Day 4

Absent: Ari


We began with a simple game of duck-duck-goose. Noted the effect of the game on our emotions. Brief discussion of the subtle influence that a "game situation" has on our posture, readiness, and strategic thinking.
Clapping game warm-up for attention, focus, energy.
Reading of "A Gardener Calls," the opening scene in Intimate Exchanges.

Notice the opening struggle in Celia as she decides to smoke. In terms of the Berne Ego States of Parent/Adult/Chld we see her Child win out. Notice how the scene follows with her mostly n a Child state when with Lionel.

We read through the scene, alternating reading teams. Notice the sense of sureness in Lionel and the sense of unsureness in Celia. Celia works from an "I'm Not OK" position. Lionel is "OK". Lionel's posture changes when Sylvia enters. We see him get hooked by her game of aloofness and the tease of "other arrangements."

We saw a good example of crossed transaction with Lionel's remark "You need crazy paving."

From there the transactions appeared complementary as the two conversed on an Adult to Adult level, socially, and a Child to Child level, internally, while they discussed what Lionel would do for her.

Consider: When Celia has finished her lengthy disclosure to Lionel regarding the difficulty she has as Headmaster's wife, Lionel has choices in the manner he responds. He could choose intimacy and respond in an open, honest way either from an Adult state or even a Nurturing Parent state (more on this to come.) Instead, Lionel chose to play a game.

Berne suggests that games substitute for intimacy.

Day 3

We did a re-enactment exercise today, re-creating the few moments of idle time before the formal beginning of class. In the course of solving the problem of re-enactment a few ideas were discussed:
the importance of knowing the reasoning behind our actions;
getting back in touch with our original instincts or impulses;
the paradox of being mindful about mindless behaviors.

We discussed some of the basic transactions in our "accidental script"
The basic unit of social action = a stroke. Derived from "stimulus hunger" and "recognition hunger".
What "strokes" were exchanged in our scene?
Remember: a stroke need not be pleasurable. For example, if the child can't get a hug, getting spanked is the next best thing, much better than being completely deprived of attention.

A simple transaction consists of a stimulus and a response.
"Hi!"
"Hello!"
Berne describes a progression of transactions beginning with
common rituals (Such as the "Hello" transactions), thence to
"past times" such as the habitual conversations we use to fill time: "some weather, huh?",
next
we moved towards games or intimacy.
Games have rules, strategies and payoffs.

We'll examine the idea of games more closely as we begin work on Intimate Exchanges next week.

ASSIGNMENTS:
Read Berne: Introduction
Notify me of your scene partners before next Tuesday's class.
Bring your scripts.

Day 2

All present today, thank you!

We began with deep breathing and stretching: Sun Salutation.
We then did a variety of walks with the following cues:
Scale of 1-5:
Weight: Heavy to Light
Space: Small to Large
Time: Slow to Fast.

We did some equations or "combinatorics" with these elements. For example
Weight 4 + Space 2 + Time 1.

We next let certain common metaphors influence our walks:
walking on eggshells
head in the clouds
heart of gold
weight of the world on your shoulders
butterflies in your stomach
snake in the grass
cool cat
timid as a mouse
bull in a china shop

Next we did some walks inspired by the various character masks (personae).

We then told the story of 3 Pigs "channeling" the different personae.

Finally we watched a character improv:
Ash and Jeffrey chose a persona and enacted a brother and sister meeting at the airport prior to a family reunion.
Ash and Jeffrey next chose a second persona for the "child" they became when arriving at home with Mom & Dad.
Kathlyn and Chip joined in as Mom & Dad.

We watched and discussed the simple transactions in the scenes.
Discussion of the concept of a "stroke economy" in which certain behaviors are selected to elicit strokes (either positive or negative) to satisfy a character's "stroke hunger." Example: Chip as Dad gleefully embraces Kathlyn as Mom. Mom shrugs him off and mildly abuses him with her bad atittude. This wins a stroke for Dad. Some attention is better than none.
Something we did not discus is the idea of permissions. Mom in this scenario gets something too. She gets permission to dump on everybody.

As we look at the concepts of Berne's T.A. such as the stroke economy, earning permissions (what Berne calls "cashing in stamps") and the Parent/Adult/Child ego states within any given character, we can make connections to concepts from Stanislavski's approach to acting concerning Justification, Logic, Consistency, and Motive Forces.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
NC Stage will present a staged reading of Oedipus The King Friday & Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2 pm. UNCA students receive a discounted ticket of $5. Yours truly is in the cast. See you there!

Day 1

Present: Sydney, Taylor, Jeffrey, Mitchell, Virginia, Ari, Ash, Robert, Kathlyn, Tyler, Charles, Paige, Katherine, Carly, Jacob, Sarah

Re: our class objective.
We will work with Berne's theories of script analysis in creating a role. Aykbourn's play Intimate Exchanges gives us an opportunity to see the same characters make different life choices with widely differing outcomes. How are all these scenarios consistent with the character?

Caveat: Although Berne's analytical work is concerned with clinical psychology, we are focused on the practical applications of his ideas for our work as actors. While it is important in any art form for the artist to be engaged in a process of self-discovery and self-knowledge, we will not concern ourselves with therapy. Our concerns are aesthetic and any therapeutic considerations must be pursued by the student outside of class. However, I encourage all acting students to participate in some form of personal counseling for the purpose of expanding their own mental and emotional health and well-being.

Class narrative (what we did today):
We began with introductions.

Simple warm-ups included: free-style stretching and yawning. "Choreographed" yawns: spine roll and diagonal stretches. Breathing exercise: fist to chin, elbows open and close, ten slow breaths.Cross-patterning exercises inspired by Brain Gym™: elbow to opposite knee, arm & leg crossing, "air drawing" of triangle and square. Some voice and articulation exercises: affirmative hum connected with internal questions. Note: keep warm-up exercises thoughtful, find ways to keep your mind engaged. Articulation: tell the story at the same time you practice the speech sounds.

Mask exercises. Persona=Mask. We mirrored the mask physically and vocally. Mask dialogues re: Beauty & The Beast. Mask activities: Painting, sandwich making.
Discussion of apparent inner state of the mask (psychology, emotion) mood changes, age, status.

Special Request:
Please send me a sample of a scene you scored for Acting 111. This will not be graded.

Thanks!

I mentioned Brain Gym™ today. Here are a couple of links for more information. One is the official Brain Gym™ site.
The other is an article from Wikipedia. I feel there is some merit to the work, but I accept the criticism.

Syllabus

DRAM 212: Acting II

3 credit hours • January 14 - May 28, 2008 • TTh, 1:45-3:00 pm

Instructor: David Novak (adjunct)
E-Mail: novateller@aol.com
Office Hours: by appointment

Catalogue Description
A scene study class that includes introduction to character analysis; approaches to the
acting of realistic and some nonrealistic drama; and techniques of emotional, physical,
and psycho-logical scene preparations. Prerequisite: DRAM 111.

Overall Objective
To explore the creation of a role via Transactional Analysis game theory.

Course Narrative
We will seek to formulate a holistic approach to character and to create a methodology for effective script analysis by applying Berne’s Transactional Analysis to a study of Alan Aykbourn’s “Intimate Exchanges” and various modern plays.

Methods
Readings, lectures, scene study, performance, and coaching.

Core Texts
Games People Play by Eric berne
Intimate Exchanges by Alan Ayckbourn
Various additional scripts t.b.d.

Assignments & Requirements
Students are expected to attend and participate fully in discussions and class activities.
Each student is expected to participate in a class Web Log of responses and thoughts on class work.

Note: as of this writing not all course materials have arrived. As a result, reading assignments cannot be determined.

Attendance
Attendance is mandatory. Two absences are granted for the semester. Beyond that, a 2 point deduction will be taken from the final grade (for each additional absence).

Grading Policy:
Attendance = 10%
Participation = 20% (in class and online)
Scene Work = 45%
Final Project = 25%

*Extra Credit may be available as opportunity permits.