basic drama projects

Perfection Learning®

AnnotatedTeacher’s

Edition

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Introduction: Welcome to Drama Class! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Begin with the Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Chapter 1 Warm Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Project: Create and Perform a Warm-up RoutineSpotlight on: Stage Fright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Chapter 2 Observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Project: Give a Detailed Description of an ObjectSpotlight on: Peer Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Theatre Then and Now: Stanislavski’s System/The Actors Studio . . . 18

Chapter 3 Pantomime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Project: Plan and Present a Pantomime of an ActivityMaster of the Craft: Marcel Marceau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Theatre Then and Now: Kabuki of the 1600s/Kabuki Interpretations Today . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Chapter 4 Improvisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Project: Improvise a Scene with a PartnerCareer Focus: The Improv Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Spotlight on: Audience Etiquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Theatre Then and Now: Commedia Dell’arte/The Second City . . . 38

Unit One Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Contents

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Elements of Acting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Chapter 5 Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Project: Plan and Present Stage Movement for a Scene Spotlight on: The Rules of Stage Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Theatre Then and Now: Ritual Dance Movement/Modern Movement 52

Chapter 6 Stage Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Project: Plot and Execute Three Stage Crosses Spotlight on: Taking Your Bows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Theatre Then and Now: The Actor Onstage—Ancient Arenas/

Today’s Intimate Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Chapter 7 Voice Production and Articulation . . . 64Project: Perform a Vocal ExerciseCareer Focus: Voice-over Actor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Master of the Craft: John Leguizamo: Man of Many VoicesTheatre Then and Now:

Storytellers Across Time—The Griot/The Moth . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Chapter 8 Ensemble Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Project: Perform an Improvised Scene as an Ensemble MemberCareer Focus: Stage Actor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Spotlight on: Stage Etiquette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Theatre Then and Now: Ensembles of Old/Ensembles of Today . . . 84

Unit Two Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Creating a Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Chapter 9 Character Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Project: Create Characters and Improvise a Scene with a PartnerTheatre Then and Now: Ibsen and Miller—Appointment

with Humanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Chapter 10 Character Development . . . . . . . . . . 100Project: Use Characterizations in a Group Scene Spotlight on: Cues and Cue Pickup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Theatre Then and Now: Elizabethan Drama to Epic Theatre . . . . . 110

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Chapter 11 Dramatic Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Project: Write and Perform a Dramatic Scene with a PartnerSpotlight on: The Worst Romeo Ever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Master of the Craft: Kenneth Branagh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Theatre Then and Now: A Role for All Eras—Hamlet,

Prince of Denmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Chapter 12 Comic Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Project: Write and Perform a Comic MonologueMaster of the Craft: Lily Tomlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Theatre Then and Now: Great Comic Playwrights—

Molière/Neil Simon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Unit Three Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

The Play: From Vision to Reality . . . . . . . . . . 136

Chapter 13 The Playwright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Project: Write and Present a Scenario for a PlaySpotlight on: Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Master of the Craft: August Wilson—Master Playwright . . . . . . . . 149Theatre Then and Now: Playwriting Contests—Greek Goat Songs/

Up-and-Coming Playwrights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Chapter 14 The Director and Producer . . . . . . . . . 152Project: Analyze a Play and Give a PresentationSpotlight on: The Dramaturg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Career Focus: Stage Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Master of the Craft: Peter Brook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Theatre Then and Now: The Evolution of the “Director”—

Zeami/Hal Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Chapter 15 The Cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166Project: Create and Discuss a Rehearsal ScheduleSpotlight on: The Audition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Career Focus: Casting DirectorTheatre Then and Now: A Leading Lady of His Time—Edward

Kynaston/A Leading Lady of Our Time: Cherry Jones . . . . . . . . . 180

Contents

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Chapter 16 Blocking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Project: Block a Scene Involving More than One Actor Spotlight on: Stage Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Master of the Craft: Anne Bogart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195Theatre Then and Now: The Ancient Greek Chorus/A Chorus Line . . 196

Chapter 17 Attend a Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Project: Give a Talk Show Presentation About a Theatre ProductionSpotlight on: Audience Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Theatre Then and Now: The Roman Audience in 200A.D./

An Off-Broadway Audience Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Unit Four Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Technical Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Chapter 18 Set Design and Construction . . . . . 212Project: Create and Present a Set DesignMaster of the Craft: G.W. “Skip” Mercier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229Theatre Then and Now: Staging Through the Ages—Early Mechanics/

Current Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Chapter 19 Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232Project: Create and Present a Lighting PlanCareer Focus: Lighting Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246Theatre Then and Now: Let There Be Light—

From Candlelight to the 20th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Chapter 20 Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252Project: Create a Sound Effects Cue Sheet and Recording With a PartnerCareer Focus: Sound Technician . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260Theatre Then and Now: Sound Effects Through Time—

Early Thunder to the Sounds of Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

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Chapter 21 Costumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264Project: Prepare and Present Costume Designs for a Character Career Focus: Costume Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275Master of the Craft: Julie Taymor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277Theatre Then and Now: The Art of Costuming—

The Middle Ages/Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Chapter 22 Makeup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280Project: Apply Character Makeup and Discuss the ProcessSpotlight on: The Makeup Morgue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288Career Focus: Makeup Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296Theatre Then and Now: The Actor’s Face—Ancient Asia/

Contemporary Dramatic Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Chapter 23 Props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300Project: Create and Describe a Prop Plot for a PlayCareer Focus: Properties Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307Theatre Then and Now: Symbolic Props Across Time/

Japanese Noh/20th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Unit Five Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Theatre and Its Counterparts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Chapter 24 Musical Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316Project: Create and Present a Proposal for a New MusicalCareer Focus: Choreographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322Master of the Craft: Andrew Lloyd Webber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329Theatre Then and Now: The Common Language of Music—

Peking Opera/High-Tech and Small-Scale Today . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Chapter 25 Other Theatre Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332Project: Take Part in a Poetry SlamCareer Focus: Stage Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336Master of the Craft: Marc Smith—The “Slampapi” . . . . . . . . . . . . 341Theatre Then and Now: Puppetry for All Time—

Bunraku/Bread & Puppet Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

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Chapter 26 Stage to Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344Project: Adapt a Scene from a Play into a ScreenplaySpotlight on: What the Stage Does That Film and Video Can’t . . . 350Theatre Then and Now: Homer to Home Viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Chapter 27 Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354Project: Develop and Present an Idea for an Original Screenplay Spotlight on: What Film Does That Theatre Can’t . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363Master of the Craft: Spike Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365Theatre Then and Now: Chicago to California . . . And on to Toronto 366

Chapter 28 Television . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368Project: Write and Discuss an Outline for a Television EpisodeCareer Focus: Cameraperson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376Spotlight On: Reality TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379Master of the Craft: Larry Gelbart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381Theatre Then and Now: Theatre and Television—The Odd Couple . . 382

Chapter 29 Critique a Performance . . . . . . . . . . . 384Project: Write a Review and Give a PresentationCareer Focus: Theatre Critic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391Theatre Then and Now: Strong Views and Famous Feuds—Alexander

Pope/Robert Brustein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Unit Six Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

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ContentsExploring Theatre History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

PART ONE The Dawn of TheatrePrimitive Peoples, Egyptian and Hebrew Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400Greek Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402Roman Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408Chinese Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410Japanese Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411Hindu Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414Suggested Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

PART TWO The Middle Ages to 1800Medieval Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416Renaissance Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418Elizabethan Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421Restoration and 18th-Century Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427Suggested Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

PART THREE 1800 to the PresentContinental Theatre in the 19th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430American Theatre in the 19th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432Theatre in the 20th Century and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433Suggested Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

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Monologues and Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440

Monologues for a Woman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444The Prisoner of Second Avenue by Neil Simon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444“Trudy” from The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe

by Jane Wagner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445Clear Glass Marbles by Jane Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450

Monologues for a Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451Hamlet by William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453The Drummer by Athol Fugard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453The Janitor by August Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454Copenhagen by Michael Frayn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

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ContentsScenes for One Man and One Woman . . . . . . . . . . 459The Imaginary Invalid by Molière . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan . . . . . . . . . . 461A Marriage Proposal by Anton Chekhov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, translated by Michael Meyer . . . . 467Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473Weebjob by Diane Glancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476FOB by David Henry Hwang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478Spinning into Butter by Rebecca Gilman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

Scenes for Two or More Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484The Inspector General by Nikolai Gogol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487You Can’t Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman . . 489

“Dead Parrot” from Monty Python’s Flying Circus by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle,

Terry Jones, and Michael Palin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death by Fred D’Aguiar . . . . . . 493

Scenes for Two or More Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498Othello by William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds

by Paul Zindel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504A Shayna Maidel by Barbara Lebow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507Jar the Floor by Cheryl L. West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

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Scenes for Mixed Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511Macbeth by William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513The Dining Room by A . R . Gurney, Jr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517 A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520The Actor’s Nightmare by Christopher Durang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525A Waitress in Yellowstone by David Mamet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529A Star Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hole in Heaven by Judi Ann Mason . . . 534 “Baucis and Philemon” from Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman . 537Promenade by Maria Irene Fornes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543 Icarus by Edwin Sanchez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544

Student Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550

PART ONE Acting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550PART TWO Directing and Producing . . . . . . . . 571PART THREE Costumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577PART FOUR Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580PART FIVE Makeup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583

PART SIX Props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584PART SEVEN Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585PART EIGHT Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590PART NINE The Business of Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . 592

A Theatrical Miscellany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628

ContentsScenes for One Man and One Woman . . . . . . . . . . 459The Imaginary Invalid by Molière . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan . . . . . . . . . . 461A Marriage Proposal by Anton Chekhov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, translated by Michael Meyer . . . . 467Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473Weebjob by Diane Glancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476FOB by David Henry Hwang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478Spinning into Butter by Rebecca Gilman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

Scenes for Two or More Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484The Inspector General by Nikolai Gogol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487You Can’t Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman . . 489

“Dead Parrot” from The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus by Graham Chapman, John Cleese,

Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin . 490A Jamaican Airman Foresees His Death by Fred D’Aguiar . . . . . . 493

Scenes for Two or More Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498Othello by William Shakespeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

by Paul Zindel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504A Shayna Maidel by Barbara Lebow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507Jar the Floor by Cheryl L. West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

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90 Unit Three Creating a Character

Chapter 9Character AnalysisIn this chapter students will learn touse the text to uncover a character’scircumstances, characteristics, andobjectives. They will create distinctcharacters with articulated goals.

Objectives1 to detect clues to character from

the dramatic text, including physical and emotional traits

2 to delineate and specify emotional,mental, and spiritual aspects ofcharacter

3 to articulate with precision charactermotivation, objective, and obstacle

4 to prepare and perform a sceneinvolving distinct characters

National StandardsChapter 9 meets these NationalTheatre Standards:Proficient 2a, 2c, 5a, 7c, 7d, 8a Advanced 2d, 5b, 7g, 7h

Project SpecsExplain to students that analyzing acharacter can be as involved, chal-lenging, rigorous, and enjoyable asthey make it. Many actors do outsideresearch to gather information on acharacter’s background, historicalperiod, psychological underpinnings,and so on. Other actors just take thescript and go from there.

On Your Feet

After the interview, have each student write a characterdescription of himself or herself for a dramatic or comic play based on the partner’s interview notes. Tell students to use vivid language thatwill stimulate the imagination of theactor playing the role. Have the classmix up the descriptions and readthem aloud, guessing whom eachdescription is based upon.


To be a good actor, you must become a student of humanity.Your knowledge of people is one of the most valuable assetsyou have when it comes to creating a believable character.As you analyze and develop a role, you will draw upon thetext of the play, your own experiences, and rememberedobservations of people you meet, read about, or see on film.

Chapter

9 Character Analysis

Theatre Termsartistic selectivityconflictdual roleexternal traitsinternal traitsmotivationobjectivesobstacleoutcomestakes

Project SpecsProject Description You and a partner will each createdistinct characters with specific goals in a three- to five-minute improvised scene.

Purpose to analyze a character in terms of internal andexternal traits, motivation, objectives, and stakes

Materials a list of shared information between yourown and your partner’s character, a list of your charac-ter’s internal and external traits, or the CharacterAnalysis Activity Sheet provided by your teacher

On Your FeetSpend two minutes interviewing a partner.Ask questions about his or her background,family, friends, personal preferences, hobbies,accomplishments, and so on. Take notes andtry to create a composite of the person. At theend of two minutes, look over your notes andtell your partner about himself or herself.Then switch roles.

Theatre Termsartistic selectivity selecting the optimumamount of information necessary toportray a character

conflict dramatic opposition of theprotagonist with society, peers, orhimself/herself

dual role the two aspects of acting: theactor-as-character and the actor-as-actor

external traits characteristics that makeup physical appearance

internal traits characteristics that makeup personality

motivation reason for a behavior or action

objectives goals or needs

obstacle anything that gets in the way ofreaching an objective

outcome result

stakes level or degree of importance ingetting objectives met

TEU3_FNL RLS Pages 9/18/03 8:23 AM Page 90

Chapter 9 Character Analysis 91

PREVIEW


The Actor and the CharacterAs an actor in a play you have a dual role. You are both the actor-as-character and the actor-as-actor. If youare to be convincing onstage, you mustuse your imagination—and the workyou’ve done analyzing and developingyour character—to maintain your beliefin what you as the character are doing,feeling, and saying. You should think asthe character thinks and concentrate onfulfilling his or her goals, or objectives.On the other hand, as an actor youmust maintain technical control and aprofessional attitude at all times. Noneof your performing will matter if theaudience has trouble seeing or hearingyou. You the actor and you the charactermust work as a unit to create the delicatebalance of believable characterization.

This may sound like a demanding job—and it is. But characterization shouldn’tbe a strain. Relax and enjoy the process asyou create a believable individual onstage.

Developing the CharacterTo be an effective onstage presence youwill need to know hundreds of thingsabout your character—much morethan you will actually be able to portrayonstage. Your job then becomes one ofartistic selectivity. What are the reallyimportant aspects of this character?How can you effectively communicatethe essentials of the character? At thesame time, remember that none of thework you do while developing yourcharacter is wasted. The more youknow about the character, the moretextured your performance will be.

And you must harness your character’semotions and avoid overacting, whichoffends both the audience and your fellow actors.

Julian Glover and Alan Doble create distinctivecharacters in the Piccadilly Theatre productionof Waiting for Godot.

Resource Binder• Character Analysis Activity Sheet, p. 35

• Finding Your Motivation Worksheet, p. 36

• Critique Sheet: High-Stakes Scene, p. 37

• Chapter Test, p. 38

• Actor’s Script Analysis, p. 128

Handbook Connectionspages 551-553

To Have on HandHave examples of well-written scenariosfrom various sources on hand, includingsome written by high-school students.

PREVIEW The Actor and the CharacterActors have a unique artistic advan-tage over many other artists: Theyrequire no canvas, paint, paper, orother tools of the trade. All an actorreally needs is his or her own body—and the ability to move, speak, andthink. Let students know from thestart that acting is certainly gratifyingand exciting work, but it is also verydemanding— and often difficult.Acting requires hours of hard physicaland emotional dedication and a greatdeal of discipline—the result ofwhich, ironically, should be conveyedin a relaxed and seemingly effortlessway. What separates the good actorfrom the great actor is how well he or she can use the imagination tomake a character live and breathe.

Developing the CharacterSuggest to students that instead ofasking how much they can do withtheir parts to decide how little theycan do and still communicate the necessary ideas and emotions. Instillin them the belief that as artists creating a role, they must:

• Select

• Combine

• Discard

Vocabulary EnhancementTheatre-goers and critics alike often speak of a fine actor’s stagepresence, which is the ability to seem perfectly at ease onstage, as if he or she belonged there.



The hundreds of things you understandabout your character will reveal them-selves through the various layers andcolors you are able to bring to the role.

Motivation and ConflictIn real life people often do and saythings for no apparent reason. A char-acter in a play, however, needs a specificreason, or motivation, for doing or say-ing anything. Motivation determinesyour character’s objectives. Whatever isstanding in the way of your character’sobjectives is an obstacle.

This is the essence of conflict, which in turn is the basis of drama. The outcome of a conflict is the result of the steps the characters take to over-come their obstacles. What the charac-ters may gain or lose as a result of theoutcome are the stakes. The higher the stakes are in a play, the greater the character’s motivation; the morepowerful the conflict, the more impor-tant the outcome.

The Character Inside and OutTo find your way into the mind andbody of a character, you must know therole inside and out. That means youmust understand both the character’sinternal and external traits.

To determine a character’s internaltraits, challenge yourself to discoverwhat he or she is like inside. Find outthe character’s background—that is his

or her family circumstances, environ-ment, occupation, level of education,hobbies, and so on—and his or heremotional reactions to all of these circumstances. You can break internaltraits into three basic categories.

1 Mental characteristics Is the character intelligent, clever, dull,slow, or average?

2 Spiritual qualities What are the character’s ideals, ethical code, andbeliefs? What is his or her attitudetoward other people and toward lifein general?

3 Emotional characteristics Is thecharacter confident, outgoing, happy,and poised or sullen, confused, nerv-ous, cynical, and timid? What are hisor her likes and dislikes? How does heor she respond to others? (One goodtechnique when analyzing emotionalcharacteristics is to ask yourself howa character’s temperament is similarto and different from your own.)

Answering all these questions shouldgive you a good idea of your character’spersonality. Now it’s time to get evenmore specific. You will have to deter-mine your character’s motivating desirewithin the play or scene. In otherwords, what does your character want?You may have to do the additional workof imagining the circumstances that ledto the events of the play or scene.

Motivation and ConflictDraw three columns on the chalk-board and write the words WHAT andWHY at the top of the first two. Thenask students to think about times inthe last week when they had a strongneed to do something. Ask them totell you what it was as you write it onthe board. Next ask them to explainwhy they wanted what they did. Writethat on the board also. Explain thatWHAT is the goal, or OBJECTIVE, and WHY indicates the MOTIVATION.Discuss the motivations and objectivesthat the students expressed.

Now add the last title, HOW to thethird column, and ask students whatthey did to achieve their goal. Tellthem that the means they used toachieve their objective are called tactics. Write down the tactics thatthey used. Discuss other tactics thatmight have been used to achieve thesame objectives.

Make a list of objectiveswith the class using verbs that stimu-late an emotional response. Examples:to incite a riot, to seize power, to hypnotize into submission, to abscondwith funds, etc. Once the list is com-plete, one student at a time acts out amovement or short scene using oneverb and its objective.

The Character Inside and OutSuggest to students that

they create a character notebook for aspecific character from a play. Thiscan be done as a project over severaldays. Have them create a biography ofthe character that describes the char-acter’s history, occupation, family sta-tus, and any other circumstances.

Some of this information will comedirectly from the text, some will comefrom research, and some will comefrom the imagination.


QuotableActing is the life of the human soul receiving its birth through art.

from Acting: The First Six Lessons by Richard Boleslavski



A character’s external traits have to dowith outward appearance and what thatappearance says about him or her. Hereare some external traits to think about.

1 Posture Does the way the charactersits and stands suggest confidence,timidity, awkwardness, or grace?

2 Movement and gestures Does thecharacter’s movement and gait revealpoise, nervousness, weakness, orstrength? What does the character’smovement reveal about his or herage, health, or general attitude?

3 Mannerism Does the character have any tics or little habits that provide keys to his or her personality?Examples might be nail biting, gum chewing, head scratching, or table tapping.

4 Voice Does the character have a specific regional dialect or any vocalmannerisms?

5 Mode of dress Is the character’sappearance neat, casual, prim, orsloppy? Are the clothes clean ordirty? Are they in good taste?

To play the title role in Mary Stuart convincingly, actor Jenny Bacon must convey the motivation and obstacles faced by the Scottish queen.


Suggest also that they answer thequestions below about the character.

• What is your character’s deepest fear?

• What is your character’s deepestdesire?

• What is the biggest obstacle in theway of your character getting his orher desire?

• Does your character have any oddhabits?

• What songs or poems remind me of this character?

• Is there an aspect of your characterthat you know nothing about?Research this information andinclude it in your notebook.

Also have students include any photographs, artwork, lyrics, or poetrythat suggest their character’s traits—external and internal.

Place five chairs in a row in the playing area and ask fivestudents to sit down. Ask them toexperiment with different posturesthat reveal character. Have the classsuggest what each posture tells themabout the person.

Invite other students tobe seated, and add an environmentand circumstances to the mix, such aswaiting in a hospital waiting room ora police station. Each person in a chaircreates the posture based on one sen-tence that represents his or her char-acter, i.e. “I’m very worried about theseheadaches” or “Keep clear, I’m tough.”

Advanced StudentsAdd more dimensions to the seatedcharacters. Two are from the South,one is from England, one has a pecu-liar habit, and so on. Continue tochallenge advanced students to createcharacters whose actions reveal bothinternal and external characteristics.

Advanced StudentsAsk students to choose two or threegestures they have seen people makeand memorize them so that they havea “choreography of gestures.” Whenthey are ready, ask these students toshow their choreography of gesturesto the class. Discuss the characterscreated by these gestures.

Friedrich Schiller’s 19th-century play, Mary Stuart, brings to the stage the lastthree days of the life of Mary, Queen ofScots. Imprisoned for eighteen years inEngland, she was finally beheaded for hersupposed involvement in an attempt onthe life of Queen Elizabeth I. The playrevolves around Mary and Elizabeth andtheir followers, who exhibit differentperspectives on almost every importantidea of their age.

• In what way does the character’s attiresuggest who she is?

• Does the character exhibit the bearing of a queen? Explain.

• What does the actress’s posturesuggest about the queen’scircumstances?

• Imagine that you are Queen Elizabeth Istanding before Mary Stuart. How wouldyou approach her? What might you say?



PREPARE

When analyzing and developing a char-acter’s external qualities, you’ll want to avoid stereotypes. For example, youdon’t necessarily want to choose a car-toonlike drawling “hick” voice simplybecause your character is supposed tobe uneducated. Try to make the moreinteresting, less obvious choice.

Create a High-Stakes ScenarioYou are now going to work with a part-ner to improvise a scenario in which thestakes are high for each of your charac-ters. You will need to think of a situa-tion in which two characters come intoconflict over a physical object of somekind (perhaps a bag of money, a legaldocument, or a treasured family heir-loom). Decide when and where yourscene takes place and what the relation-ship between your characters should be.Then nail down a bit of their shared history (if any). Write down everythingyou decide upon. Here’s an example:

Scenario for Two SiblingsCharacters: Rita and JoeRelationship: Sister and BrotherAges: Rita is 15; Joe is 14Situation: Rita desperately needs to use

the telephone; Joe is searching anonline Web site and has been tying upthe phone line for an hour.

Time of year: Just after ThanksgivingTime of day: 10 P.M.

Decide which character will ultimatelyachieve his or her objectives. This willserve as the outcome of the scene. DONOT determine what your characterswill say and do in the scene ahead oftime—you are to improvise your actual exchange.


Theatre Journal

Go to a public place such as a

museum, a park, or a mall. Sit

down on a bench and do a bit

of people watching. Take note

of the way people walk and

the expressions on their faces.

Imagine what the lives of these

people might be like. Choose one

passerby to use as the basis for

a character. Write a history

for this character. Use what

you see and your imagination to

create a rich character study.

Mannerismscan tell a lotabout yourcharacter.

Have students look at the picture at the top of the page. Use the followingprompts.

• What does the mannerism of thestudent on the left tell you about him?

• What does the posture of the student onthe right indicate about her?

• What other habit might someone haveinvolving glasses?

PREPARECreate a High-Stakes ScenarioShow, Don’t Tell As you discuss someaspect of the work involved for thischapter, incorporate a mannerism ofsome kind, such as biting a lip orwrinkling your nose. Do not indicatethat you are upset in words but by ges-ture or manner alone. Continue untilstudents indicate in some way thatthey are aware of this physical tic. Askthem to discuss what they thought asyou repeated this movement. What didit reveal about you and what youmight be feeling or thinking?

Discuss with the class the scenario fortwo siblings presented on this page.Does it have a familiar ring? Which sib-ling do they think should realisticallycome out on top, and why? Suggestways in which disagreements over theoutcome of this scenario might beresolved, including tossing a coin, ask-ing an arbitrator, compromising on thetime each uses the line, or giving upuse of the phone line altogether. Havestudents suggest other possibilities.Encourage them to be willing collabo-rators as they exchange ideas withtheir partners for their own scenarios.

Have pairs of studentsface one another. Ask them to choosetwo opposite words, such as sum-mer/winter or big/small. Each of themhas one minute to describe to theother all the positive aspects of one ofthese words. Then each has two min-utes to explain to the class why theirword is a better one. Students shoulduse as many tactics as possible to win.

Theatre Journal

Use the following as an additional or substitute prompt.

Ask students to use their characterstudies to present a short scene in which their character introduces himself or herself.


After you have come up with yourshared situation and history, take sometime to work independently. Both ofyou should come up with external andinternal traits for your character, aswell as motivations (Rita: Why does sheneed to use the phone? Joe: Why doeshe have to be online?), objectives (Rita:How will she get Joe offline? Joe: Howwill he distract Rita until he can finishwhat he is doing?), and stakes (Rita:What will happen if she doesn’t makeher phone call? Joe: What will happen if he doesn’t finish what he is doing?).

At the right are a few other possible scenarios. You can use one of them orcreate your own. The important thing

is to be specific aboutyour shared historyand your character’sinternal and externaltraits, motivation, andobjectives. Rehearseyour scene so that youknow only the basicshape of the improvi-sation. Don’t writedown specific lines you want to say; keepthis improvisationspontaneous. Timeyourselves to makesure you will comewithin the three- tofive-minute time frame.


Two characters clash over a high-stakes real estatedeal in David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross.

Suggestions for Scenarios• Two students compete for

a school award.• Two siblings both want

a particular item thatbelonged to their deadgrandfather.

• Two bank robbers want to be in charge of divvyingup the loot.

• Two people at a librarywant to use the only available computer.

• Two people bid on a price-less object at an auction.


As the students work independentlyon their scenarios, continue to usethe example of the two siblings tohelp them along. They should, at thispoint, know enough about their part-ner’s character to be able to explorehow they will continue with theirencounter and what will happen next.

As the students begin to rehearsetheir scenarios, remind them toremain open to new ideas—their ownand their partner’s. They should notbe using any specific words, but theyshould have a specific direction.

Suggestions for Scenarios

If students choose any of thesescenarios, instruct them to putthemselves into the place of thecharacter and try to imagine howthey would feel and to what lengthsthey would go to reach theirobjective in the scene.

Glengarry Glen Ross remains one ofDavid Mamet’s most admired plays. Itwas made into a film in 1992, starringJack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris,Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, and AlecBaldwin, among others.

• What do their postures say abouthow these two men are relating toone another?

• Which man appears to have theupper hand?

• Judging by the set, what mighthave happened in this real estateoffice?

Early in 1962 Noel [Coward] was theguest of honor one Sunday at a dinnergiven by the Gallery First-Nighter’s Club.Beginning his speech, “Desperatelyaccustomed as I am to public speaking,”

he continued, “you ask my advice aboutacting? Speak clearly, don’t bump intopeople and if you must have motivationthink of your pay packet on Friday.”

from Theatrical Anecdotes by Peter Hay

Backstage Gossip: The Greatest Motivator


CRITIQUEPRESENT


Perform Your High-Stakes SceneWhen your or your partner’s name is called, give your lists or ActivitySheets to your teacher. Then take a few moments to set up your scene(arrange chairs if you need them, for example). Do not rush.

Remember to keep the stakes high with the choices your character makesduring the scene. If one method doesn’twork, try another. Each character mustwork hard to achieve the goal. Whenyou perform your scene, you will nodoubt find out things about the othercharacter that you didn’t know. Youmust respond to these things in themoment. Try to make everything clearwithin the scene. You will not be usingan introduction for this activity.

Remember to keep yourself open to theaudience, both physically and emotion-ally as you perform your scene. Whenyou have finished your scene, turn tothe audience and bow politely beforereturning to your seat.

Evaluate Your Classmates’ SceneChoose one of the scenes presented andevaluate it on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5being “outstanding” and 1 being “needsmuch improvement.” Your critiqueshould answer these questions:

• How old were these two characters?

• What was their relationship to oneanother?

• What was each character’s objective?

• How high were the stakes for eachcharacter?

• What did each character do to getwhat he or she wanted?

• Which character got what he or shewanted—and how was this achieved?

• Did one character appear strongerthan the other? If so, in what way?

Write a paragraph detailing the reasonsfor the score you gave.


The actor is an artist, not a critic. His job is not to explain a text, but to bring a character to life. To understand as anintelligent man and to understand as an artist are two completely different things . . . .

Paul Claudel, French Poet and Playwright

Quotable

PRESENTPerform Your High-Stakes SceneIt always helps to add a time limit to a scene in order to heighten thestakes and the feeling of urgency. You might want to watch the presen-tations with watch in hand, letting the actors know when they have four,three, two, and then one minute leftto achieve their goals. Tell students tocreate for themselves a motivation forthe time limit, for example, in the sce-nario on page 94 it might be that thesiblings have only a few minutes untiltheir parents get home and end theirconfrontation.

It might also be helpful to coach students into trying different tacticsor working harder to reach theirobjective as they work through theirscenes. Remind them also to be surethey respond to the other character’sdemands, and so on.

CRITIQUEEvaluate Your Classmates’ SceneHand out the Critique Sheet for thisactivity or have students use theirown paper. If you have counted downthe time for the students, ask howthey think this affected their work onthe scene.

If you have focused on tactics, youmight want to add an additional ques-tion about what tactics were used byeach of the partners and which oneswere successful and why.


Additional Projects

1 Select newspaper human-interest stories to analyze.In groups, supply the necessary characters for theaction of the story. Establishthe characters’ physical,emotional, and socialdimensions. Then improvisea scene built around them.

2 In groups, build a scenearound a historical event,such as Lewis and Clark’sfirst meeting with Sacajawea,General Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant atAppomattox Courthouse,the Lincoln/ Douglasdebates, and so on. Be sureyour story has characters in conflict, high stakes, a clear outcome, and is historically correct.

3 Choose a hand prop or costume accessory such as a pair of long white gloves,an oversized umbrella, acolorful silk handkerchief, a pocket watch, or a stuffedbird. Create a brief scene in

which you portray a charac-ter who is wearing this cos-tume or holding this prop.

4 Work with a partner to create a scene. Character Agoes on stage and waits for Character B to enter. A decides upon a definitecharacter relationship with B, but does not tell Bwhat it is. B must discoverwho he or she is strictlythrough the way A talks andbehaves toward him or her. B responds as sensibly as possible until his or her identity becomes clear.

5 Read the scene from AMarriage Proposal by AntonChekhov found in Unit Eightof this book. With a partner,choose a part and read thescene through together. Asyou read, be aware of eachcharacter’s motivation, obstacles, and stakes in this particular scene.


This image might help you build a scene around one of thedebates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas that took place throughout Illinois in 1858. It is possible to findtranscripts of these debates at your library or on the Internet.

Chapter 9 TestThe test for this chapter is available inblackline master form in the ResourceBinder, page 38.

For More InformationBooksAdler, Stella, The Techniques ofActing, Bantam Books, 1992.

Boleslavski, Richard, Acting: TheFirst Six Lessons, Routledge, 2003.

Cohen, Robert, Acting One,McGraw-Hill, 2001.

Meisner, Sanford, Acting, VintageBooks, 1987.

Stanislavski, Constantine, Creating aRole, Theatre Art Books, 2002.

Other MediaCharacter and Actors: Plot andConflict. VHS, Insight Media, 1992.

What’s the Score? Text Analysis forthe Actor, VHS, Insight Media, 1989.

Here are some suggestions for the daysthat you will be out of the classroom.

• Assign the Finding Your MotivationWorksheet on page 36 of the Resource Binder.

• Discuss the information concerningCharacterization found on pages551–553 in the Student Handbook.

• Assign one or more of the AdditionalProjects on this page.

• Play Who Am I? Students give pertinent internal and externalcharacteristics of a famous person in fiction, film, or television withoutrevealing the character’s name in anyway. Classmates must guess theperson’s name.


Substitute Teacher Activities


Ibsen and Miller—Appointment withHumanity

Henrik Ibsen and Arthur Miller bothwrote plays with universal themes aboutthe human condition. They createdflesh-and-blood, flawed characters on desperate quests for meaning and fulfillment. A testimony to this universality is the fact that much ofIbsen’s work is still produced more than 110 years after it was written, and Death of a Salesman, a play thatcelebrated its fifty-fourth birthday in2003, remains one of the world’s mostproduced plays.

Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)Throughout history, playwrights havestruggled to define and illustrate whatit means to be human. The Greeks gavethe world classical tragedy, a form thatdepicted a noble-born person who,through a flaw in his own character,brings about his own ruin. WilliamShakespeare’s dramas also focused on highborn individuals whose characterflaws brought them down.

In the mid- to late-1800s the Norwegianwriter Henrik Ibsen created a series ofsocial dramas about middle-class people.These were plays of such psychological

depth that Ibsen later became known asthe “Freud of the theatre,” a referenceto the famous psychoanalyst SigmundFreud. Ibsen wrote about characterswho struggled with the often negativeforces in their own minds. And heslammed these tortured souls up againstconventional society in ways thatrevealed much about both the charactersand the social order of the day.

In his 1890 play Hedda Gabler, the formidable but desperately unhappy titlecharacter sets about changing anddestroying the lives of those around heras a way of fulfilling her own dreams offreedom and independence. Hedda is astrong, intelligent woman who is trappedby the role society has created for her.

Ibsen created characters whose desperate need to live differently drovethem to self-destruction while alsoruining the lives of others.

Theatre ThenNowand


Amira Casar and Marie Adam in a recentproduction of Hedda Gabler.


Henrik IbsenWhen Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was firstperformed in Norway, it was said thatwhen Nora leaves her husband andchildren at the end of the play andslams the door it was “a slam heardaround the world.” No one in a playhad ever left their family before and it shocked the world.

Many theatre experts believe that thelast scene in the play is one of the mostperfectly crafted scenes in theatre. They believe that when Nora asks herhusband Torvald to “sit down and talk”that naturalism and realism were bornin the theatre. For the first time, peoplesat down and discussed their problems.

For More InformationBooksAdler, Stella, Barry Paris, ed. StellaAdler on Ibsen, Strindberg, andChekhov, Knopf, 1999.

Gosse, Edmund, Henrik Ibsen,University Press of the Pacific, 2003.

Shaw, George Bernard, TheQuintessence of Ibsenism, DoverPublications, 1994.

Templeton, Joan, Ibsen’s Women,Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Other MediaThe Wild Duck, VHS, Insight Media,1978.

Theatre ThenNowand

Backstage Gossip: Ibsen’s Open DrainWhen Henrik Ibsen’s play Ghosts was firstproduced in 1881, the fact that it dealtwith hereditary venereal disease and tookthe view that the social conventions of theday laid personal happiness to waste

caused the Daily Telegraph in London tolabel it “an open drain; a loathsome soreunbandaged” and a “a dirty act donepublicly . . . .”



Arthur Miller (1915–)Nearly sixty years after Hedda Gablerwas written, playwright Arthur Miller’s1949 masterpiece, Death of a Salesman,took the American theatre by storm.The play focuses on Willy Loman, asalesman long past his prime, who isstill waiting in vain for his small cornerof the American Dream. Like Ibsen,Miller was interested in how societyaffects the individual. Willy Loman is a complex blend of desperation andbravado. At his core, he knows he is afailure, but he spends much of the playtrying to convince himself and thosearound him that he is just about tomake a comeback as the great salesmanhe once was.

As the play progresses, it becomes clearthat Willy is reinventing his past andthat in fact he was never a great sales-man. He has always been an averageman with unreachable dreams. Towardthe end of the play, Willy realizes thathis failure as a salesman is mirrored inhis failure as a husband and father. TheAmerican dream has escaped his grasp,and like Hedda Gabler, Willy Lomanmakes a desperate final statement.


“My main goal has been to depict people, human moods and human fates,on the basis of certain predominant social conditions and perceptions.”

—Henrik Ibsen

The role of Willy Loman has tempted many fine actorsover the years, including Dustin Hoffman, above.

“I think now that the great thing is not somuch the formulation of an answer for myself,the theatre, or the play—but rather the mostaccurate possible statement of the problem.”

—Arthur Miller

Arthur MillerArthur Miller won the Pulitzer Prize in1949 for Death of a Salesman, whichhas come to be regarded as one of thegreat dramas of American theatre. Hisplays, particularly the early ones, areproduced throughout the world.

When it was first performed, however,the play caused heated arguments asto its status as a tragedy. Some criticsbelieved that Willy Loman was tooordinary and petty to cause the pityand fear instilled in audiences of greattragic drama. Willy’s small life andsorry aspirations could not stand upagainst such tragic heroes as Antigoneor Oedipus, they argued. Millerdefended his work by saying that anycharacter willing to sacrifice his life tosecure his own dignity was a worthysuccessor to the tragic tradition.

In the Death of a Salesman photo-graph, all three characters seem tohave strong objectives.

• Describe the relationships of thesethree men based on their body postures and shapes?

• How high do the stakes seem andhow can you tell?

For More InformationBooksGottfried, Martin, Arthur Miller,DaCapo Press, 2003.

Miller, Arthur, et.al., Echoes Downthe Corridor: Collected Essays,1994-2000, Viking Press, 2000.

Miller, Arthur, On Politics and the Artof Acting, Viking Press, 2001.

Other MediaArthur Miller, VHS, Insight Media,1991.

Private Conversations on the Set ofDeath of a Salesman, VHS, InsightMedia, 1986.

Backstage Gossip: But What About Marilyn?When David Merrick was first introduced to Arthur Miller, who had been an idol tohim, the playwright was accompanied byMarilyn Monroe, then at the height of herglamorous fame. It says something about

the stature of both men that the producerforever remembered the impact of thismeeting: “I just couldn’t stop staring atArthur Miller.”

from Broadway Anecdotes by Peter Hay


134 Unit Three Review

CHAPTER 1 Warm UpLearn how to relax, warm up, and get yourself in the

PREPARE

PREVIEWExamine the following key concepts previewed in Unit Three.1 Describe an actor’s “dual role.”

2 Which of the following are a character’s external traits?a. posture c. mode of dress e. voiceb. spiritual qualities d. mental characteristics

3 What is the fourth wall?

4 Name the five elements of plot structure.

5 What do we call information that is implied but not stated by a character?a. subculture b. subtext c. secret script d. innuendo e. gossip

6 Explain how a protagonist differs from an antagonist.

7 Compare social drama to melodrama.

8 What is the difference between low and middlebrow comedies?

9 Which of the following is NOT important when engaging an audience in a comedy?a. the audience feels superior to your characterb. the character can be easily identified withc. the character has a tragic flawd. something happens when least expected

Assess your response to the preparation process for projects in this unit.10 In analyzing your character for the high-stakes scenario, was it easier to

determine the character’s traits or motivation? Explain why.

11 As you prepared a scene from a play, was it easier to work out the character’sactions, words, or feelings? Why?

12 How did you go about finding your comic character while preparing for your comic monologue?

13 Was it easier to prepare your dramatic scene or your comic monologue? Why?

14 Did you find it more satisfying to work out a character on paper or onstage?

UnitThree Review

134 Unit Three Review

Unit Three Review

PREVIEW1 An actor’s “dual role” means that

the actor is the character whilealso being the actor.

2 External traits are: a) posture, c) mode of dress, and e) voice.

3 The fourth wall is the spacebetween the actors on stage andthe audience, which the audiencelooks through as if it were a win-dow to the scene.

4 The five elements of plot struc-ture are conflict, rising action,turning point (or climax), fallingaction (or denouement), and resolution.

5 Implied information is b) subtext.

6 The protagonist is the person theaudience cares about, often ahero, but not always. The antago-nist is any force, often a person,that opposes the protagonist.

7 Social drama is serious dramathat focuses on the hopes andstruggles of ordinary people,while melodrama is much lessrealistic in its attempt to createexcitement and suspense.

8 Lowbrow comedies use out-landish and sometimes vulgarhumor to elicit laughs while middlebrow comedies are more refined, sentimental, andplot-based.

9 Characters in a comedy do nothave c) a tragic flaw.

PREPARE10 Answers will vary, but students

should support their reasons forchoosing character traits or moti-vation as the most difficult part ofanalyzing a character.

11 Most students will probably say itwas easier to work out the feel-ings than the actions and easierto work out the actions than thewords in the scene.


Unit Three Review 135

Analyze the experience of presenting your work to the class.15 When you performed your high-stakes scenario, could you feel the audience

responding to your situation? How were you able to keep the audience interested?

16 Was it difficult to remain in character while presenting a dramatic scene?

17 Which presentation in this unit did you find the most challenging? Why?

18 Which was more satisfying: acting in a scene you wrote yourself or acting in ascene written by another? Explain why.

Evaluate how you go about critiquing your work and the work of others.19 Did you find it easier to evaluate a comedy or a dramatic work? Why?

20 Describe an insightful critique you received from your teacher or classmate and how it helped your performance.

21 What one thing did most performers have trouble with in creating a character,and what could they do to improve their performance?

• Based on what you learned in this unit, write a short paper entitled: “How I Create a Character.” It can be as serious or humorous as you would like.

• Look at the photograph at the right. Write a list of all the things you know about thischaracter just from her appearance.

Unit Three Review 135

PRESENT

CRITIQUE

EXTENSIONS

12 Answers will vary but shouldshow an understanding of thepreparation process in puttingtogether a comic monologue.

13 Most students will probably agreethat it was easier to prepare a dramatic scene than to prepare a comic monologue

14 Answers will vary. Actors willprobably say the onstage workwas more satisfying; writers will say the writing was more satisfying.

PRESENT15 Answers will vary, but most stu-

dents will probably say that theycould feel the audience respond-ing, and that they worked harderif they thought they were losingthe audience.

16 Some students may admit to difficulty in staying in character;others will have no problem.

17 Answers will vary.

18 Most students will probably saythat acting in a scene they wrotethemselves was more satisfying.

CRITIQUE19 Most students will say the comedy

was harder to evaluate.

20 Descriptions will vary.

21 For most students staying freshand giving the illusion of the firsttime causes the most problems.Continuing to practice helps.

EXTENSIONS• Students’ papers should be

thoughtfully and carefully written.

• She is elderly and probably wealthy.She has a strong sense of herself.She likes to dress with style andflair. She doesn’t mind overdoing it a bit. She has good posture andprobably lots of confidence. Shelikes to strike a pose, and so on.

Resource BinderUnit Three Test, p. 51


592 Student Handbook


Agents, Lawyers, and ManagersAgents Finding an agent is the “catch22” of the acting industry. Often you can’tbe seen until you have an agent, and youcan’t get an agent until you’ve worked andbeen “seen.” In the early days of yourcareer, an agent can help you become“marketable.” You still have to the do theessential work of proving yourself in audi-tions, but the agent can get you throughthe door for movies, television, and stageacting. And an agent will certainly help youin negotiations once success starts tocome your way. Agents also representwriters and directors in both the film andtelevision industries. Agents receive a per-centage (generally ten percent) of everycontract they negotiate for you.

Lawyers Entertainment lawyers serve amore specific function than agents do.They negotiate contracts and help protectthe actor/director. Entertainment lawyersusually work for a fee rather than a per-centage. Many very successful artists have both a lawyer and an agent. Don’tworry about finding a good entertainmentlawyer—when you are successful, they willfind you.

Managers Some actors also find it helpful to have a manager. Managers areconcerned with all aspects of an actor’scareer, often serving as counselor, friend,image consultant, and career guide. Likean agent, managers receive a percentageof what the actor earns.

AuditionsIn larger cities, audition calls are listed intrade and industry magazines and newspa-pers. New York and Los Angeles havetrade magazines such as Backstage andOnstage, as well as Web sites that listauditions. In other areas you may need todo some investigating to discover howand where auditions are held. Read thelocal newspapers and study the theatrescene where you are living. Attend showsand introduce yourself. If you see a theatrecompany that you like, ask them if andwhen they hold open auditions and alwayscheck listings and bulletin boards at localActors’ Equity Association offices.

Some auditions are open and others areexclusive. Exclusive auditions require youto have an agent set up the appointment.If you don’t have an agent, the best thingto do is to attend every possible openaudition that seems to fit your age andtype. Don’t waste the time of directors andproducers by showing up for auditionswhere you clearly won’t be cast. You mayalso hear about auditions for talent “show-cases” or volunteer/ internship programs.Study all of these carefully. Doing somework for free in hopes that it may lead tomoney and publicity later is a gamble thatsometimes pays big dividends. Too muchfree work can devalue you as an actor, butit is also a way to network and meet otherpeople in the business.

Part Nine The Business

of Theatre

TE_EM_Handbook_FNL Pages 9/18/03 9:38 AM Page 592

Part Nine The Business of Theatre 593


“Foot-in-the-Door” JobsBelow is a list of jobs that are not onesyou left home to pursue. However, they allmay help you make the connections youneed to move up the industry ladder.

• Box Office Worker Sells tickets.

• Drama Specialist If you have sometraining, particularly college or universitytraining, you might find work at a youthprogram or camp that needs a dramaspecialist. You may be expected toteach theatre, direct, or even act withyoung people ranging from the veryprivileged and experienced to at-riskstudents.

• Dresser Like a costume assistant, adresser simply works backstage andhelps a principal actor with quick cos-tume changes.

• Extra Extras get paid next to nothing,but they do get screen time and oncein a while are picked out for speakingroles or extra on-camera opportunitiesin a movie.

• Food Service Provider This can rangefrom working in a concession stand toworking a catering job for a company thatprovides meals for production personnel.

• Grip This term comes from simply“gripping” equipment—moving things onlocation, holding microphones, pullingcables, and otherwise assisting on amovie set.

• Intern An intern is sometimes paid aminimal amount but often works for freein order to learn some aspect of thetrade. This is a good stepping stone;just don’t get stuck.

• Production Assistant This is a catchalltitle that can include jobs as diverse as

appointment book manager, errand run-ner, props collector, script-reader, oreven tutor.

• Receptionist This person answersphones and greets visitors for directors,producers, or production companies.

• Stagehand Although these jobs areusually held for trained technical peo-ple, it is sometimes possible to gethired as a stagehand for a particularproduction. Technical theatre peopleprobably have the easiest time findingwork in the industry.

• Stand-in Most television and moviestars do not stand and wait while thecamera angles are set and lightsarranged. They have a stand-in of theapproximate height, build, and hair colorwho “stands in” the position until it’stime to do the scene. Although this canbe very boring work, it puts your face infront of directors, camera people, andthe actors on a regular basis.

Headshots, Portfolios, Demo Reels,and ResumesHeadshots When you go to an audition,you will be expected to bring a headshot,a photo of your head and shoulders. Mostactors have at least one current head-shot—as recent as two years for a youngperson and within five years for an adult.Some actors have several photos. Theychoose whichever one is most appropriateto the audition or job interview at hand.

Headshots will cost $100 and up, depend-ing on the photographer. They should bedone by a professional photographer whois experienced in this field. Your senior pic-ture is not a headshot. Ask a fellow actoror a talent agent to recommend someone.




Once you’ve had your sitting, the photogra-pher will give you contact sheets fromwhich you will pick your favorite shot. Gethelp in choosing the image that will bestserve you. If possible, ask a director and/orcasting director who looks at headshots ona daily basis to help you. They can give youfeedback on how your photo compares toother actors’ and how well it reflects yourappearance. Glamour shots that give afalse impression can work against you. Youthen need prints made of your headshot.You can order 300 to 500 copies of yourpicture for under $100. Don’t scrimp here.You need plenty of photos so that you arenot afraid to leave a trail of them at audi-tions and with directors and theatre com-panies. Make this investment before youstart trying to sell yourself as a performer.

A Portfolio A portfolio can be a veryuseful tool. Most directors, educators, anddesigners use a portfolio to show exam-ples of their work when a “live” auditionisn’t appropriate. The portfolio consists ofsketches, photographs, programs, draw-ings, and other documentation of yourwork. It is an excellent interview tool foractors looking for work with a company,though rarely is such evidence called for inan audition.

Demo Reels The demo reel is a filmportfolio featuring clips from television ormotion picture work you have done. Aswith headshots, ask other people in theindustry to recommend professionals whocan help you put together your demo reel.

Resumes You must have a resume. (Seepages 553–554 of this handbook.) In fact,you might want to have multiples—eachdesigned to showcase the aspect of yourwork most likely to get you a specific job.

For example, if you are auditioning for film,list your film and/or video credits first. Ifyou are auditioning for a Shakespeareanplay, be sure to place prior Shakespearecredits early in the resume.

LocationSome actors are comfortable in New York,others in Los Angeles, and many at region-al theatre centers in between such asChicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, SanFrancisco, and so on. You need to find aplace where you can make connectionsand have the least amount of fear. Ofcourse, New York and Los Angeles are thebiggest markets, but they are also the mostcompetitive. In both regional and majorurban markets there are many smaller the-atre companies willing to work with newactors. You don’t have to wait for the “bigaudition” to begin developing your craft.

Networking and ConnectingNetworking is one of the greatest keysto success. You must do your best toknow who is doing what sort of work inthe business and try to find ways to getclose to people who are having success.Sometimes this means working at a relat-ed job, such as becoming a paramedic for film or television sets or helping toorganize extras for a casting director.Apprenticeships and opportunities to further others in the business can onlyhelp you later on.

Connecting is similar to networking buthas more to do with consciously seekingout those who might help you. You need tobe courteous and not pushy, but it neverhurts to try making a connection with some-one who might be able to help you. Oftenpeople who are successful in the business




are very willing to serves as mentors to others. This may be the way they got theirstart, and successful people are often willing to share their expertise. Just remember when you become successful to help others along the way.

Organizations and UnionsLarger cities offer alumni groups from uni-versities or colleges you might join. Thesegroups provide a valuable service, allowingyou to meet others who may work in theindustry and who may have experiences to share. Join any such organizations thatyou can. It is also an excellent idea to joinprofessional organizations such as TCG (Theatre Communications Group),ASSITEJ/USA (The United States Centerfor the Association of Theater for Childrenand Young People), or AATE (TheAmerican Alliance for Theatre andEducation). You may also soon qualify forthe various unions including AEA (Actors’Equity Association), SAG (Screen ActorsGuild), AFTRA (American Federation ofTelevision and Radio Actors), IATSE(International Alliance of Theatrical StageEmployees), WGA (Writers Guild ofAmerica), or DGA (Dramatists Guild of America).

Joining a union will take money and timeand is not always the best decision. Manycompanies have a certain number of unionvs. nonunion jobs and young actors canprice themselves out of the market bybecoming union members too soon. On theother hand, the union provides a safety netin terms of pay scale and health insuranceas well as connecting the young actor toothers in the business. Certain large film ortelevision roles may require actors to join

SAG or AFTRA, which may, by the time ofthis printing, be merged into one union.Consulting with friends or officers in thevarious unions is a great way to find outwhat you should do in your location withyour particular skills.

Self-EsteemWhile you are waiting for your career totake off, be sure you are also living yourlife to the fullest—doing things for otherpeople as well as for yourself. You shouldalways have a “fall-back” trade in case youbecome frustrated with your progress inthe theatre. Don’t base your self-esteemon what others think of your work or howoften you get a role.

Stamina and CommitmentTheatre is a rough business. You must be fully committed to a career in theatreand aware that for most people successdoesn’t come overnight. Actors who are“discovered” are much less frequentoccurrences than careers launchedthrough determination and commitment.Try your best to not take things personally,to move past rejection, and to find thingsthat satisfy your soul as you’re making thejourney. Also, remember that the journeyitself is part of the career, even if it meansliving through many rejections and setbacks.

Finances and TaxesFinances are difficult for a young actor.The best advice is to find a job that is flexi-ble enough to allow you to audition andperform, but still lucrative enough to sup-port you when theatre and acting jobs arenot coming in. Remember that to makemoney, you must spend money—on head-shots, resumes, training, makeup, travel


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