INTRO TO
STAGE
ACTING
Types of
Stages and
Important
Terms
• Stage – the area where the players perform; usually a
raised platform
• Proscenium Stage – a 4-sided stage built like a box with
one side cut away. It literally translates to “picture
frame” because the cut away side enables the audience
to view the action through what appears to be a picture
frame.
Types of
Stages
and
Important
Terms
• Grand Drape – The draperies covering the proscenium
opening, separating the audience from the stage.
• Wings – Offstage space to the sides of the acting area.
• Apron – The part of the stage extending past the
proscenium arch extending towards the audience.
Proscenium
Stage
• The most common stage in educational theatre.
• The grand drape can be opened to reveal the picture, or the scene,
to the audience.
• Entrances onto the stage are made by the actors from offstage
spaces to the right and left of the acting area called the wings.
• Scenes are sometimes played on the apron in front of the grand
drape, while the grand drape is closed. This is often while the set is
being changed behind the curtain.
• A proscenium arch creates a "window" around the scenery and
performers.
• The advantages are that it gives everyone in the audience a good
view because the performers need only focus on one direction
rather than continually moving around the stage to give a good
view from all sides.
•
A proscenium theatre layout also simplifies the hiding and
obscuring of objects from the audience's view. Anything that is not
meant to be seen is simply placed outside the "window" created by
the proscenium arch.
• The side of the stage that faces the audience is referred to as the
"fourth wall". The phrase "breaking the fourth wall" refers to when a
performer addresses the audience directly as part of the
production.
Types of
Stages
and
Important
Terms
• Arena Stage – A stage constructed so that the
audience can sit on all sides, also known as
“theatre-in-the-round” or “central staging”
The Arena
Stage
• The stage is always in the center with the audience arranged
on all sides.
• Commonly used shapes can be rectangular, circular,
diamond, or triangular.
• It has no traditional backstage, so actors enter and exit
through the audience, from different directions, or from
below the stage.
• The stage is usually on an even level with or lowered below
the audience in a "pit" or "arena" formation.
• This is good for anything that requires audience
participation. It is favored by classical theatre.
• Theatre-in-the-round was common in ancient theatre,
particularly that of Greece and Rome .
• The arena stage removes the fourth wall and brings the actor
into the same space as the audience. This is often a problem
for actors who are taught that they must never turn their
backs to the audience; something that is unavoidable in this
format. However, it allows for strong and direct engagement
with the audience.
Types of
Stages
and
Important
Terms
• Thrust Stage – A stage that extends into the
seating area. The audience sits on three sides
of the stage.
Thrust
Stage
• Also known as a platform stage or open stage
• Extends into the audience on three sides and is connected
to the backstage area by its upstage end.
• A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between
performers and the audience than a proscenium, while
retaining the utility of a backstage area.
• Entrances onto a thrust are made from backstage,
although some theatres provide for performers to enter
through the audience.
• Because the audience can view the performance from a
variety of perspectives, it is usual for the blocking, props
and scenery to receive thorough consideration to ensure
that no perspective is blocked from view. A high backed
chair, for instance, when placed stage right, could create a
blind spot in the stage left action.
• Many of the works of Shakespeare were first performed
on the thrust stage of the Globe Theatre.
Types of
Stages and
Important
Terms
• Black Box Theatre – A black box theater (or
experimental theater) consists of a simple, somewhat
bare performance space, usually a large square room
with black walls and a flat floor.
Black Box
Theatre
• Such spaces are easily built and maintained, and are usually used
for plays or other performances with very basic technical needs,
such as limited set construction.
• Common floor plans include thrust stage, modified thrust stage,
and arena.
• A Black box theater can be adapted from other spaces, such as
hotel conference rooms.
• The interiors of most black box theatres are, true to their name,
painted black.
• The absence of color not only gives the audience a sense of
"anyplace" (and thus allows flexibility from play to play or from
scene to scene), it also allows individual lighting cues to be much
stronger.
• Colleges and many theatre schools often use the black box
theater because the space is versatile and easy to change.
• Many theater training programs will have both a large
proscenium theater, as well as a black box theater. Not only does
this allow two productions to be done at the same time, but they
can also have a large extravagant production in the main stage
while having a small experimental show in the black box.
Types of
Stages and
Important
Terms
• Found Space Theatre – Theatre made by converting a
space that was not originally intended to be a stage
into a stage.
Found
Space
Theatre
• A stage can be improvised where ever a suitable space
can be found.
• Examples may include staging a performance in a non
traditional space such as a basement of a building, a
side of a hill or, in the case of a busking troupe, the
street.
• Frequently used in very modern productions.
Stage
Terminology
• The theatre has a language of its own. Knowledge of its
basic terms is as important to actors as knowledge of
the alphabet is to a child learning to read.
• House – The section of the theatre where the audience
sits. Also called “out front”
• Blocking – The movements of an actor during a
production.
• Onstage - Anything within the stage and is visible to
the audience
• Offstage - Anything that is not visible to the audience
• Backstage – The rooms behind the stage, not visible to
the audience where the actors get ready for the
performance and spend time when not on stage.
• Acting Areas – 9-15 divisions of the stage floor, used by
directors when moving actors and set pieces.
Acting Areas
ALWAYS from the actor’s
perspective
From the audience perspective is
known as audience left and
audience right.
Upstage and Downstage terms
originated because stages used
to be raked.
The directors challenge is to use
these stage directions to block
the show creating depth and to
position the action so that
everywhere in the audience has
a good view of it.
Acting
Technique
Vocabulary
• Stage Picture – An appealing and meaningful
arrangement of performers at any given point on the
stage. The picture that the audience sees.
• Planes – Imaginary divisions giving depth to the
proscenium stage.
• Body Positions – The five different angles that an actor’s
positions onstage can be described in relation to the
audience.
• Open Up – To position or turn the body more towards the
audience
• Turn In – Turning the body more towards center stage
• Turn Out – Turning the body more towards the side of the
stage.
• Cheat Out – All actors in a conversation turning more
towards the audience than they would in a normal
conversation.
Acting
Technique
Vocabulary
• Upstage –The acting technique of moving back on the
stage, away from the audience, so that another actor
must turn her back toward them. When you upstage
someone, the audience's focus shifts from that person
to you.
• Share – The actors onstage assume positions of equal
strength by opening up to the audience equally, thus
sharing the scene equally.
• Give – (give scene) When an actor moves to a different
part of the stage to allow another actor more emphasis
or attention.
• Take – In the above definition, the actor that is getting
more emphasis when another actor gives, “takes” the
scene.
Getting to
Know Your
Character
• Character Analysis – As soon as you are cast in a performance
or scene, the first thing you need to do is analyze your
character. This is SUPER important. It will help you make the
right decisions when scoring your lines and using your
instincts.
– Important things to include in a character analysis- Character traits?
What is your character’s relationship to every other character in the
show? How does your character change throughout the production?
What are your character’s likes and dislikes? What happened to your
character before the scene/show starts? Why is your character doing
what s/he is doing? What does s/he want? How is s/he going to get
that? What are some very important things to him or her?
• Sometimes these questions are answered in the script and
sometimes not. If the questions are not answered for you, you
have to look at the information given and make up answers
that follow along with the script.
• Sometimes the script will cause more questions that need to
be answered. Be sure to read it several times before and while
you analyze your character.
• Example – Let’s think of two different ways to analyze
Goldilocks to show you the importance of this.
Scoring
Your Scene
• Scoring your scene means that you should be writing
everything that your character is thinking and feeling..
• There should be writing all over your paper like in the
example.
• Throughout your script, you should be writing each
time your character changes emotions.
• Write an F: and then what your character is feeling.
• Then connect that to a time when you felt that way.
Write a C: and then a brief one or two word description
of that event to remind yourself of that emotion.
• At each point where your character is trying to do
something, you need to know what your character is
doing and how they are doing it. These are called your
tactics.
• This helps you visualize your emotion changes when
studying your lines.
Blocking
Terms
• Blocking – Planning the movement for a scene or play.
• Cross – Moving from one point on stage to the next.
• Composition – The way actors are grouped onstage.
• Dress Stage – When directors and actors look at the
composition and adjust their position to balance or
improve the stage picture.
• In rehearsal, ALWAYS write down blocking in pencil. It
is the actor’s responsibility to remember blocking, but
it can change, so make sure it is easily erasable.
Things to
Consider
When
Rehearsing
and
Performing
• Visual cues – Every day we receive over 90% of our
communication without the use of words, through
nonverbal messages/visual cues – facial expressions,
gestures and body language are all important to
convey the characters thoughts, feelings, and
emotions.
• Motivation – The purpose or reason behind a move or
acting choice. Must be natural and true to the
character.
• Levels – Different levels allow for a more interesting
stage picture. Some examples of different levels are:
– Standing and Kneeling
– Sitting on Floor and Standing on Box
– Sitting and Standing
– Sitting on a Ladder and Standing on the Floor.
– Sitting on a Chair and Sitting on the Floor
• ACTIVITY!! – Sit, Stand, Lean
Important
Items for
Your Final
Performance
• Setting – The place and time that the show takes
place.
• Set – The background of the performance that shows
where and when each scene takes place.
• Costume – Any article of clothing that the actor wears.
It needs to go along with the setting, correctly
represent the character, allow the actor to do the
movements that s/he needs to, and fit the director’s
vision.
• Props – Any object that is required during the scene
(ex, Phone, Wallet, Cane, Papers, etc)
• Projection – Speaking loud enough so that the
audience can hear you.
• STAY IN CHARACTER!!!!!!
My
Expectations
of Your First
Performance
• STAY IN CHARACTER
• Have some sort of blocking done.
• Have any props that are NECESSARY to your script.
• Have any set pieces that are NECESSARY to your
script.
• Know your script enough that you don’t have to stare
at it the entire time.
• Interact with other actors.
• Have a good understanding of your character. What
s/he is trying to do, what is stopping him or her from
getting it, and how s/he is going to get what s/he
wants.
• Have your scene scored and work on showing
emotions.
My
Expectations
for Your
Second
Performance
• STAY IN CHARACTER
• Be completely memorized
• Have blocking finalized.
• Have any props that you are using.
• Have any set pieces that you are using.
• Have any costumes that you wish to use. (Not a requirement, but if
one person in the scene is costumed, then all need to be costumed)
• Fully interact with other actors in a realistic way that makes sense
to your character.
• Make sure you are acting and reacting to all the is going on, not just
your own lines.
• Fully understand your character. What s/he is trying to do, what is
stopping him or her from getting it, and how s/he is going to get
what s/he wants.
• Have your scene scored and show emotions.
• Take any notes from your first performance and improve upon your
previous performance. Make this one better than the last!