Notes from Tony - Drama 116 Class Notes(not complete DRAM...

Drama 116 Class Notes (not complete)
DRAM 116- Feb. 19, 2007
What is the critical analysis paper?
-a review that includes 3 specific parts: Description, Opinion, and Analysis
Description:
-description gives all the facts about the production and is the bare minimum necessary
for a review. Think of these as the kinds of questions that you would answer if a friend
asked you what show you saw last night. When? Where? What? Who? *credit everyone
-production elements: playwriting, set, direction, sound, acting, props, lighting, etc.
- cite anything you take from a book
Basic Guidelines:
- 3 to 4 pages
- typed and double-spaced
- printed on one side only
- stapled
- title page with: title, name, date, section number, PID, signature w/ honor code
- Thesis statement: should be in first paragraph, should direct every subsequent paragraph
in the review, and incorporating analysis into the thesis is key to a great paper
* no first person
Grading:
A- original analysis, thorough description, thesis expressed in strong opinions
throughout, no mechanical errors
B- more descriptive than analytical, is well structured and has few mechanical errors,
opinion is expressed but not explored throughout
etc,etc
2-21-07
Drama 116 Class Notes
Emotional/Sensory Recall
A scene is rarely about what is being said… from the actor’s point of view.
*actors practice this with the neutral scene where dialogue is essentially meaningless in
and of itself so the actors have to create the circumstances and meaning themselves
The Body- actors do things like yoga, pilates, weight training depending on goals

The Voice- actors train voice to avoid revealing their own regional dialects or to fit a
character
Rehearsals- can be as long as seven hours per day, union requires that actors get one day
off per week.
Performance
- Playmakers Repertory Company
- LORT- League of Regional Theatres
- Equity Actors Association- Actor’s Union
Auditioning- actors should usually have at least 2 monologues prepared in case a director
asks them to give one