Materials: Different selections of Elizabethan music and a boom box. Grade: K-12 Goal(s): To explore the different ways in which a scene can be performed.
This ACTivity focuses on furthering scene work. The actors should all be assigned a Shakespearean scene and should have a good knowledge of the play, their character, and the circumstances of the scene.
1. Scene partners imagine one or two scenes that could have happened to their characters prior to or following the scene they are actually performing. 2. Scene partners are given a piece of music to which they will improvise one of the scenes they imagined. The music will dictate the emotional state and the tempo of the scene. The scenes should be performed without words. 3. Share the scenes one at a time. Follow each scene with guided inquiry:
What did you observe in the work?
What questions did you have about the work?
What is the work saying?
Suggested Variation(s):
Play different selections for the whole group of actors and let them explore the movement of their individual characters as the music changes.
Have the actors improvise the scene verbally as the music plays.
Raising The Bar:
Have the actors select their own music.
Have the actors create a before and after scene, that "bookends" the Shakespearean scene they have prepared and memorized. Present the three scenes
for an audience's response.
