Acting Resource & Workbook

By Tory S. Thorkelson

“From the Page to the Stage”
    I am a teacher and now a Professor. I am a writer and regular contributor to EFL Magazine but my first love has always been acting. It started in middle school when I decided being shy was likely to be a problem in later life and acting offered a possible solution. To be fair, though, it probably had something to do with the fact that there were a lot of pretty girls in the acting club and only one other boy but I digress.
    Acting is a journey of exploration. It allows you to discover worlds and characters you would never otherwise encounter but – even more importantly in my opinion – it helps you discover things about your own character and personality you could not discover in any other way except perhaps as a creative writer but again I digress.
    Acting is built on the foundation of emotional triggers or episodes from real life which serve as the basis for meaningful performances onstage. Further, good actors are expert observers of real people in real places that can serve as the inspiration for imaginary people in imaginary places onstage or on film.
    Acting may begin with a script and lines or stage directions on a page, but the process of taking the printed words and making them resonate within a performance that grabs hold of an audience and transports them into an imaginary world is truly magical. This workbook is designed to show you how to start that journey for yourself with theater games, activities and worksheets as well as a bit of essential theory. It is based on over 30 years as an amateur and professional (meaning paid in this case) actor, founding member of the Seoul Players and English advisor to our departmental drama Club for 12+ years. If your journey is even half as magical and unexpected as mine has been, it will be a good one I am sure.
Please note that some of the material below has been adapted or modified for use in my classes. I have attempted to cite these where the original source was still available.
Dr. Tory S. Thorkelson, M.Ed., Ph.D.
Actor, Historical Animator and Director/Advisor.

Table of Contents:
I: Introduction:
Acting Out: How to Dramatically
Improve your classroom.
II: Warm Up QuestionsActing Questions: Why am I here?
III: Theory Section:*Methods.
*Models
* A Practical Handbook for the Actor Questions
IV: Games Section:*Warm Ups
*Imagination
*Character Building
*Body Language
V: Activities Section:* THEATRE TIMELINE (Pairs)
*Worksheets
* Wh. Questions: Character Sketch
*Monologue/Scene Checklists
*Musical Places
*Crash Course Theater Questions
VI: Answers Section*Theatre Time Line Answers.
VI: Resources/Information Section*Life is a Poem
*Advice for the Actor
*Theater Sites/Resources.
V: Who am I?Author’s Biography
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tory S. Thorkelson
• Release date: Feb 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9788835379133

Book preview

Hamlet's Speech to the Players

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you,

trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it, as many of your players do,

I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently;

for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness.

O, it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings,

Who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumbshows and noise: I would have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant;

It out-herods Herod: pray you, avoid it.

(Hamlet, Act III, Scene II)

Table of Contents:

Table of Contents:

From the Page to the Stage

I am a teacher and now a Professor. I am a writer and regular contributor to EFL Magazine but my first love has always been acting. It started in middle school when I decided being shy was likely to be a problem in later life and acting offered a possible solution. To be fair, though, it probably had something to do with the fact that there were a lot of pretty girls in the acting club and only one other boy but I digress.

Acting is a journey of exploration. It allows you to discover worlds and characters you would never otherwise encounter but – even more importantly in my opinion – it helps you discover things about your own character and personality you could not discover in any other way except perhaps as a creative writer but again I digress.

Acting is built on the foundation of emotional triggers or episodes from real life which serve as the basis for meaningful performances onstage. Further, good actors are expert observers of real people in real places that can serve as the inspiration for imaginary people in imaginary places onstage or on film.

Acting may begin with a script and lines or stage directions on a page, but the process of taking the printed words and making them resonate within a performance that grabs hold of an audience and transports them into an imaginary world is truly magical. This workbook is designed to show you how to start that journey for yourself with theater games, activities and worksheets as well as a bit of essential theory. It is based on over 30 years as an amateur and professional (meaning paid in this case) actor, founding member of the Seoul Players and English advisor to our departmental drama Club for 12+ years. If your journey is even half as magical and unexpected as mine has been, it will be a good one I am sure.

Please note that some of the material below has been adapted or modified for use in my classes. I have attempted to cite these where the original source was still available.

Dr. Tory S. Thorkelson, M.Ed., Ph.D.

Actor, Historical Animator and Director/Advisor.

Acting Out: How to dramatically improve your classroom:

Acting Out: How to dramatically improve your classroom:

He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.

G. B. Shaw (1856-1950)

I hear, I forget;

I see, I remember;

I do, I understand.

Chinese Proverb.

As Shakespeare has said All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts… (1) Teaching imposes a multiplicity of roles on the teacher including being a needs analyst, curriculum developer, materials developer, counselor, mentor, team member, researcher, and professional to name but a few (2). While none of us are exactly experts in all these roles, we do our best and continue to develop ourselves as more effective teachers and members of our society. It is perhaps this meeting of professional skills and social and/or interpersonal skills that is the hardest to give our students in my experience.

As teachers, it is our job to choose the best material and approaches or methods to satisfy the needs of our students both personally and academically. I can honestly say that I have never seen a perfect textbook (and that includes the ones that I have helped write!) that suits the individual needs of each student in a given class. Harmer (1995), for example, writes of the use of textbooks:

Good textbooks often contain lively and interesting material:

they provide a sensible progression of language items;

clearly showing what has to be learnt and…..summarizing

what has been studied… But …they tend to concentrate on

the introduction of new language and controlled work: … (Which)

….will…not….provide enough roughly-tuned input or

output practice. (p. 257) (3)

The same is true of any of the many approaches and methods that are talked about in the literature (4). But, having said that, what about an approach that allows students to apply themselves and ….provides the context for meaningful exchange in which participants see a reason to communicate, and focuses on how to do things with the language rather than merely on how to describe things." (5) While the teacher’s methods and approaches may vary, the principles applied remain the same and include many (if not all) of those proposed by Bailey (1996) which I shall use to attempt to justify my belief in Drama’s effectiveness in the classroom (6).

1) Engage all learners in the lesson.

The beauty of drama is that everyone can get involved. From the actors to the director and (in more elaborate scenes) the props people and stage manager there is literally a role for everyone in a given scene or role play. Give the students the guidance and support and they will exceed your expectations far more often than they will disappoint.

2) Make learners, and not the teacher, the focus of the lesson.

Starting with the most basic dialogue and progressing to the most elaborate

(role) play, there is no better way to make the focus of the drama the students

themselves. Especially when the ultimate goal is a performance in front of their

classmates or other students, the learners are the focus of the lesson – whether they

like it or not! The