This week you will begin learning about theatrical design through some foundational information and texts. In the following weeks, you will be experimenting with and analyzing costumes, lighting, and scenic design. This week’s assignment should take a minimal amount of time as you balance other classes and develop your daily schedule.

MONDAY - FRIDAY:

• Read the six scanned textbook pages about technical theatre - included in Downloads section as "Intro to Design/Tech Theatre". These pages are rudimentary and fundamental, so you may not be surprised by the information included. Write any new vocabulary from the “language of theatre” sections in your Theatrical Terminology/Spaces Packet from first semester. If you lost that packet, write new vocabulary words in your class notes.
• Answer the following question with one well-thought, developed, and proofread paragraph and submit to turnitin.com:
  • What are the four elements of production design? Choose three theatrical productions you have experienced in the recent past. To what extent were these designs a mixture of the four elements? Be specific.
  • This assignment is due to turnitin.com by midnight on Friday the 1st. 

Please refer questions about this week's lessons to Mrs. Wagstaffe at wagstaffee@issaquah.wednet.edu. Helpful materials and examples that are noted in the lessons below are in the downloads section of the website.

MONDAY: You will need to watch the YouTube video for the short musical “21 Chump Street” by Lin-Manuel Miranda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELBGa6-uOhc

As you watch, think back to your reading packets from the directing unit, as well as the posters we made recently in class about all of the directing tactics we’ve learned and practiced using. Pay attention to when you see examples of these tactics being used effectively (or not so effectively!) during the musical. Pay particular attention to our newest tactic, the dynamics between left and right. Write down your general observations and reactions, and make a note of your favorite song or dance. 

TUESDAY: You need to draw two copies of the ground plan for the musical “21 Chump Street”. Make sure you draw the walls, apron, legs/borders/wings as well as the props and furniture items. Place all of the furniture, like the chairs or rolling wall unit, where they begin at the start of your blocking sequence. Refer to my ground plan example, and the examples from our textbook. 

WEDNESDAY: You will be using one of the copies of your ground plan to DIAGRAM a sequence of blocking from one of the following songs: “What the Heck I Gotta Do” (2:00-5:15), “Consequences” (5:44-8:00) or “Everybody’s Got a Cousin” (8:33-10:44). You will need to capture 4 changes in blocking, so pick a moment from the song where there’s enough action to record. Don’t worry about knowing the dance moves-record the directions if they cross, if they sit or jump, etc. For each of your four blocking changes, mark the timestamp in the video for when those changes occur. Refer to my ground plan+blocking example, and use the blocking symbols and stage directions that we’ve learned.

THURSDAY: Write a one-page double-spaced analysis of the ground plan and blocking for your song. You’ll want to look at the whole song/dance to have enough material to discuss. Use the blocking you wrote down as supporting evidence. Identify the different directing techniques that were used during the song, and consider why the director might have had the actors move or interact in the way that he did. How did tactics like body position, left vs. right, visual pauses, moments of silence, etc. shape your response as an audience member? Were there any moments you thought were especially effective or ineffective, and why?If you were to direct this scene, what might you change or do differently? Use all of your previous experiences as actors, directors, and audience members to help you brainstorm effective directing choices you would make. If you do not finish in the 25 minute time, you may finish this tomorrow (Friday).

FRIDAY: Revise/finish your written analysis and submit to Turnitin.com. Please include clear pictures/scans of both copies of your ground plan, the basic and the one with blocking, as part of this document. 

Additionally, please have the online survey/reflection included below completed by Friday: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdj57Kn0MjzcbtTw_Jerwm5s2I1TMHWdaP3ufP25HKLKrza_w/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1 

Visit the following website which has information on watching Free Recorded Theatre that took place at the Globe! This week, you can view Hamlet. Watch the Globe Player's Hamlet and compare it to the Globe Player's comedy you watched in class, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Think about Shakespeare's flexibility in crafting both comedy and tragedy so effectively.

https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/blogs-and-features/2020/04/03/how-to-watch-our-free-globe-player-films/?fbclid=IwAR22eSe4oLRlSiachZ_jikKHpMjOu1o3FHBEh29XfIzxCuYAdgmJKaVZfqw