to work) Written Work (20 possible points) (4 pts. for each completed character sheet): Clowns and Rustics Nobility and Fools Mad Folk and Supernatural Warriors and Breeches Parts Lovers Final Test on HIGH FASHION IN SHAKESPEARE'S TIME (worth 5 points) Character Work (45 possible points) (Subjectively graded by the instructor; up to 9 pts. for each Character Study): Clowns and Rustics Nobility and Fools Mad Folk and Supernatural Warriors and Breeches Parts Lovers Total Points for Course and Letter Grade (90-100 pts. = A, 80-89 pts. = B, 70-79 pts. = C, 60-69 pts. = D, 59 pts. or less = F) |
| John Barton circa 2005 |
| Sonnet XXX ( / = strong stress, x = weak stress) Remember, this is simply how I'd scan it; how would you say it? / x x / x x / / x / a trochee, an iamb, a pyrrhic, a spondee, and an iamb When to | the ses|sions of | sweet si|lent thought x / x / x / x x / / three iambs, a pyrrhic, then a spondee I sum|mon up | remem|brance of | things past, x / x / x / x x / x / three iambs, an anapest, then an iamb I sigh | the lack | of man|y a thing | I sought, x / / / / / x / / / an iamb, two spondees, an iamb, then a spondee And with | old woes | new wail | my dear | time's waste: / x x / x / x / x / a trochee, followed by four iambs Then can | I drown | an eye, | unused | to flow, x / x / / x / / x / two iambs, a trochee, a spondee, then an iamb For pre|cious friends | hid in | death's date|less night, x / x / / / x / x / two iambs, a spondee, then two iambs And weep | afresh | love's long | since can|cell'd woe, x / x / x / x x / x / three iambs, an anapest, then an iamb And moan | th'expense | of man|y a van|ish'd sight: / x x / x / x x x / a trochee, two iambs, a spondee, then an iamb Then can | I grieve | at grie|vances | foregone, x / x x x / x / / / an iamb, a pyrrhic, two iambs, then a spondee And hea|vily | from woe | to woe | tell o'er x / x / x / x / x / the first truly iambic pentameter line!!! The sad | account | of fore|-bemoa|ned moan, x / / / x x / / x / an iamb, a spondee, a pyrrhic, a spondee, then an iamb Which I | new pay | as if | not paid | before. x / x / x / x / / / four iambs, then a spondee But if | the while | I think | on thee, | dear friend, / / x x x / x / x / a spondee, a pyrrhic, then three iambs All los|ses are | restored | and sor|rows end. |
Jonathan Bate (2009) - Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature at the University of Warwick and a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company Regarding Punctuation in Shakespeare's Age: It's a very complicated question, the punctuating of Shakespeare. What we've got to remember is that punctuation in Shakespeare's time was left to the printer. We have one scene in Shakespeare's handwriting, the scene he contributed to the multi-author play Sir Thomas More and there's hardly any punctuation in that. So when Shakespeare wrote there was hardly any punctuation. And that's true if you look at fragments from other dramatic manuscripts from the period, there's hardly any punctuation. So the punctuation in the early printed texts came from the printer, and the rules of punctuation were very different in Shakespeare's time. Punctuation was...in some ways it was more rhetorical, it was more to do with the shape of the argument than grammatical. So modernising Shakespeare's punctuation is always going to be a kind of compromise between how punctuation worked in the original texts, how students and readers use it now, and how actors use it. And indeed one of the exercises that directors often do with actors in working on a Shakespearean scene is they'll strip all the punctuation out and get the actors to find the punctuation in the rehearsal room. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2008/2239090.htm |
| Sonnets from the 2013 Class (in perfectly iambic pentameter!) A SELFISH SONNET: I wish that I could sleep for days on end; To crawl into my bed and never leave; And slumber peacefully with ne'er an end just like a precious babe on Christmas Eve. But then I think, "What is this thing called sleep?" There's far to much to do, but not the time. My mind's become the hardest thing to keep. It's gone astray, and oh, so hard to find. I still have hope that there will be a way To close my eyes and rest my weary head. We just don't have the hours inside a day To do our work and still have time for bed. So here we have another sleepless night, Where sleep trades in for wake, and dark for light. ~Chrissy Bowen I was assigned to write a piece for class. This was a task I thought that I could do. Upon my first attempt, I cried, "Alas!" It turns out that this statement wasn't true. I tried in vain o'er many a glass of wine, But all for naught, as each attempt did fail. I promisEd myself it would be fine, Yet try and try I might to no avail. And then into my mind a thought did come. A brilliant stroke of genius, I must say: Why write the things that often come to some? Instead just write what I am trying to say. And so, with passions reared and doubts content, I wrote this sonnet here, and now I'm spent. ~Zack Steele I sit here thinking what shall I do this eve My boredom grows and grows so vast and huge The web does not entice but leaves me peev’d As much as putting on a dash of rouge. So little choice and none that are assured Until I spy a game I’ve never seen A bunch of clues to fill in squares for words I attack with a ballpoint pen of green I start with one across: “A MAGIC STICK” I ponder what the answer is, I think Like Flitwick said to Ron, “just swish and flick” The answer’s wand, my joy turns my face pink! O crosswords are my favorite thing, no doubt My boredom’s gone for I choose the fun route. ~Cooper Taggard Mine heart and mind ache for the words to write They echo in my brain from side to side There seems to be no hope for me in sight I’m slowly starting to lose all my pride My eyes begin to fill up with wet tears I feel as if thou wanst me to just die I’ll sit here hopeless for a hundred years No matter how incred’bly hard I try I think I need to take an aspirin The blood clot in mine head is ‘bout to burst This project is going to do me in I simply cannot see what should be versed Can you believe my goal has been achieved It’s something I never would have believed ~Ian Devine Winter in Dayton By my heart, rain doth fall upon the earth! But in the winter months it should not rain. Please wait for spring to give the ground rebirth For spring doth make my allergies a pain. The birds, they do not know what they should do, To south they fly then turn around again Confused to hear them stay to bill and coo But Fairborn's full for ev'ry male and hen. January should be thirteen below It snows, it rains, it's hot, it's cold by day. The birds are happy as they come and go There's one simple thing that I have to say To laws Mother Nature does not adhere I close my eyes and hope that snow is near. - Amy Wheeler From both eyes crystal tears doth stain each cheek, An evil in the heart of man took wing. In Heaven twenty children now shall seek The mercy on earth that refused to sing. A child with heart and mind to mold like clay, should fear no man inside our wretched world. But sing, and dance, and smile, and grow, and play, And fill the world with joy and hope unfurled The suffocation and constraints of school, Is something every child feels over time. But if you take advantage, play the fool, And repeat in your heart this basic rhyme: Though homework, tests and class seem burdens now, Remember children passed who ne'er learned how. ~Justin Talkington Golden Globes Sonnet By: Melissa Hall It was a night like any other night, the same event of many year that's past. A dazzling array of gowns and light, It was the night the Globes were on at last. Admit I will, I do not watch a lot, for films and shows do rob me of my time, But men in suits are obviously hot, So if I did not watch, t'would be a crime. While Sacha Baron Cohen held his wine, he slurred an insult aimed at Russell Crowe. And Catharine Zeta Jones let out a whine, No wait, she's singing, oh dear Lord please go. The shocker wasn't Meryl ill with strep, but Tina Fey disguised as Johnny Depp. |