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The Actor's Task
When First We Practice to Deceive
Teacher: Susan Hazard, Walt Whitman High School
Arts Discipline: Theatre Arts / English
Grade Level: High School
Team: C
Rationale: Why is this unit worth teaching?
The human condition is riddled with complexities, and it is vital for
students in the arts to explore this concept if they are to delve into
the richness of life – both its light and dark aspects -- and
its various interpretations by artists of numerous disciplines. The
Renaissance is, in essence, the birth of the artistic expression of
these deep complexities. Music, visual arts, dance, theatre, and literature
all begin to express a more reflective quality, and dare to consider
personal experience and desire as a source of creative expression. Shakespeare,
perhaps the most daring of all, introduced characters with an intricate
web of qualities: violence, passion, endearment, envy, contemplation,
sorrow, wit -- and quite possibly, these qualities may occur simultaneously,
unbeknownst to the other characters on the stage. It is important for
students to investigate the very real motivations of Shakespeare’s
characters and unravel the emotions expressed by them from a standpoint
of flexibility, for as human beings, rarely do we cement ourselves in
one emotional spot without dipping our toes into another. In their own
lives, students have already begun to experience the quandaries and
consequences that are a result of living in a world that is not simply
black or white, and as young actors and young people, there is much
gray area to be explored.
The Unit - Overview (6-8 lessons)
Big Idea: The Actor’s Task: When First We Practice to Deceive
Enduring Understandings:
- The human condition is complex, and several motivations can drive
an individual
simultaneously.
- The craft of acting is a vehicle for investigating the dichotomies
that exist within the
human condition.
- Many factors influence one’s reasons for manipulating his/her
surroundings.
- It’s not what you say, but how you say it; the exploration of
different interpretations is essential to zeroing in on deeper meaning.
Discipline: Theatre Arts
Learner Outcomes and Expectations:
- Students will demonstrate a literal understanding of a dramatic text.
- Students will display a willingness to interpret dramatic passages
from various vantage points, and to justify the the emotional (pathos),
logical (logos), and righteous (ethos) qualities in their dramatic choices.
- Students will create inner monologues which fully explore subtext
in a passage.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to explore the creative process
through theatrical activities and to apply theatrical knowledge, principles,
and practices to theatre presentations.
Essential Questions:
- How do the dramatic arts reflect the complexities of the human condition?
- How does one individual deal with experiencing varying, and sometimes
conflicting, approaches to a situation, and how can that conflict be
explored by an actor theatrically?
- What roles do subtext and inner monologue play in the creation of
a character who intends to decieve?
- How can improvisation bring about new interpretations and enlighten
hidden motivations in a complex character?
- How are deceptive actions justified within the mind of a complex character?
Assessment: What should students understand and
be able to do as a result of this unit?
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
- Summarize the ideas in various dramatic passages, with awareness
of how the part fits into the whole of the text.
- Identify and explain variying character motivations (emotional/pathos,
logical/logos, and rightous/ethos) within a dramatic passage through
the identification of subtext.
- Interpret dramatically a character’s words based on these
identified varying motivations, with particular awareness of deception
and manipulation.
- Work collaboratively and supportively toward a deeper understanding
of the character and the text.
Lesson Example -- Overview
Big Idea: The Actor’s Task: When First We Practice to Deceive
Essential Question:
How does one individual deal with experiencing varying, and sometimes
conflicting, approaches to a situation, and how can that conflict
be explored by an actor theatrically?
Lesson Objectives:
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
a. Identify varying approaches to 3.1.57-161 of Shakespeare’s
Hamlet utilizing the guidelines of ethos, pathos, and logos.
b. Present differences in these approaches through performance opportunities.
c. Explain how exploration of different interpretations is essential
to zeroing in on deeper meaning.
Materials:
- 3 chairs
- photocopies of 3.1.57-161 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet
- classroom ambiance music from the Renaissance: “The Art of
the Netherlands” from EMI Classics, complied by David Munrow
- paper, pencils
- chalkboard or overhead
Lesson Activities & Involvement:
- As a result of previous assignements in the year and in this unit,
students will come to class with a working knowledge of Hamlet and
this famous “To be or not to be” speech. Students will
have analyzed the text for general meaning, and discussed the complex
circumstances of the scene. Student will come to class on this day
armed with this previous knowledge.
- On the board, the teacher will write 3 words: logos, pathos, and
ethos. Citing the Greek derivations for these concepts, the teacher
will encourage students to speculate on their meanings referring to
words they may be familiar with.
Logos - Cosmic Reason, affirmed in ancient Greek philosophy as the
source of world order and intelligibility. [logic, logistics]
Pathos - Suffering; a quality that arouses feelings of sympathy, pity;
emotional elements. [pathological, pathogen]
Ethos - Righteousness; the moral element that determines a man’s
action, character, disposition. [ethics,ethnocentricity]
- The teacher will ask students to take out a piece of paper and,
based on the orignal text of lines 57-89, silently write a ‘version’
of the speech from a perspective of the logos. Students should interpret
the speech from a position of logic, order, and reason. (Play Renaissance
music “The Art of the Netherlands” softly during this
writing activity.)
- Students then switch papers with another student. After reading
another’s interpretation of the speech from a position of logos,
ask students to then, on the same piece of paper, write a version
from the emotional position of pathos, emphasizing heartache, anger,
helplessness.
- Students switch again with yet another student. After reading another’s
interpretations of the speech from both positions of logos and pathos,
ask students to then, on the same piece of paper, write a version
from the moral position of ethos, emphasizing virtue and righteousness.
- Students should then switch papers yet again with yet another student,
resulting in each student viewing several interpretations of each
standpoint.
- Each chair in the front of the room is labeled with one of the
3 concepts discussed. A student volunteer will sit in a chair of his/her
choice, and deliver the entire speech with a focus on that perticular
concept. Discuss:
- What points were emphasized when focussing on this concept?
- What was the strongest moment?
- What was the moment that was most real for the actor? For the audience?
- Repeat for the remaining 2 concepts/chairs. Discuss, as above,
with facilitation from the teacher, as necessary.
- With one student in each of the 3 chairs, begin the speech again,
with students reading one at a time. As if a concuctor of an orchestra,
of sorts, the teacher will indicate which student should speak at
what time, creating a complex interpretation expressing all 3 concepts.
With various combinations of students, and with students given the
opportunity to ‘orchestrate’ fellow actors, this exercise
should be repeated several times for maximum result.
- What concepts seem to ‘work’ the best for which sections
of the speech?
- What effect (and affect) does this have on the audience?
- How might an actor manipulate or decieve with these concepts?
- Finally, one student is asked to sit in a chair of his choosing,
and of his own volition, move from chair to chair at moments that
feel comfortable for him. Repeat with various students.
- How do these different interpretations highlight deeper meaning
and new ideas?
- Which choices ‘worked’ best for the creation of a ‘whole’?
Assessment: What should students understand and
be able to do as a result of this lesson?
- Students’ written versions of the famous speech will explore
the breadth to which a
character can focus on a given approach, and the effect on meaning.
- During class discussion, the teacher will informally assess students’
understanding of
the effects of such choices on character development and interpretation.
- Student class participation will accurately reflect an understanding
of, and a courage to explore, the transitions between different approaches
to the text.
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