Commedia dell'arte presentations

Today you presented your posters to the class.  You had approximately 20 minutes at the beginning of class to prepare for this portion of the task.

Some of you did very well in picking out the most important information about the characters, while others included more details than needed.  It's good to get a lot of information, but it meant that the poster was less effective--smaller pictures, smaller print....

Here are some tips for the next time you make a presentation: 

1.  Stand up.  Speak loudly and enunciate.  Command our 
     attention!

2.  Hold up the poster so people can see it. 

3.  Know what you are going to say instead of just reading off the
     poster.  If you are nervous and unsure of the information, then
     have a cheat-sheet on the back of the poster!

4.  Use the time you are given to prepare to actually prepare!  With
     20 minutes today on top of last week's time, you shouldn't be
     stumbling over the sentences you and/or your partner put down
     on the paper!

5.  Physically showing the stance of the character and the typical
     facial expression really added to one of the presentations: 
     remember to have fun and add these touches! 

Well, my bus was cancelled....

You and your partner(s) will have the first ten minutes of class to organize yourselves, and then present your posters on Wednesday, February 22.

Commedia dell'arte

This past week our regular classroom was used for grad photos, so we took the opportunity to do some theatre history in computer labs/the library.

On Tuesday, students chose a partner to work with to create a poster of one of the major commedia characters.  Wednesday and Thursday were the two days we had in a computer lab or the library to complete our research and some students were also able to use a library computer on Friday to finish this task. 

Here's a good site to check out for more information:  http://www.theatrefolk.com/spotlights/commedia-dell%E2%80%99arte

ADA 3M – Commedia dell’arte Poster Assignment                                                                                    

1.       With your partner, select one of the Commedia dell’arte characters.

2.      You will create an eye-catching poster that will provide people in the drama room with accurate information about your chosen character.   You will include the following:  

a) costume  b) mask   c) usual props   d) dominant character traits and types of movement    e) typical lazzi (if applicable) 

f) the other names this stock character is known by (if applicable)  ex:  Arlechinno, Harlequin

3.      You will present this poster to the class on Tuesday, February 21. 

Criteria	Level 4	Level 3	Next steps needed  to reach provincial standard
Information on Poster (Knowledge/Understanding)	Detailed accurate well-organized information provided for the audience (viewer) of the poster;  the images and words are attractive and combine well to effectively  conveying the information	Information provided is accurate;  the images and words convey most of the required information
Presentation (Communication)	The presenters are well-prepared and able to answer questions when necessary; the audience can hear and understand everything they say	The presenters are prepared; the audience can hear and understand most of what they say without much effort

Please outline what was done by each group member/partner on the back of this assignment sheet.

Reflection:   (Thinking/Inquiry -  Level 4, 3, 2, 1, R)

1.       What was the most challenging aspect of this assignment?  How did you overcome it?  If there were no challenges for you, explain what it was that made it an easy assignment.

2.       Do you believe that your partner would say that you were a good person to work with?  Why/why not?  Explain what strengths you have when working on this type of assignment.  Explain what weakness you might have when doing this type of assignment and how you could address it in future. 

3.      How might the skills you develop doing this type of assignment benefit you in other situations, for example, the workplace, another class, as a future parent……?

Conflict and Gender...

Make certain that you have completed the worksheet from Friday, February 3rd's class.

The three-person 'conflict' scenes you performed on Monday with the ADA 4M's were excellent.  Today, you focused on developing two-person scenes with a conflict centred on gender-based stereotypes.  We only got to see four scenes before the bell rang--looking forward to seeing the rest tomorrow.

Concepts we were reminded of from sharing our work: 

a) how an object can become a symbol (remote control);

b) how physical proximity can represent the distance between our points of view;

c) how our acting partners can support us in a scene when we forget what we had rehearsed;

d) how to hold for laughs while still maintaining a 'natural' flow of dialogue...


This class will be reading Ibsen's A Doll's House as your introduction to Modern Theatre, hence the focus on gender stereotypes.  You may be surprised at what shocked audiences in 1880!

"How to Succeed in a Drama Class..."

Wow!  The ADA 3M0's and 4M0's put together five wonderful performances illustrating how to succeed in Drama class--this is going to be a fantastic semester! 

You will need a pen or pencil for Friday, February 3rd.  Not a lot of writing, but you will need something to help you hold your thoughts!