Prospero's Island

Lesson One

WHAT?

HOW?

CONNECT

Captains Coming

ACTIVATE

A storm strikes a ship carrying Alonso, Ferdinand, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Stephano, and Trinculo, who are on their way to Italy after coming from the wedding of Alonso’s daughter, Claribel, to the prince of Tunis in Africa. The royal party and the other mariners, with the exception of the unflappable Boatswain, begin to fear for their lives. Lightning cracks, and the mariners cry that the ship has been hit. Everyone prepares to sink.

Find your own space in the room facing me. Choose one of the jobs that a sailor might do on board this ship. You should create a frozen image of the sailor at work.

DEMONSTRATE

One person is the captain

The others are sailors on the ship

Some of the sailors should be very scared and others very brave!

Start the action with a freeze bring it to life with normal weather conditions and regular jobs

Suddenly the weather turns and when the captain shouts ‘Storm Ahead!’ Freeze in position looking out to the storm. Slow motion into storm scene. Freeze to end

CONSOLIDATE

Perform Scenes and demonstrate your

ability to use Body Language, Facial Expression,

Movement and Mime, effectively

What was effective and why?

How could you tell who was playing what part?

What was the effect of slow motion?

WHAT?

We are learning about

Cross Cutting/ Flashback

HOW?

By demonstrating an effective flashback which will include all aspects of the story

CONNECT

In pairs in the starting circle, students to recap the story in 5 points from last lesson.

ACTIVATE

2)The next scene begins much more quietly. Miranda and Prospero stand on the shore of their island, looking out to sea at the recent shipwreck. Miranda asks her father to do anything he can to help the poor souls in the ship. Prospero assures her that everything is all right and then informs her that it is time she learned more about herself and her past. He reveals to her that he orchestrated the shipwreck and tells her the lengthy story of her past, a story he has often started to tell her before but never finished. The story goes that Prospero was the Duke of Milan until his brother Antonio, conspiring with Alonso, the King of Naples, usurped his position. Kidnapped and left to die on a raft at sea, Prospero and his daughter survive because Gonzalo leaves them supplies and Prospero’s books, which are the source of his magic and power. Prospero and his daughter arrived on the island where they remain now and have been for twelve years. Only now, Prospero says, has Fortune at last sent his enemies his way, and he has raised the tempest in order to make things right with them once and for all.

Cross cutting is when you put a story in a different order.

Like putting the end of a story at the beginning. You can also ‘Flashback’ into the past during a performance, to show the audience something that has already happened.

DEMONSTRATE

Create a performance which explores showing the

story in the present time, and then flashing back to when Prospero and Miranda were left to die on a raft going out to sea.

Use 3 second still images between the scenes to show that it is flashing back.

Start: Prospero and Miranda on the island looking at the ship (create your own scene to show this- at the end of the scene Prospero tells Miranda that he shall share the story of why they are on the island...

Middle: Flashback 12 years before- 3 second pause

*Antonio and Alonso plotted against him so Antonio could be the Duke-they kidnap Prospero and Miranda and put them on a raft

*Gonzalo puts magic books and supplies on the raft

Scene showing the reasons why Prospero and Miranda are on the island

CONSOLIDATE

Perform back

What is useful about using a ‘flashback’ in a performance?

WHAT?

Learning about

Theatrical Conventions

HOW?

By effectively focusing the audience to believe the theatrical convention

WHY?

To be able to explain the use of theatrical convention in performance

CONNECT

In pairs in the starting circle, recap the story in 5 points from last lesson.

ACTIVATE

Pupils respond to given narration:

Introducing ‘Theatrical Convention’ which is when the performer is representing something to the audience and they are able to understand what it is.

DEMONSTRATE

In pairs, create a sequence that aims to suggest to the audience that one person has control over the others actions.

CONSOLIDATE

Watching back, half the class at a time

So what have we been looking at today?

What’s happened to the sailors?

Why has Prospero gone to such trouble to summon the ship to the island?

WHAT?

We are learning about showing

Status within performance

HOW?

By demonstrating effective use of voice and space to show status

WHY?

To be able to explain the use of status in performance

CONNECT

In pairs in the starting circle, recap the story in 5 points from last lesson.

ACTIVATE

Miranda awakens from her sleep, and she and Prospero go to visit Caliban, Prospero’s servant and the son of the dead Sycorax. Caliban curses Prospero, and Prospero and Miranda berate him for being ungrateful for what they have given and taught him. Prospero sends Caliban to fetch firewood.

Master and Slave Improvisation- What types

of things would you expect the master to say

to the slave? How would they act?

Students to read Duologue

What has happened?

When performing:

How will they define the acting area?

What might be the location?

Will the characters sit or stand and why?

What is the effect of one person sitting and the other standing?

What vocal volume is appropriate?

Why isn’t shouting always the most effective way of showing anger?

Where is the climax in the dialogue?

What clues are there to moves, entrances and exits? Which words need emphasizing and why?

Model a pair- to encourage the use of Levels

DEMONSTRATE

Working in pairs, use the duologue and create a Master/Slave scene, explore the use of

SPACE

LEVELS

VOICE

to show who has a higher status at different points.

CONSOLIDATE

Perform back some examples

Decide on the key points to showing status in a scene

WHAT?

We are Learning about

Split Stages

HOW?

By using a split stage independently with little teacher support, effectively showing a great detail of the story

WHY?

To be able to explain the use of a split stage

CONNECT

In pairs in the starting circle, recap the story in 5 points from last lesson.

ACTIVATE

Ariel, invisible, enters playing music and leading in the awed Ferdinand. Miranda and Ferdinand are immediately smitten with each other. He is the only man Miranda has ever seen, besides Caliban and her father. Prospero is happy to see that his plan for his daughter’s future marriage is working, but decides that he must upset things temporarily in order to prevent their relationship from developing too quickly. He accuses Ferdinand of merely pretending to be the Prince of Naples and threatens him with imprisonment. When Ferdinand draws his sword, Prospero charms him and leads him off to prison, ignoring Miranda’s cries for mercy. He then sends Ariel on another mysterious mission.

Caliban, meanwhile, is hauling wood for Prospero when he sees Trinculo and thinks he is a spirit sent by Prospero to torment him. He lies down and hides under his cloak. A storm is brewing, and Trinculo, curious about but undeterred by Caliban’s strange appearance and smell, crawls under the cloak with him. Stephano, drunk and singing, comes along and stumbles upon the bizarre spectacle of Caliban and Trinculo huddled under the cloak. Caliban, hearing the singing, cries out that he will work faster so long as the “spirits” leave him alone. Stephano decides that this monster requires liquor and attempts to get Caliban to drink. Trinculo recognizes his friend Stephano and calls out to him. Soon the three are sitting up together and drinking. Caliban quickly becomes an enthusiastic drinker, and begins to sing.

Ferdinand comes in see Miranda

They fall in love

Prospero says that Ferdinand is lying about being the prince

Miranda is angry about this

Prospero take Ferdinand to prison

Explain what you are showing on each side

In 3s

Half the class to recreate the scenes between:

Miranda, Ferdinand, and Prospero

the other half:

Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo

DEMONSTRATE

Students now paired up with an opposite 3.

Students to work together, to explore splitting from each of their scenes across the stage.

CONSOLIDATE

Watch back split scenes.

WWW/EBI

Allowing the audience to decide how well the group have interpreted the split stage.

WHAT?

We are learning about

Thought Tracking

HOW?

Using excellent thought tracking, that aims to show a character's real feelings about a situation, and will help to develop the story further

WHY?

CONNECT

In pairs in the starting circle, recap the story in 5 points from last lesson.

ACTIVATE

Prospero puts Ferdinand to work hauling wood. Ferdinand finds his labor pleasant because it is for Miranda’s sake. Miranda, thinking that her father is asleep, tells Ferdinand to take a break. The two flirt with one another. Miranda proposes marriage, and Ferdinand accepts. Prospero has been on stage most of the time, unseen, and he is pleased with this development.

Re-enact the story given in groups of 3.

Explore the stage space. What would be the most effective way to show that Prospero cannot be seen when he wakes up?

Teacher to explain Thought Tracking- character speaking their thoughts out loud but no other character can hear.

DEMONSTRATE

Go back to your improvised scene

and find moments where you can add in

effective thought tracks for each character.

CONSOLIDATE

Watch back some examples.

WWW/EBI

Allowing the audience to decide how well the group have interpreted the use of thought tracking.

WHAT?

We are learning about

Narration

HOW?

By making effective use of the narration, with a clear story that is reflected in the acting.

WHY?

To be able to use narration effectively, with actions to match and to be able to work independently making narration their own

CONNECT

In pairs in the starting circle, recap the story in 5 points from last lesson.

ACTIVATE

Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban are now drunk and raucous and are made all the more so by Ariel, who comes to them invisibly and provokes them to fight with one another by impersonating their voices and taunting them. Caliban grows more and more eager in his boasts that he knows how to kill Prospero. He even tells Stephano that he can bring him to where Prospero is sleeping. He proposes that they kill Prospero, take his daughter, and set Stephano up as king of the island. Stephano thinks this a good plan, and the three prepare to set off to find Prospero. They are distracted, however, by the sound of music that Ariel plays on his flute and tabor-drum, and they decide to follow this music before executing their plot.

Alonso, Gonzalo, Sebastian, and Antonio grow weary from traveling and pause to rest. Antonio and Sebastian secretly plot to take advantage of Alonso and Gonzalo’s exhaustion, deciding to kill them in the evening. Prospero, probably on the balcony of the stage and invisible to the men, causes a banquet to be set out by strangely shaped spirits. As the men prepare to eat, Ariel appears like a harpy and causes the banquet to vanish. He then accuses the men of supplanting Prospero and says that it was for this sin that Alonso’s son, Ferdinand, has been taken. He vanishes, leaving Alonso feeling vexed and guilty.

Narration

Someone or more than one person reading the story, whilst others act out the story either behind the narrator or after the narrator has spoken.

DEMONSTRATE

Students to now use the given narration, there will be 3 options.

Option 1- simplest form of narration

Option 2- Slightly more detailed

Option 3- Use of the whole section of story, students to either read the whole thing or make it their own, following the storyline.

CONSOLIDATE

Watch back some examples.

WWW/EBI

Allowing the audience to decide how well the group have interpreted the use of narration, was it effective?

HOMEWORK:

LEARN THE CHORUS FOR NEXT WEEK!

WHAT?

We are learning about

Chorus

HOW?

By making effective use of chorus to show a wedding ritual; working independently with the chorus, learning the lines within good time and making it their own.

WHY?

To be able to use Chorus effectively, with actions that support the representation.

CONNECT

In pairs in the starting circle, recap the story in 5 points from last lesson.

ACTIVATE

Prospero now softens toward Ferdinand and welcomes him into his family as the soon-to-be-husband of Miranda. Prospero then asks Ariel to call forth some spirits to perform a masque for Ferdinand and Miranda. The spirits assume the shapes of Ceres, Juno, and Iris and perform a short masque celebrating the rites of marriage and the bounty of the earth. A dance of reapers and nymphs follows but is interrupted when Prospero suddenly remembers that he still must stop the plot against his life.

Chorus

A group of people telling the story like a narrator but with more than one person speaking at one time.

Honour, riches, marriage-blessing,

Long continuance, and increasing,

Hourly joys be still upon you!

Juno sings her blessings upon you

Earth's increase, foison plenty,

Barns and garners never empty,

Vines and clustering bunches growing,

Plants with goodly burthen bowing;

Spring come to you at the farthest

In the very end of harvest!

Scarcity and want shall shun you;

Ceres' blessing so is on you.

DEMONSTRATE

What might be a good way of showing this, other than just standing and reading it?

Students to now use the given Chorus.

All students to act as the chorus, adding in movements where necessary that might suggest 2 people getting married

CONSOLIDATE

Watch back choruses

WWW/EBI

Allowing the audience to decide how well the group have interpreted the use of chorus.

WHAT?

We are learning about

Physical Theatre

HOW?

By working independently being creative with their physical theatre ideas

WHY?

To be able to use physical theatre creatively, extending their understanding further

CONNECT

In pairs in the starting circle, recap the story in 5 points from last lesson.

ACTIVATE

He sends the spirits away and asks Ariel about Trinculo, Stephano, and Caliban. Ariel tells his master of the three men’s drunken plans. He also tells how he led the men with his music through prickly grass and briars and finally into a filthy pond near Prospero’s cell. Ariel and Prospero then set a trap by hanging beautiful clothing in Prospero’s cell. Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban enter looking for Prospero and, finding the beautiful clothing, decide to steal it. They are immediately set upon by a pack of spirits in the shape of dogs and hounds, driven on by Prospero and Ariel.

Physical Theatre

Using the body and personal sound FX to create props and scenery.

Physical theatre warm up game

DEMONSTRATE

Students put into groups of 6

2 students to act as Stephano and Trinculo

The others will act as the scenery

Students to create the following scenes

Through the forest

Through the crocodile swamp

Through the quicksand

Over the rickety bridge

CONSOLIDATE

Watch back some examples.

WWW/EBI

Allowing the audience to decide how well the group have interpreted the use of physical theatre.

WHAT?

We are learning about

Still Images

HOW?

By understanding and including all key components in their still images

WHY?

To be able to use all key components.

CONNECT

In pairs in the starting circle, recap the story in 5 points from last lesson.

ACTIVATE

Prospero uses Ariel to bring Alonso and the others before him. He then sends Ariel to bring the Boatswain and the mariners from where they sleep on the wrecked ship. Prospero confronts Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian with their treachery, but tells them that he forgives them. Alonso tells him of having lost Ferdinand in the tempest and Prospero says that he recently lost his own daughter. Clarifying his meaning, he draws aside a curtain to reveal Ferdinand and Miranda playing chess. Alonso and his companions are amazed by the miracle of Ferdinand’s survival, and Miranda is stunned by the sight of people unlike any she has seen before. Ferdinand tells his father about his marriage.

Ariel returns with the Boatswain and mariners. The Boatswain tells a story of having been awakened from a sleep that had apparently lasted since the tempest. At Prospero’s bidding, Ariel releases Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano, who then enter wearing their stolen clothing. Prospero and Alonso command them to return it and to clean up Prospero’s cell. Prospero invites Alonso and the others to stay for the night so that he can tell them the tale of his life in the past twelve years. After this, the group plans to return to Italy. Prospero, restored to his dukedom, will retire to Milan. Prospero gives Ariel one final task—to make sure the seas are calm for the return voyage—before setting him free. Finally, Prospero delivers an epilogue to the audience, asking them to forgive him for his wrongdoing and set him free by applauding.

Still Images

Snap shots, which aim to show the audience detail within a scene. In this case, different sections of the story.

Key components

1)Body language

2)Facial expression

3)Focus (where are the audience drawn to?)

4)Levels

5)Proxemics (Stage space, to show relationship between characters)

DEMONSTRATE

Working in their groups, students to create 8 still images, from the given story.

CONSOLIDATE

Teacher to take photos of the students still images, which will demonstrate how they have understood the use of still images and the 5 key components.

Standing in the starting circle, students to each tell a part of the story from the beginning to the end, each students to tell at least one part, when they have done this, sit down.

Lesson Four

Lesson Five

Lesson Six

Lesson Three

Prospero and Miranda and Ferdinand

Caliban and Trinculo and Stephano

My plan is working!

I will get my revenge!

What is Prospero thinking?

Lesson Seven

Lesson Two

ALL to be able to understand what a flashback is

MOST to be able to demonstrate some of the story through a flashback

SOME to be able to demonstrate all aspects of the story through cross cutting

WHY?

What types of people would

be on board this ship?

When do you think

this ship was built?

What types of jobs do you think people do on this ship?

Your choice...

Lesson Eight

Prospero's Island

ALL-To be able to use the skills in other performance

MOST-To be able to effectively use the skills

SOME-To be able to use the skills with confidence

By demonstrating the skills through a rehearsed improvisation with confidence and focus

WHY?

We are learning about

Body Language

Facial Expression

Movement and Mime

MISS SMITH 5th JAN 2015

Lesson Ten

Lesson Nine

LEVEL 5C

will explore using Physical Theatre to show a pirate travelling through the island

LEVEL 5B

will begin to use expression and some control

LEVEL 5A

will be able lead the work using imagination and creativity and encourage others with their performance skills

AN INTRODUCTION TO

PHYSICAL THEATRE

PHYSICAL THEATRE?

WHAT IS IT?

When performers use emphasised movement- combining acting and dance to tell the story of the performance

KEY WORDS:

EXPRESSION

CONTROL

STORYTELLING

WHAT?

HOW?

20 seconds to make...

Students to explore the 5 key components of a still image, through creating still images of the following

Loneliness

Happiness

ACTIVATE

CONNECT

USE YOUR BODIES TO BECOME THE OBJECTS

LEVELS

STORYTELLING

Using the the skills gained in the CONNECT- Create ...

EXPRESSION

PROXEMICS

CONTROL

DRAMA

DEMONSTRATE

CONSOLIDATE

LEVEL 4: What is Physical Theatre?

LEVEL 5: Explain HOW you used Physical theatre today

LEVEL 6: How does Physical Theatre enhance the performance?

WATCH BACK THE GROUPS AND IDENTIFY:

What are they travelling through or on?

Who is using effective Body Language? HOW?

What could they have done to improve it?

On your post-it answer ONE of these questions

ACTIVATE

WHAT?

Evaluating Still Images

HOW?

ALL will evaluate the effectiveness of their still images

MOST will make good evaluations of their still images

SOME will write in excellent detail about their still images

ALL to be able to evaluate their own work and the work of others

MOST to be able to evaluate their work effectively giving some description

SOME to be able to evaluate in excellent detail.

WHY?

CONNECT

DEMONSTRATE

CONSOLIDATE

Share your answers

Feedback on the module

WOW-HOW-NOW