I've been teaching theatre since 1996 and have produced countless shows with cast after cast. There are a few basic lessons that every new actor must learn before they are ready to audition for a play and receive a script. This class will cover those basic lessons: Variety in Voice, Body Consciousness, Emotion and Story in a Character. 

This class is a little different, though, because it is an ongoing class which students can join or leave at any time so it does not build lesson upon lesson but instead is an opportunity every week to practice the skills we use to create a character. In this class students will learn how to create a character using variety in voice, body movement, and emotional connection by simply PRACTICING the art. We will use a variety of fun and engaging exercises to give students an opportunity to immerse themselves 
in the art. Here are a few examples:

Week One, Sept 5-11: Creating an Original Character
 
TO BE OR NOT TO BE:
This week we will create characters. This activity gives students a chance to practice different character voices and accents in non-intimidating, fun ways.
 
INTRODUCE ME 
"Introduce Me: is an activity I created years ago that has worked in all my classrooms--in person and virtual. Students offer names (i.e. "Bob" or "Jinglebells") and hobbies or occupations (i.e. "Chicken farmer" or "model") and then I randomly choose a name and a hobby for a student so they can practice talking and moving like the character.

TELEPHONE: 
Using the characters we create in "Introduce Me" students call each other and have a conversation using the character voice and developing the character. 

Week Two, Sept. 12-18: Improv Storytelling

60 SECOND FAIRY TALE
This week we will explore improv storytelling. This first game a student tells a fairy tale in 60 seconds while the other actors act it out.

"WAIT! ____TELLS IT BETTER" 
In this storytelling game we tell a round robin story but interrupt ourselves by handing the story over to a classmate mid sentence.

FREEZE AND JUSTIFY
Students are frozen in unusual positions and when I ask them to "Justify" they tell me the story about how they got there.

Week three, Sept. 19-25: Improv with props

COMMERCIAL
This week we will explore improv with props. In this activity students choose an item in their house and then create a commercial advertising it as if it is something it is not. 

CLASSMATE'S COMMERCIAL
This is a continuation of commercial. Each student chooses an item a classmate chose and makes a commercial about that item...advertising it as something it is not.

SHOW AND TELL
Each student chooses something to show-and-tell

CLASSMATE SHOW AND TELL
Each student chooses a classmate's item to show-and-tell but make it something it is not. 

Week four, Sept 26-Oct 2: The super fun improvs

ON THE NOSE
Students are paired up and are connected by an imaginary string from the palm of a hand to the nose of the other. Puppet work.

BOSS EXCUSE
One student goes to the waiting room while the "boss" complains to the "co-workers" that the one employee is late again. Why? When the student returns to the classroom the boss questions them and the co-workers pantomine why they are late and the employee guesses.

ENERGY BALL
Students throw an imaginary energy ball around the zoom room with sound effects and the ball changes into other items.







LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
In this class students will learn the basics of creating a character for stage. They will experiment with finding character voices, body movements and consider stories and emotions behind character motivations. It is a first step to performing on a stage.

Variety in Voice
We learn about using the voice to find a character. Experimenting with high/slow, fast/slow and accent is a good way to start. All exercises are with teacher modeling and mimic so students will feel comfortable (basically, I'm so silly that no one worries about looking silly themselves!)

Body Consciousness
We learn how to use one's body to convey a character. How does this person walk? What do they do with their hands? How would they stand/sit/move, etc? I also will talk some about body consciousness on stage and basic stage manners like cheating out, not upstaging and how to always be seen. 

Emotion and Story in a Character
We'll talk about how we FEEL when we're a particular character and we will add a story to explain who the character is. 

Note: I also offer this class for ages 12-17!!
https://outschool.com/classes/theatre-acting-skills-improv-for-teens-was9yEhw?usid=pTDO9egK&signup=true&utm_campaign=share_activity_link