Minds On
Let’s warm up!
Let’s begin with a deep breathing activity.
Don’t forget to do your safety check!
Warm Up
Warm up
This is a beautiful mindful finger play that is great for practising breathing.
Put one hand out in front of you and open your fingers wide. Then, with one finger or your other hand, trace each finger on the outstretched hand slowly.
As you slide up a finger, breathe in. As you slide down, breathe out.
After tracing each finger, go backward through each finger again.
This task can also be accomplished by tracing an object of your choice.
If you wish, you can access this recording entitled “Mindful Finger Breathing” to complete your breathing activity.
Mindful Finger Breathing
Drama game
Choose one of the locations presented in the tabs. For this scene, describe this location using three of the senses, if possible. What would this location:
- Look like?
- Sound like?
- Smell like?
- Feel like?
- Taste like?
Press the following tabs to access the locations.
What does this location look like? Sound like? Smell like? Feel like? Taste like? Describe it using as many of the senses as possible.
What does this location look like? Sound like? Smell like? Feel like? Taste like? Describe it using as many of the senses as possible.
What does this location look like? Sound like? Smell like? Feel like? Taste like? Describe it using as many of the senses as possible.
Let’s get started
Explore the set designs and costume examples below. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
This is a performance of Cyrano de Bergerac, which takes place in 1640.
This is a youth performance. The stage is set for an outdoor scene and the actors are all in costume, two of them appear to be lumberjacks.
This image has a stage created of wood with smoke and what appears to be fire in the background.
This is a youth production that takes place in space. The actors are all in costume and the set design gives a clear image of space.
Image 1: Photo of a performance of Cyrano de Bergerac. A group of actors dressed in cloaks and hats with feathers, sit on benches on a stage, watching another actor on a raised stage play a lute.
Image 2: Photo of 6 children on a small stage. There is a small fence, some mushrooms, two trees and a floor that appears as wood. Two of the characters, wearing plaid tops and jeans or overalls, are sawing a log together while the other characters are watching. The other children are wearing dresses and what appears to be a crown and a scarf.
Image 3: Photo of a stage created of wood slats and wood platforms behind the actor. There is smoke that is coloured red in the background which appears to be fire. The actor is wearing a long coat that touches the floor with a collar that appears to be branches. They are standing still with their eyes closed.
Image 4: Photo of three young actors on a space-themed stage, 1 in an astronaut suit, 1 in a lab coat, 1 wearing an alien mask listen to their stage director.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
- Why are sets important in a play, film, or drama production?
- How might changing the wardrobe of the actors impact a play, film or drama production?
Record your ideas digitally, orally, in print or in a method of your choice.
Action
Get ready, get set…
Costume designers, lighting designers, projection designers and scenic designers all work together with the director of a drama production to collaborate, exchange ideas and clarify their overall vision. Every member of a production crew is important, as without everyone working together and in their specific roles parts, the show cannot go on.
Explore this theatre organizational chart. Who is linked to whom directly? Who is linked indirectly? Note that the lines that connect one position to the next show the direct links.
Click the image to enlarge in a new window.
An organizational flowchart a production crew. At the top of the chart, you have a producer with an arrow pointing down to production manager and director. Then you have the director with an arrow pointing down to actors. The director also has another arrow point down to the very end listing other roles. The roles include; costume designer, lighting designer, projection designer, scenic designer, and sound designer. Then you have the music director, choreographers, and stage manager. The music director has an arrow pointing down listing other roles in the following order: conductor and musician. The role of the choreographer has an arrow point down to actors.
Explore this video entitled “Working in the Theatre: Scenic Design” to learn more about scenic design.
Refer to the organizational chart for theatre. Is the scenic designer directly linked to the director?
For this performance, what would have been important for the scenic designer and the director to discuss about the appearance and the design of the boulder?
Press ‘Answer’ to access the response to this question.
The appearance needed to appear realistic but be a material that could be moved by the character. The size, material, and weight would all have to work together.
Check out this video entitled “Working in the Theatre: Scenic Design” to learn more about the job of a scenic designer.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
- According to this scenic designer, what is the purpose of the set of a production?
- What is the job of this scenic designer?
- Why would a scenic designer need to consider the audience?
Press ‘Answers’ to access the answers to these questions.
The purpose of the set is to create the frame for the story. It is the camera (with the help from the lighting) for the audience to witness the story. This scenic designer needs to set the story’s time and place and get from point A to point B in a way that helps tell the story well. The scenic designer needs to understand how the audience can engage with the story.
Costume design
Explore this video entitled “Working in the Theatre: Wardrobe” to learn more about costume design.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
Return to the organization chart for the theatre.
- Who does the costume designer work directly with? Is there a direct link to the director?
- The assistant costume designer mentioned having to do research for their production of My Fair Lady. What would they have to research for the costumes?
- How is the role of assistant costume designer and wardrobe supervisor linked?
- Why would it be a good idea for the costume designer to work closely with the actors in the production?
Press ‘Answers’ to access the responses to the questions after you reflect on them.
- The costume designer is directly linked to the director. They are also directly linked to the assistant costume designer, the lighting designer, projection designer, scenic designer, and sound designer.
- The costume team would need to research designs of the costumes, and the clothing of that time in history to make sure the costumes reflect that time in history for the characters (including the style and the fabric).
- The costumes have been designed and imagined and the wardrobe supervisor ensures that the vision is carried out and they work with the actors to be sure that they are comfortable with how they appear in the costumes.
- The actors become these characters. What they are wearing on stage as these characters is a large part of becoming the character. They need to be comfortable and believe in how the character is imagined.
Complete the Organizational Chart in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts. Consider adding your work to your drama portfolio.
Go!
“The Tortoise and the Hare”
Explore the stage version of the “The Tortoise and the Hare” adapted from Aesop Fables.
Press ‘Aesop’ to access more information about his fables.
In the mid-6th century BCE, Aesop, who was a former enslaved person in Greece, wrote tales called fables. These 725 fables were often shared using the storytelling tradition of passing the tales orally from person to person but were also available for children to learn to read. These fables, as written, were not long stories. They would begin with a setting and a situation and then move quickly into the “punchline” or the moral (lesson) of the tale.
Imagine you are either a scenic designer or a costume designer in the production of “The Tortoise and the Hare.”
- What kind of notes would you want to add to their script to guide your process?
- What kinds of questions would you want to ask the director in order to clarify their vision?
- What kind of materials would you want as a scenic designer or a wardrobe designer in order to create your design?
You may also create a description of your plan or record your ideas using another method of your choice.
|
ACT ONE Scene 1 AT RISE: Light brightens on a garden on a warm summer day. TORTOISE and HARE are talking. HARE (mockingly) You are so slow! Do you ever get anywhere? I am way faster than you are. TORTOISE Yes, I get places. And I get there sooner than you think. I’ll run you a race and prove it. Hare laughs heartily. HARE You? You want to run a race with me? Fine. FOX enters. HARE Fox! Will you be the judge of our race? I am racing this tortoise. FOX I will be the judge. Here is the starting point. Fox lays down some rocks as a starting point. FOX And the end point is the hollow tree by the pond. Get ready, get set, go! Hare and Tortoise begin to race. Hare is soon far out of sight. HARE That tortoise. I want to prove to them how ridiculous it is to try to race me. I’m going to take a quick nap until Tortoise wakes up. Hare lays down and soon falls fast asleep. The Tortoise keeps racing slowly but steadily finally reaching the place where the Hare was sleeping. TORTOISE That hare. Having a nap when we are supposed to be racing. I can see the hollow tree up ahead. I think I can make it. HARE (waking up with a start) What? What’s going on? Hare noticed up ahead that Tortoise was almost at the tree. HARE Oh no! I can still beat that tortoise though. Hare runs fast but doesn’t catch up to tortoise. FOX Tortoise wins! TORTOISE See? I told you I could race you. HARE (sheepishly) I guess you were right. FOX You have learned, hare, that the swift does not always win the race. |
|
Your list of materials: |
|
Your costumes: |
|
Your drawings: |
Complete The Tortoise and the Hare Script in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts. Consider adding your work to your drama portfolio.
Press the ‘Activity’ button to access The Tortoise and the Hare Script.
Consolidation
Putting it all together
Presentation
Remaining in role of the scenic designer or the costume designer, use your notes for “The Tortoise and the Hare” to create a presentation for the director of the production, sharing your plan for either the set or costumes.
Your presentation can be in the form of a video, audio, writing, or in a method of your choosing.
Use this checklist to ensure you include the following in your presentation:
Presentation
Portfolio
Review your learning
Consider adding your answers to the reflection questions to your portfolio.
- Why are scenic designers and costume designers important members of a drama production?
- What was most interesting for you about becoming a costume designer or scenic designer? Why?
Reflection
As you read the following descriptions, select the one that best describes your current understanding of the learning in this activity. Press the corresponding button once you have made your choice.
I feel…
Now, expand on your ideas by recording your thoughts using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.
When you review your notes on this learning activity later, reflect on whether you would select a different description based on your further review of the material in this learning activity.