ELYSIUM HIPWOOD

ACTING SKILLS AND PERFORMANCE

PLANNING
CUAACT401
TASK 2
Part 1:

HISTORY OF DRAMA
Primitive Theatre
Primitive theatre is an ancient way of storytelling by dancing and using props, set etc. there is limited
knowledge of primitive theatre due to the absences of written record. Because of this, anthropologists
found and used cave drawings from the ancient times as a source of information. The men would
perform the hunting rituals, demonstrating how it was in the era. Other forms of theatre, the cavemen
would participate in included dances. They would dance for the gods, one person would be the focus,
a tribute or embodiment of the gods, or a sacrifice. The figure is usually in a mask, made from any
organic materials that could be mustered up.

Greek Theatre
Greek theatre began in the 6 th century in Athens with the performance of tragedy plays at religious
festivals. Greek tragedies and comedies were always performed outdoors in outdoor theatres. In Greek
theatre there is normally a protagonist, usually a person of importance and outstanding personal
qualities, falls to disaster through the combination of a personal failing and circumstances with which
he or she cannot deal. The Greek theatre consisted essentially of the orchestra, the flat dancing floor
for the chorus, and the theatron, the actual structure of the theatre building. Greek theatre history
began with festivals in honour of the gods. The ancient Greeks took their entertaining very seriously
and used theatre and drama as a way of investigating the world they live in, and what it meant to be
human.

The Middle Ages

In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages lasted from the 5 th to the 15th century. It began with the fall
of the Western Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the age of discovery. During the Middle
ages, theatre began a new cycle of development that paralleled the emerged of the theatre from ritual
activity in the early Greek period. The Middle Ages significantly influenced all aspects of medieval
politics, culture, religion and economics by the noble classes. The considered ‘wealthy’ fought their
gods and kings. The western values of individualism, consensual government, and recognition of
religions began to emerge during the middle ages.

The Renaissance
The renaissance was a period in the European cultural, artistic, political and economic ‘rebirth’
making the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity and covering the 15 th century and 16th
century. In addition to the standard periodization, beginning in the 14 th century and ended in the 17th
century. Unlike early theatre, which was restricted to the wealthy nobility, during the renaissance in
England, theatres became public venues. All social classes could come together and enjoy
performances. During the Renaissance, governments focused on reducing the impact religion had on
society and started to move more into the modern ways.

Romanticism and Realism

It is an art that combines elements of both romanticism and realism. The term ‘romanticism and
realism’ have been used in varied ways and are sometimes seen as opposed to one another. Realism is
a direct contrast to romanticism, as it does not beautify, or make things more appealing. Romanticism
typically shows fantastical situations, whereas, realism uses facts to depict ordinary, everyday
experiences.
Realism was a 19th century theatrical movement, seeking to portray real life on the stage. Constantin
Stanislavski was a highly committed to realism throughout his and career and came to stand out
against the scientific idea of naturalism.

Modern Theatre
Modern theatre is both physical and visual. In the 1980s, companies began to experiment with a more
physical type of theatre. They wanted to get away from the restraints of realistic and naturalistic
drama and create and energetic visual theatre that combined strong design with choreography and
physical imagery. The scenery, costumes, sound and lighting are designed by artists and constructed
by craft men to create the environment of the play. It is
designed to represent the place and time.

Historical and Modern Playwrights

Over the years, theatre has been modified in a lot of ways. The style a play is performed, the location,
the costumes, the actors, the set and yet a few things stay the same, the passion, willpower and
entertainment all needed to fulfil the desires of an audience. The history of theatre was very exclusive
to the theatre we understand in today society. Back then, theatre patterns were more melodramatic.
Nowadays, contemporary theatre is more normally performed because of the fact audiences in more
modern time want to look at the raw emotion and enjoy being captivated by the actors up on stage.
This advises that theatre has modified over time and may still give or take inside the future, however,
what theatre can really exchange is the concept that can be examined through getting to know and
learn about plays from unique periods of time.

Some of the greatest playwrights of all time evolved in historical periods. William Shakespeare was a
very famous English poet, playwright and actor of the Renaissance era and he was considered the
world’s greatest dramatist. Shakespeare was born in April 23, 1564 in Stratford, United Kingdom. He
was the third child of father, John Shakespeare and mother, Mary Arden. At the age of eighteen,
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and had three children shortly after their marriage.
Between 1590 and 1613, Shakespeare wrote 37 famous and successful plays, including Romeo and
Juliet, and Hamlet. His work was constructed using blank verse method which consisted of
unrhymed lines in his writing. William Shakespeare's cause of death is still unknown to this day, but
the theory is he died after a contracting a fever following a drinking binge with fellow playwrights
Ben Jonsen and Michael Drayton and it is noted that he died on the 23rd of April 1616, which is
ironically he’s birthday. William Shakespeare is arguably one of the most famous playwrights in the
world to this day.

Oscar Wilde, born on the 16th of October 1854, was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in
exceptional forms in the course of the 1880s, the early 1890s noticed him emerge as one of the most
popular playwrights in London. He is remembered for his trivial comedy The Importance of Being
Earnest and the tragedy of Salome both written in the early 1890s. Wilde had a phenomenal capability
to incorporate components of both fantasy and realism into his work. Through considerate imagery
and realism dialect, he effectively merged two contracting genres right into a fascinatingly morbid
tale. He also exceled in his use of imagery. Oscar Wilde died on the 30 th of November 1900, aged 46,
from meningitis. More than a century after his death, Wilde is still better known for his
accomplishments in his writing career.

Aphra Behn was an English playwright, poet, translator and fiction writer. As one of the first English
women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barriers and served as I literary role model
for later generations of female authors. Some of Behn’s most memorial plays consists of The Rover,
The Emperor of the Moon and The Dutch Lover all written in the late 1600s. Behn wrote in a variety
of genres, many of them generally associated with male poets. Her plays and poems constantly
reworked contemporary political issues and the recent past. Although her literary output remanded
mighty, Behn’s health failed and she died on the 16 April 1689. “I am not content to write for a third
day only,” she writes in The Lucky Chance, “I value fame as much as if I had been born a Hero”

The historical playwrights did write considerable pieces and definitely set the bar high. However, in
today’s time period, theatre has changed dramatically. It’s a world of trends, technology, public
correctness, risky curiosity and uncertainty. It’s a brand new age with new art and artists, we have to
embrace that fact.

Caryl Churchill, born on the 18 September 1938, is a British playwright acknowledged for
dramatizing the abuse of power, for her use of non-naturalistic techniques, and for her exploration of
sexual politics and feminist themes. Churchill’s best work consists of Cloud 9, Escaped Alone, and
Far Away which were written between the duration of 1979 to 2016. The playwright interests in
exploring political issues in non-critical ways directly grabbed her attention, as did the fact that she
never wrote in the same style of play twice. Churchill turned 81 years of age last year and is bursting
of health. It is impossible to imagine the landscape of contemporary drama without Caryl Churchill.

Annie Baker is an American playwright and teacher who only at the age of 39, won the 2014 Pulitzer
Prize for her highly successful play The Flick. Being at a very young age, Baker has written many
famous plays; Circle Mirror Transformation, The Aliens and Body Awareness all in the short time
period of the early 2000s. Some critics have classified her writing style ‘natural’ or ‘realistic’,
however, Baker believes neither of these labels are correct or even necessary. In interviews, she
describes styles of dialogue as being “just real life, as though it was something that could be
overheard in a diner.” We are lucky to live in the era of Annie Baker, a playwright who listens to
people so carefully, who recreates human speech with such amusement and care.

Neil LaBute, born 19 March 1963, is a well-known American playwright, film director, screenwriter
and actor who is best known for his breathtaking writing abilities. Fat Pig, This Is How It Goes and
Reasons To Be Pretty are just some of the many famous plays that LaBute has published. LaBute’s
writing style is very language orientated. His work is terse, rhythmic and greatly casual. His style
bears similarity to one of his favoured playwrights, David Mamet. LeBute even shares a few alike
themes with Mamet consisting of gender relations, political correctness and masculinity.

When researching I found that although written over a century apart, both plays used diverse styles of
performance, language, setting, eras they both discussed and where based on real life events or
situations that somehow effected the playwright but were also problems occurring in the time.

PRINCIPLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ACTING

Dramatic Elements:

The dramatic elements are essential to an actor to create an entertaining performance. There are
twelve techniques involved the process that can be used as a guide to provide an understandable and
entertaining storyline/performance.

Role, Character and Relationships:

In acting, identifying their values, attitudes, intentions and actions really builds a character. Having a
good idea of what your specific character would do when given different circumstances throughout
the performance makes a stronger actor.

Language:
Language is a key feature in drama as it is the most essential part of communication on stage.
Figuring out your language onstage is an important role in character building. (How would your
character talk?) It is appeared that language is a basic characteristic that relates to both dramatic
elements and action.

Movement:
Where the actors move onstage, what this communicates to the audience and the effect it can have on
your fellow actors are all aspects of the physical methods actors use to help with characterisation, for
example, moving quickly or slowly can have an effect of their mood as a character.
Focus:
Focus is very important in actors. Performers need a good memory and concentration skills to help
stay in character and to re-create life whilst on stage. Focus is a skill that actors develop through the
right training.

Tension:
Tension is a growing recognition of expectation within a performance. A sense that the storyline is
building up toward something exciting or destressing happening. Without tension in a scene, it is
difficult to grab the audience’s attention on what is happening in that moment.
Contrast:
Contrast is a marked difference between two or more situations placed side by side to create dramatic
effect. It could a change in mood from one scene to another or stillness next to activity.

Mood:
Mood is an element that evokes certain feelings or emotions in which is carried across to the
audience. Conveying a mood/emotion throughout a performance helps the audience feel what the
character is feeling in that specific moment of the performance.

Space:
Space is the whereabouts between the actor’s performance area and the set/props. Use of space can
also clearly communicate to the audience where the action is taking place in that moment.

Symbol:
Symbols is something used to represent something to give a dramatic meaning or effect. Some can
include colours, props, sets, movement etc.

Conflict:
Conflict is the main attention grabber throughout a performance. It gives it action and brings life to
the stage. Using conflict in a production is crucial to entertain your audience and have them on the
edge of their seats.

Climax:
The climax in a performance is the turning point for the characters. It is considered the highest point
of tension in acting as they slowly cut to a solution.

Characterization:

Characterization is the traits an actor creates to portray a role. The actor must use their skills to make
a consistent character throughout their performance. When creating characters, you need to consider;
voice (Does your character have an accent? What is the tone of their voice? How quickly do they
speak? Do they have any vocal mannerisms that are particular to them?), body language (This is what
your characters movements and way of using their body says about them), facial expression (Does
your character move their face a lot? What does their facial expression say about them? Do they have
a very expressive face, or do they try not to give much of themselves away?), movement (The way
actors move on stage. What that communicates to the audience. Do they move quickly, lightly,
slowly?), gestures (Amplifying a question. Convey a mood or emotion) etc. Method acting is a range
of training and rehearsal techniques that seek to encourage sincere and emotionally expressive
performances, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners. It was created by the very
famous Constantin Stanislavski. Stanislavski was widely recognised as an outstanding character actor
and the many productions that he directed garnered him a reputation as one of the leading theatre
directors of his generation. Many famous actors, like Angelina Jolie, Jim Carey and Robert De Niro,
use method acting.

Many believed that screen acting can be divided as before and after Marlon Brando. The way he got
involved in his roles was massively influential on his contemporaries and acting as a discipline going
forward. His Broadway debut in 1946 saw Brando playing a murderous psychopath in Truckline Café.
For a scene in which his character had emerged from a cold lake he would run up and down behind
the scenes before getting a bucket of ice water on his head.

Improvisation:
To improvise is when an actor spontaneously decides to give an action in a scenario without another
person or viewer knowing. There are techniques an actor can use to provide understandable offers
when put on the spot. A common technique is saying “yes, and…” this gives the other actor(s) offers
without blocking what they have said. The style involves quick-thinking and the ability to adapt to the
situation as it can change very quickly in a scenario. In the iconic movie Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory Gene Wilder improvised the famous limp to somersault performed during
Wonka’s opening entrance. The reason behind it was because no one had seen Willy Wonka in years,
so coming out of the factory and performing the stunt reveals a lot about his character.

Part 2:

Name of Play:
West Side Story.

Date of performance:
15/10/2020, 16/10/2020, 17/10/2020.

Description of the play:

West Side Story the musical s inspired by William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. The musical
explores he rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic
backgrounds.

Name of the role:

Clarice

Description of the character:

Clarice is a proud Jet girl in a relationship with Arab, another Jet member.

Preparing Self:
To prepare myself for my role, I practiced my harmonies in all group songs every chance I could. I
also warmed up my body and voice thoroughly before each rehearsal and show to ensure I was using
my skills to the best of my ability.

Risks:
Being a Jet Girl, we wore chorus heals for the whole first act of the performance. Dancing in these chorus
heals was a struggle at first as I am a very clumsy person, and on one occasion, I rolled my ankle which
was I minor step back during the rehearsal period.

Strategies to Overcome problems:

As rehearsals got more intense, I gained more confidence in the performance as I was not worrying about
me falling out of a movement due to my lack of experience dancing in heals.
Part 3:

Performance:

STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES
 Strong commitment to the show  Greater use of facial expression would
 A character was clearly established and enhance the mood of the scenes and
maintained throughout provide the audience with greater
 Dances and singing were well executed understanding of the character’s emotion,
 Loved the detail in your styling of your attitude, and intention
appearance  Have more confidence in your ability; you
appear to ‘hold back’
 Let yourself ‘feel’ the emotions and
connect with them throughout every
moment

SKILL DAT STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE

E FOR
IMPROVEMENT
Making a 16/07 I seem to enjoy the I lack confidence in I need to try to have a more
yielding to activities with the myself, and I tend to confident approach in my acting
physical offers group. play it safe with my and take risks without caring what
activities. people think of me.
Making a 23/07 I came up with some When I got stuck, I Try thinking quicker on my feet
yielding to creative responses had trouble and not let the odd hiccup in the
verbal offers that displayed good recovering with long impro determine my confidence
ideas. pause in between level.
responses.
Endowment 30/07 Some very I tend to hold back Remember the 10thCommandment
entertaining and fluent and lack confidence. – When they faith is low, thy spirit
improvisations I need to engage in weak, thy good fortune strained, and
delivered the activities more. they team is losing, be comforted and
smile, because it just doesn’t matter.

Extending and 10/09 I displayed Try not to fold my Don’t hesitate to engage with
advancing the confidence in my arms – it’s my ‘go gestures.
narrative responses and the to’ pose.
character.
Ensemble 16/07 I’m a good team Holding back in Not holding back and letting
awareness player with a desire some situations loose. I need to give more offers
to not let my team which relates to not and feel confident in the ones I
down. being confident in choose.
myself.

Spontaneity 17/09 I was good at the use I need to improve Trying to say the first thing that
of FX and musical thinking on my feet comes to mind in these exercises
interludes within the more. will help this.
narrative.  These were
interspersed at the
perfect moment

Expression of 6/08 I respond to Don’t be afraid to Listen and process what dialogue
thought and feedback well. express emotions is aimed at you and be changed by
emotion and respond to it.
offers. I should feel
it in my whole body
and so the audience
can see a change
physically.

Sensory 17/09 I had good use of Letting go and not Making sure i feel it through the
awareness physical memory and being so tense and whole body and so the physical
imagination to reveal nervous. change can be identified.
this