Assignment: Acting Video Project or Creative Rewriting

Option a: Acting Video Project

For this assignment, you will either perform one of the scenes or monologues from a play we have read or you will write a new scene for one of the plays we have read and give it a dramatic reading.  Please pick one of the two following options:

a) Acting Video Project (think of it as a 5- 8 minute long dramatic  monologue video taken from one of our plays and performed by you; please upload the video as unlisted on youtube and upload it to the assignments section — note: when preparing and working on your performance video, you are also allowed to involve hand puppets, stuffed animals, inanimate objects, friends or family members— have fun with this project but please respect social distancing measures when filming; note: there should be some "acting" and "performing" on your part.) Pick a scene from one of our plays or a few different parts put together and then film yourself performing it. Think about what the playwright is trying to express in this scene (or in these scenes); how can you best express that?  Think about body language, voice projection, emotional expression, pacing, use of silence, body language, and delivery. Ideally you'd be wearing a costume of some kind. You can even choose a particular lighting or play music in the background for your scene(s). Include with the video a short text that lists the scene(s) you performed, what you thought the playwright was trying to express in the scene, and how your choices helped convey that idea.  I do not expect anyone to have acting experience, but try your best to make it interesting for the other students who will watch it.

If you want, you can do a larger group performance for this option, but it needs to be longer (for example, the formula for two people would be 2 x 5-8 minutes, which is 10-16 minutes).  There should be no groups larger than 4, though. If you choose the group project, you will get a group mark, not an individual mark. Please let me know at least one week  before the due date if you don't want to do a group project.

b) a creative-rewriting of the dialogue of a final scene/ending from one of the plays we have studied and a recording or live reading of your dramatic reading (5-8 minutes) of that new scene (please share both the written text and an audio file of your reading of the new scene). You will not be marked on your acting/reading — only on your creative writing  but the dramatic reading will make it more engaging for your classmates to listen to (please share this as an audio file/podcast and upload it directly into the assignments section or upload it as unlisted on youtube and post the link in the assignments section).  With this option you should aim for consistence of voice, style, and character construction (what do those characters sound like, act like, and look like?) Try to imitate the writer’s writing style so your new scene/ending fits with the rest of the play. Writing tips: picture the characters in your mind before writing your scene; know your characters well (picture them in your mind and spend some time thinking about their personality, their background story, and behaviour before you start writing); make use of subtext (trust your readers to understand the dialogue; don’t over-explain things); cultivate meaningful/awkward/powerful silences (see subtext), consider breaking the dialogue with action once in a while (make use of stage directions); show, don’t always tell who your characters are (dialogue doesn't tell the reader about the characters, it shows who the characters are); read the dialogue aloud; have fun and take creative liberties.

Like the directing project, this final creative project will need to be uploaded on Lea under assignments. I might also have you upload it into a forum so that we can easily share them in class during our Q&A session. Be sure to upload your project into the assignments section (and maybe in the forum) before the Q&A in class, which will be on Wednesday, November 24.  

The originality, creativity and coherence of your project will be taken into consideration when marking it. Please feel free to take creative liberties (e.g. create a more personal adaptation) but don’t deviate so far from the play that it is unrecognizable.