DEPARTMENT OF SPEECH COMMUNICATION

AND THEATRE ARTS

College of Arts and Letters

Theatre 12 Course Outline

Course No:                        Theatre 12

Course Title:                       Acting Workshop

Course Description:            An introduction to the art and skill of

acting for the theatre.

                 Prerequisite:             None

                Course Credit:                      3 units

                Domain:                                Arts and Humanities

I.          An Introduction to Acting Traditions                  Week 1

A.                       Samples of Acting Traditions in the World

1.                        Western Traditions

a.                         Shakespeare

b.                        Broadway & Off-Broadway

c.                         West End (London)

d.                        Cycle Plays (Oberammergau)

2.                        Eastern Traditions

a.                         Japanese Theatre

b.                        Chinese Theatre

c.                         Indian/Hindu Theatre

d.                        Philippines Theatre

B.                       The Tools of Acting                                 Week 2

1.                        The Body

a.                         Warm-ups

b.                        Isolations

c.                         Centering/Body Axis

2.                        The Voice                                   Week 3

a.                         Warm-ups

b.                        Breathing

c.                         Projection

d.                        Voice for Characterization

II.                 The Process of Acting                                          Week 4

A.                       Reading the Script

B.                       Analyzing a Monologue                            Week 5

C.                       Dividing the Scene into Beats and Units

D.                       The Stanislavsky Techniques                   

E.                        The Method                                            Week 6

F.                        Building a Character

III.               The Monologue                                                   Week 7

A.                       Analyzing a Monologue

IV.              Scene for Two                                                     Week 8

A.                       The Generic Script

B.                       Script Analysis

C.                       Working out a Scene for Two                  Week 9

V.                 Scene for a Group

A.                       Group Exercises                                      Week 10

B.                       Script Analysis

C.                       Working in a Group                                 Week 11-12

VI.              Final Project (One Act Play)                                Week 13-16

READING LIST:

            Barker, Clive. Theatre Games.New York: Drama Book Specialists. 1977

            Benedetti, Robert.  The Actor at Work. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice

Hall. 1976.

            Chekov, Michael.  To The Actor. N.Y.: Harper & Row. 1953.

            Hagen, Uta. Respect for Acting. New York: Macmillan. 1973

            Lim, Ana Valdes-,  Workshop: A Manual on Acting. Manila:Anvil

Publications. 1997

            Spolin, Viola. Improvisation for the Theatre. Evanston, Illinois:

Northwestern University Press. 1963.

PLAYS:

            Selected Scenes from Original Filipino Plays (Palanca, Cultural Center of

the Philippines, etc…)

            Meckler, Eva and Schulman, Michael. Contemporary Scenes for Student

Actors. New York, New York: Penguin Books Inc. 1980

REQUIREMENTS:

                                    Attendance

                                    Scene Studies, Monologues, Group Scenes

                                    Quizzes

                                    Reports – Individual and Group