How Will This Class Work
Welcome to Experiencing Acting Online Edition! This class will be conducted entirely online. All of your course materials will be available online via canvas as well as our Virtual Studio Forum.
A quick breakdown of the course is as follows:
You will read 2 plays/scripts (one short and one long)
You will write 4 personal reflection journal entries (one page)
You will attend 2 performances online (no in-person activity is required)
You will perform 2 scripted scenes
You will create and perform 1 final monologue
You will also do in-class exercises or online posts. These in-class exercises do not require outside preparation. They can and will be done completely during the time allotted for class.
The online posts on our Virtual Studio Forum. This is basically a blog-style format where you will be given short prompts to answer, usually a few sentences or a paragraph. These may also be a short video. You will sometimes be asked to comment on your fellow students' posts. These weekly blog posts and in-class exercises serve as your participation grade in the class and makes up the majority of your final grade.
How will we meet?
We will be using Zoom for class meetings. This will be our format for full class discussion as well as breakout room exercises and one-on-one meetings. The invite for your zoom will be sent via email and will also be accessible through our Virtual Studio Forum.
Participation is the key to success.
In this course, the best way to succeed is to stay on top of the assignments and participate in the exercises. An A+ student offers feedback to their fellow classmates with generosity and specificity. They try their best while preparing their scene work. They are willing to try and are willing to fail. It is pretty simple.
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Attendance is based on your participation in class as well as on our Virtual Classroom. Some weeks, you will do in-class synchronistic exercises. Your presence in the Zoom Class counts as your attendance.
There will be other weeks where our work will be asynchronistic and you will be asked to create a written post and a video post. In an asynchronistic week, each individual post serves as a “class” you have attended. To “attend” the two classes a week, you will complete two posts by Sunday at 11:59 pm.
If you do not complete one of the weekly posts on time, that counts as one absence.
You are allowed 3 absences, after which your grade drops for each additional absence. Six (6) absences or more will result in your failure of this course.
LATE ASSIGNMENT POLICY
You can – and Should! – turn in assignments even if they are late. If you miss the Sunday11:59 deadline for an assignment, do still turn it in! I will grade late assignments. It will just be like missing a class. It happens. Life is a little different right now and we are all dealing with different things. If you fall behind a little, do your best to catch up.
GRADED REQUIREMENTS
For this class, you will be asked to do exercises both in class and as homework assignments.
TEXTS
All reading assignments are available online via Canvas and our Virtual Studio Forum. You do not have to purchase books for this class.
Reading Number 1 – Based on the class’s taste and preferences, we will select a short one-act play or the first scene from a full-length play. This will be a short reading.
Reading Number 2 – You will select a full-length play of your choice from a pre-approved list. This will be a full-length play and will be a long reading assignment.
PERFORMANCES:
Performance 1 Philadelphia FringeArts: You will be given a list of digital performances to choose from. You will have from September 9th to October 4th to see your first performance.
Performance 2: You will be given a few options for digital performances that will be available between October 10 and November 15th.
You are required to choose your own dates and secure your own ticket. It is required that on the day of the class discussion, you provide digital evidence of your performance. IE- a Screen Shot or Selfie of the piece.
As you are not required to purchase a textbook for this class, you are responsible for purchasing your own ticket for theater productions. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns you may have about this.
JOURNAL ENTRIES:
These are not formal papers and can be written in a casual style. They will be graded on clarity of thought but not necessarily grammatical perfection. Each entry covers a different topic. Journal entries should follow the word count requirements posted with each one individually but should be no more than a page. Journal entries are to be turned in via our Virtual Studio Forum. They are to be posted by Sunday 11:59 pm before the Monday Due Date.
#1- Personal Given Circumstances – As per discussion in class, create a full “given circumstance” report, including personal and shared given circumstances, based on a single event in your weekend.
#2- Fringe Performance Report- This is a personal reflection and exploration of the Fringe performance you select.
#3 -Midterm Scene Report – This is a “book report” style journal entry that is centered on the play you select for your midterm scene.
#4- Digital Performance Paper- This is a personal reflection of the digital performance you select.
SCENE STUDY:
*One In-Class Short Scene – a short scene selection from our first script reading. This will be performed “in class” during our Zoom session. You will have at least one partner for this scene.
*One Midterm Short Scene- a short scene selection that you film and post to our Virtual Studio Forum. You may work with a fellow student.
*One Final Monologue – You will be asked to write a 90-second monologue based on weekly writing prompts. The goal of the monologue is to show your use of the acting tools we learned in the first half of the semester. Your monologue can be longer if you like.
For all performance assignments, you will be graded not just on the end result, but your work and progress in the coming weeks. This means completing the weekly video posts.
CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION
The other requirements for this class are pretty simple. You must give yourself over wholeheartedly to the exercises at hand, without holding back. And you must be supportive of your fellow classmates as they do the work. Standing up in front of a theater class to perform is already difficult, and trying to do so in front of a dismissive and unresponsive group is almost impossible.
This requires dedication to in-class exercises, active participation in discussions and feedback, support of your fellow students, growth in your work, and of course attendance.
GRADES WILL BE ASSIGNED AS FOLLOWS:
Written Journal Entries: 15% (3.75% each)
First Performance Scene: 10%
Mid Term Scene Performance: 10%
Final Monologue Performance: 25%
Participation on Virtual Studio posts: 20%
In-class Work Exercises: 20%
The Key to Acting is Action
Throughout the semester, we will be using Verbs to help unlock our scene work. For our purposes, verbs are words that indicate action. For our purposes, they are things you can DO to another person. Verbs are things you can DO, not things that you are. Happy is not a verb. Angry is not a verb. Nervous is not a verb. A helpful guide to verbs is to try and put an “ing” at the end of them.