IDEA
5th World Congress in Ottawa, Canada 2004 CALL FOR PAPERS
Volume 1 Number 14
Hi Folks,
Is everyone else as busy as our school at present? This week we have Year 11 exams, Year 10 work experience (every Year 10 is out and teachers are expected to visit the workplaces), Year 9 sports carnival, lower school reports due for submission, feeder schools are sending along hordes of little Grade 7 visitors in the hope they might elect to come to our school next year and Drama is expected to provide "fun little games sessions" to facilitate the choice! The Deputy Principal missed the significance of my comment that "I teach Drama, I don't do Fun!". How many Maths, English, Science and Social Studies teachers were asked for fun? None!
I am still running my online survey. A few people have queried the meaning of "digital environments" - really this just refers to any computer-mediated communication system. PLEASE: refer any colleagues to the survey, especially those who might not normally be browsing the web. I would like to ask for your assistance in completing a short survey I am conducting. It relates to my return to studies at university. It has 12 questions and should take less than 2 minutes of your time. Essentially it is a quick look at attitudes towards Drama and Technology.
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LESSON/ACTIVITY IDEA
One of the interesting diversions I engage in when trying to get students to explore characters they are creating for performance is to direct them towards information about "Personality Types" and "Personality Disorders". I currently have students in Year 11 working on some classroom presentations of Campton's "Cagebirds". Each of the characters in the play has particular characteristics that manifest in varying degrees of obsession and disorder. So, I have students profile their chosen character and then complete a personality or temperament sorter as the character. It has the effect of prompting a range of discussion and exploration about motivation, intention and behaviour.
One easily accessible and straightforward test is the Keirsey Temperament Sorter which can be found at http://keirsey.com/
Respondents are identified as one of 16 personality types and there are a descriptions and expanded definitions of each available on the site. The typing is based on distinctions between the following dimensions of personality:
Extroversion and Introversion (E/I)
Intuition and Sensing (N/S)
Thinking and Feeling (T/F)
Judgement and Perception (J/P)
A range of other descriptions of the same types can be found at these sites:
http://www.personalitypage.com/info.html
http://www.geocities.com/lifexplore/
Another dimension can be explored by examining the range of Personality Disorders that human-kind has to offer. Through exploring the extreme degrees of behaviour actors can find many different ways of demonstrating characters on stage. I like the arms length approach to this way of exploring humanity. I believe too many Drama teachers and acting coaches dabble at the fringes of psychotherapy without a clear understanding of the impact they can have. While I have trained in Psychology, Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming I do not endeavour to practice any of them on students in my classes. What is even worse in my book is the teacher who does not know the psychological effect of their words and activities - I see it as the epitome of arrogance or astounding sloppiness for teachers to assume that they do not know the influences they bring to bear in a classroom.
Descriptions of many personality disorders can be found at:
Internet Mental Health ( http://www.mentalhealth.com/ )
I looked into the use of these resources while my students were creating plays for the 2002 Youth on Health Drama Festival, the theme of which was Mental Health. More resources like these can be found by checking the Links Directory on the Drama Education website under "Acting Resources" (Scroll to the bottom of that page)
- For those who might be interested I test normally as INTJ but fluctuate occasionally into INFJ or INTP. KF
RECOMMENDED WEBSITE
This site has a Method Acting section. It is interesting to see how the suggestions made above can be used in conjunction with the Method approach. From the site:
TheatrGROUP is a theatre company with "method" acting training on-site. It is open 24-hours, seven days a week for members. This page will lead interested individuals to descriptions of various techniques and procedures of so-called "method" acting. What you will find here is not copied from books. It's in my own words, and composed for you with definitions, analogies, descriptions and examples of this work which I am able to relate to you after studying, teaching and using it as an actor for the past 23 years.
PROFESSIONAL NEWS
IDEA
5th World Congress in Ottawa, Canada 2004 Download the necessary paperwork at the website.
The next world congress will take place 2-8 July, 2004 in Ottawa, Canada.
Hosted by Theatre Canada, this congress will follow a theme of:"The Universal Mosaic of Drama: walking diverse pathways together; finding new directions".
For further information about this event, please contact the organizing committee at the following address.
Wayne Fairhead wfairhead@oise.utoronto.ca
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
The books this week take an alternative look at approaches to acting. I really like the Mamet book - his views on acting are certainly away from the usual "be the character" simplicity of most descriptions of the Stanislavskian approach. A refreshing change. Creates havoc on the alt.acting newsgroup whenever people discuss it. Eric Morris's work on the other hand is certainly at the other end of the spectrum.
True
and False : Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor
by David Mamet
In bold and controversial style, David Mamet, one of the most
significant figures in contemporary theatre, gives his unique opinion on
what theatre is all about.
Condemning the "Method" and other actor training "hogwash", Mamet makes no bones about telling actors to simply learn the the lines and say them. A must read.
Acting,
Imaging and the Unconscious
Being
and Doing : A Workbook for Actors
Acting
from the Ultimate Consciousness
Kim Flintoff
Copyright © September, 2004
