Our actors spent the first 4 weeks of the semester creating character, settings, and plots for a set of original stories about mythical creatures. This week, we stopped to reflect on where our interests lie, and how we want to be involved in our final projects…we also played a lot of games!
A Zoom session with 16 participants from the Monday A ensemble. They are all showing off their various talents for acting, singing, and dancing!
We kick things off every week with our usual dance party and warm up, and then settle in for a check in. This week was all about sharing our likes and dislikes, and thinking about what we want our stories to look like. This week, our check in question was:
What is your favorite way to enjoy a story and why?
While we have a few avid readers in the ensemble, it makes sense that most of us said we like to experience a story by watching it - either on TV, in a movie, or on the stage. We like to see it and experience it rather than just listening to it. Matt D said his favorite way to enjoy a story is to become a part of it through acting and feeling what his character feels. What do you prefer? Do you like to read a book, looking at pictures or comics, listen to audiobooks or have someone read to you, or watching a story on stage, movie screen, or TV?
After check in, we played an ensemble game called Over There. This activity is usually part of our On Camera Acting workshops, and it proved to be a big favorite! One thing that makes it special is that only one actor goes at a time. We spotlight their video so everyone can see them and then assign them a genre. A genre is a style of story, like, for example, and adventure, a romance, or a musical. That person’s job is to enter their frame and say the line “Over There” in a way that matches their genre. It’s a complex game because we have to listen for directions, remember blocking, be aware of where our camera is, say a line, and get creative to match our genre. But everyone rose to the challenge. We laughed a lot and surprised each other with ad-libbed lines and some bold entrances and exits. Check out this video to see see a few members of the Sunday ensemble in action:
After that, it was time to share our performance preferences. Each actor had a 1:1 meeting with a teaching artists to share what is important to them for this project. They answered 4 questions:
1) Which of our 2 stories interests you the most?
2) What type of role would you like to have in the final project?
3) What special skills would you like to show off?
4) Which is most important to you: story, character, or skillset
The folks who weren’t in a meeting got to play some favorite games like Find Something, Magic Wand, and Musical Statues.
A screenshot of a Zoom meeting with 10 participants from the Monday B ensemble. They are in the middle of a game and making a variety of monster faces.
We are officially at the halfway point and time is flying by! Our ensembles will take a week off to give Teaching Artists a chance to write up the first draft of our scripts, finalize casting assignments, and prepare materials for the second half of the semester. When we come back, we’ll jump right into action creating music, choreography, and more to bring our tales to life. Stay tuned as the Forms of Things Unknown continues to take shape!
Wednesday night dance parties are one of our favorite things to come out of the pandemic! Every week we sign on to socialize and have fun with some great tunes. This week, we grooved to some classic Oldies! Crank up the volume and enjoy!
