Lesson Outline: 1/26

First class: Ms. Rostons / Second class: Ms. Blacks

**Check-in: Absences, classroom play copies
1. INTRO: Actor Warm-Up
2. CASTING: Cast List on the projector
a. Write the name of your character at the top of your script.
b. Some characters are shared by two people. Pay attention to which scene
you will be in.
c. You will memorize your characters lines so that you can eventually say
them without a script.
3. THE STAGE: Groundplan on the projectorpass out worksheets!
a. Write on the groundplan: upstage, downstage, stage left, stage right.
b. UPSTAGE means away from the audience, DOWNSTAGE means toward the
audience.
i. A long time ago, all stages were like ramps. Upstage was higher than
downstage, like climbing a hill.
c. STAGE LEFT & RIGHT are based on the actors left and rightbecause the
audience is facing a different direction, they see left and right differently.
d. THREE Xs: The three Xs on the screen will be on the actual stage. We have
Xs in the classroom to help you know where to stand onstage.
e. When a director tells the actors where to stand and move, that is called
BLOCKING. Directions are like building blocks that construct a story.
4. THE DIRECTOR:
a. The playwright creates the story
b. The director decides HOW the story will be told, is responsible for
BLOCKING (telling the actors were to stand and move), and gives
instruction to the actors about how to perform.
c. The actors perform the directors vision.
d. I am your director. I will need you to follow directions on where to move,
and I will ask you to perform with volume, diction and character.
5. SCENE ONE: Begin blocking