Insert

Picture: Henry Irving

STYLES

AND

GENRES

(Above is a picture of Henry Irving, one of several people traditionally claimed to be "the first director".)

DIRECTING III / ACTING LAB:

STYLES & GENRES

(54-321 / 54-215)

GEOFFREY HITCH Fall, 2000 -- Spring, 2001
Office: Purnell 325; Hours: Knock. Tu/Th 9am-11:20, Purnell 318
Phone: 268-8732 E-mail: gh28+@andrew.cmu.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION

:
This is a course about Making Theatre & appreciating its variety of forms. In this course we will explore how the use of Actor's & Director's Tools may vary when working in different Styles & Genres of Theatre -- and within various Stage-to-Audience formats. The course could be called "Forms & Formats". The Course also serves as a lab for actor/director collaboration, the rehearsal process, the personal creative process, & professionalism.

BROAD GOALS

:
o a useful appreciation of theatrical forms & formats.
o hands-on knowledge with which to make more informed & effective choices in the future.

SPECIFIC GOALS (for Directors)

:
o To develop a useful process of working -- both in preparation & in rehearsal; to determine
personal goals and areas of weakness to consciously address throughout the year's
projects.
o To learn a more practical & flexible understanding of the Six Elements of Drama & their
relevance in the director's craft. To understand the structure of Action & Change. To
expand hands-on knowledge of analysis and staging within various forms.
o To learn to work in a professional manner: researched, informed, prepared,
responsible, pro-active & flexible.
o To learn how to identify the purpose of the writing and to shape & focus a directorial vision
in conjunction with it; to give the play's Content a coherent Form.
o To value process. To set goals for experiments. To value planning. To meet deadlines.
o To develop a greater appreciation of & proficiency with aural, visual, temporal & spatial
controls -- understanding that directing includes much more than actor coaching.
o To learn how to shape & focus the rehearsal process, & how to moreeffectively
collaborate & communicate within rehearsal.

(for Actors):

o To learn how to work as an actor in collaboration with direction, and how to value the
unique contributions of the actor & director to the art of Theatre.
o To learn to work in a punctual, enthusiastic, pro-active, receptive & professional manner.
To develop a process of working. To use proper rehearsal equipment. To meet
deadlines.
o To learn what "filling the Form", and "giving 125% of the idea back" mean.
o To expand & diversify the understanding of the word "character" & of the job of the actor
in various forms of theatre.
o To seek Stage Technique to complement & project internal acting technique.

BASIC GROUNDRULES WITHIN THIS COURSE:

1 - You have the

RIGHT TO TRY AND TO FAIL

, as long as you are truly trying.
2 - You must grant that right to everyone else.
3 - You must grant each style, genre, script (& each director & actor)

Validity

. Give the
benefit of the doubt.
4 - If you say "style" & "stylized", or "I like/don't like it" or "It's good/bad", or "very realistic"
you should be prepared to be more specific & constructive.
5 - Remember that all campus spaces are Smoke Free Areas.
6 - Leave all rehearsal spaces in better condition than you found them. And:
7 - Know that I'm always willing to meet with any student (actor or director). I can only address
a problem or concern if you tell me about it.

Essentially, we want to learn to respect each other, do our jobs, & collaborate as professionals toward
a common goal.

Approach:

Listed below are the six different theatrical forms which will be studied, (three per semester subject to change or re-arrangement) and some of the aspects and techniques employed therein:

FIRST SEMESTER

:
1 -

Realistic Drama

(Henrik Ibsen -- the "father of modern realism"; serious drama; illusionistic theatre; Character-driven; psychological detail; Action & Change; Subtext; the inner monologue; pregnant pauses; the eloquence of silence; realistic drama in a society with very different social rules than our own; complex interior groundplans; verisimilitude; private moments; the 4th Wall;
"making moments happen" .)

2 -

Shavian Comedy

(George Bernard Shaw; the "look" of Realism, but Thought-&-Language driven; Theatre of the Passionate Idea; the power of ideas & words as actions; a political or social agenda; characters determined by the arguments; comedy -- verbal & mental, not broadly physical; irony. Active words; parentheticals; first & last sentences; set ups & punch lines.)

3 -

Farce

(Feydeau, Labiche, Moliere 1-acts. Plot-&-Dynamics driven; broad visual/physical humor -- not verbal & mental; dynamic controls; precision of telling a story by doing One Thing At A Time; entrances & exits; doors; boxer shorts; the "polaroid" moment; character determined by the plot; extremes.)

SECOND SEMESTER

:
4 -

Dialectical theatre

(Bertolt Brecht. A different purpose for making theatre: pleasurable learning/social change. The theatre of public forum. Truth valued over "realism". Useful lessons learned. The myths of consistency; the power of contrast. "Distancing" the audience from the performance, rather than drawing them in. Deconstructrion / the juxtaposition of the six elements; anti-illusionistic theatre of conventions; The Loaded Gesture; visual metaphors.)

5 -

Shakespeare

(Driven by all elements. Rising to the Language challenges of 16th-17th Century English, instead of reducing them to "modern post-lingualism". Acting On The Lines (instead of between them). Verse: imagery & rhythm. First and last lines. Scansion; understanding and utilizing rhythmic structures. Active or Operative or Key Words. Doing it with words instead of despite words. Creating an imaginary world on an open stage; the Elizabethan world view; comedy or tragedy.)

& Round 6 -

a Festival of Ten-Minute Plays

of the directors' choice to be presented in the Studio Theatre for an audience, meant to draw on the methods of working from the prior five rounds. the "world of the play"; the Arc; the playwright's purpose.

or -

Thrillers / Murder Mysteries

(Melodrama; mood, suspense; Plot-&-Character driven; emotional manipulation; thrillers, mysteries. Plants. Foreshadowings.)

Within each of these six, widely-divergent forms, the director will choose & research a play, prepare a scene from it, cast & rehearse it. Actors are always free to speak with directors or with myself to influence choices or to contribute good ideas.

I will attend rehearsals throughout the process.

There will be

TWO SHOWINGS OF EACH SCENE

The first showing/The Rough Draft:

After approximately two weeks of class there will be a preliminary, WORK-IN-PROGRESS showing. This may be book in hand, the focus being the director's plan, understanding & interpretation, groundplan, blocking, composition, understanding of the Action & Change of the scene, etc. The first showing IS NOT MEANT TO BE FINAL, but more of a "sketch" or demonstration of a plan for the subsequent product.. A full-class discussion will follow.

All showings are to be staged and rehearsed as if to be presented in the Studio Theatre or some other legitimate theatre space, -- i.e., not as if in a classroom.

The second showing/The Finished Work:

After approximately two more weeks, there will be a second showing -- still a work-in-progress, but a more fully-realized, memorized presentation. A discussion, assessment & self-assessment will follow -- in preparation for work in the next form to be studied. (Subsequent work will be shaped not only by the unique challenges of the next form, but also by the challenges & tasks determined most useful for & assigned to the individual directors.)

REQUIREMENTS (FOR ALL):

Attendance & timeliness are required. Grades will be affected by absences & tardiness -- as well as by attitude, by enthusiasm regarding the tasks presented, & by fulfillment of the above ground rules and requirements. 3 absences will prompt the lowering of grade, as will each subsequent absence & lateness.
Directors provide photocopies of scenes for the actors who are then responsible for their scripts.

REQUIREMENTS (FOR DIRECTORS)

(per project)

:

A preliminary form of the following:

a copy of the text of the scene provided to me, including cuts, if any;

2)

A brief, written

statement

about the proposed scene, its requirements, and what you
are trying to achieve in the current form;

3)

a 1/4-inch

groundplan

for the chosen scene, Studio Theatre as venue unless
otherwise stipulated; your groundplan, scene work, etc. must live within the context of
the whole play -- not "make the scene INTO the whole play". And

4)

a prepared 3-column

workscript

(for the chosen scene only), delineating beats &
transitions, blocking, etc. (& any strongly influential research materials).

7)
At the final showing of each round, completed forms of each 2, 3, & 4 are to be
turned in.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ACTORS:

Full mental & emotional availability in all rehearsal & performance times;
responsibility for rehearsal materials: texts , pencils , rehearsal props & costumes, as required
or provided;

3)

full preparedness for each rehearsal, including reviewing notes, memorizing lines, as required;
full co-operation with the director in rehearsal and performance.

TEXTS

(Directors only)

:

Playscripts, as required. I will distribute information concerning each form of theatre, & will also draw from the following texts, among others:

Fundamentals of Play Directing

, by Alexander Dean & Lawrence Carra

Controls in Play Directing

by Lawrence Carra

The Actor and The Text

by Cicely Berry

When choosing scenes throughout the year, the directors should be guided by the following

three principles

look for something that
excites
you; (you must be open to many possibilities); you must
look to make the text personally important.
look to go for the heart of a style or genre for
irrefutable examples
of it (rather than to an
odd "exception to the rule" or grey zone) to study what is characteristic of each style.
look for scenes that involve
a minimum of three people
, & preferably more, within the
capacity of the casting pool. (We will attempt to utilize the entire casting pool in each round;
sometimes actors are called upon to work in more than one scene).

SOME RECOMMENDED TEXTS

(& NOT-RECOMMENDED TEXTS)

PER ROUND

Round One: Realistic Drama: Ibsen:

A Doll's House, Master Builder, Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, An Enemy Of The People, Hedda Gabler, (Peer Gynt, Ghosts, Lady From The Sea)

.

Round Two: Shavian Comedy: G. B. Shaw:

Arms and The Man, Getting Married, Misalliance, Major Barbara, Mrs. Warren's Profession, John Bull's Other Island, Pygmalion, Man and Superman (but not Act Three), Candida, the Devil's Disciple, How He Lied To Her Husband, Fanny's First Play (St. Joan, Antony & Cleopatra, Heartbreak House, Androcles and the Lion , one-acts).

Round Three: Farce: Feydeau:

Hotel Paradiso, Tied By The Leg, The Lady From Maxim's, Pots of Money, A Flea In Her Ear; Cat Among The Pigeons, The French Have A Word For It, A Gown for His Mistress, On The Merry Go Wrong .

Moliere:

The Seductive Countess, Sganarelle, Scapin, The Doctor In Spite Of Himself, The Imaginary Invalid, (Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, The Miser).

Others:

the plays of Jo Orton, including What The Butler Saw, Loot; Entertaining Mr. Sloane ; the plays of Dario Fo, including Can't Pay, Won't Pay, The Accidental Death Of An Anarchist ; the plays of Christopher Durang, including Naomi In The Living Room; The Actor's Nightmare, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You ; Gorky's The Inspector General, Thomas' Charley's Aunt, See How They Run; Plaza Suite (Act III only); Rumors ;Noises Off, Black Comedy, Ken Ludwig's Lend Me A Tenor, David Ives' All In The Timing; Nunsense by Dan Goggin.

Round Four: Dialectical theatre:

Brecht:

In this round, all of the work will be done on scenes from one play, chosen from the following: Mother Courage, The Good Person of Setzuan, Man Is Man, (Baal, In The Jungle Of The Cities, The Threepenny Opera, Galileo).

Round Five: Shakespeare:

A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, Taming Of The Shrew, Troilus & Cressida, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure For Measure, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, Richard III, Hamlet, (The Tempest, Love's Labours Lost, The Comedy Of Errors, Titus Andronicus, Pericles , the histories).

Round Six: The Ten-Minute Plays:

These plays are chosen by the directors, subject to approval. They need not all belong to the same style or genre.

or Thrillers/Murder Mystery: Melodrama:

Angel Street, Frankenstein, Sleuth, The Mousetrap, Veronica's Room, Ten Little Indians, Dial "M" For Murder, Wait Until Dark, Dangerous Corner, Detective Story, (Dracula by Dean & Balderson, Lily the Felon's Daughter) .

In the next document are the

Suggested Steps of A Creative Process

which I will use as the measuring stick by which all work will be assessed in the coming year.