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.