Adam Hughes Saturday lesson plan 19th/09/2015

Green group age 6-9

Start warm up Physical game: stuck in the mud or tag or Zombie

Vocal warm up- sing a group song together (banana song), play a rhythm song for muscle memory and hand eye coordination

Exercises

Start my moving about the room and each number called out they have to get into those groups.

Move around the room again and this time in pairs, one walks in front the other and they walk around the room and the person behind mimics, exaggerating each time. They then swap over. Have a discussion at the end and discuss what they observed.

Everyone picks a physicality they enjoyed doing the most and then walk around and amplify it, add characters and status and they interact with each other.

Blue group age 10-12

Start warm up

Physical games: stuck in the mud, tag, Zombie, Zip Zap Boing, statues

Vocal warm up: articulation exercises, group songs (ensemble, small groups), rhythm exercises

Exercises

Game: honey I love you but I just can’t smile, One person goes into the middle of the circle and is asked to pick people out one by one and try and make them laugh, if they don’t succeed they are out.

Game: King John for focus (status and rhythm game)

Exercise: One person goes up makes a sound and a rhythm and another person joins on and makes another sound and rhythm and everyone goes up until a rhythm machine is created.

I bring up a collection of different books/stories; everyone is split into three or more different groups and are asked to pick a book/story out of the collection and asked to create still images to help guide us through the story.

They are then asked to create a two/three min piece of theatre on this story and present it to everyone.

Red group age: 13-18

Warm up: physically warm up the body with stretches/yoga

Vocally warm up with articulation exercises, musical scales, singing a song as a group and then in smaller groups

Games: Zombie, zip zap boing, tag, King John, clapping rhythm game, samurai

Games: comedy exercise, Catwalk

Everyone goes up in groups and I put on music and everyone comes out one by one and does an exaggerated model catwalk.

Comedy exercise: Ninja game

Pairs go up and have two sticks and they pretend to hit the other person and they other person reacts but as a Japanese warrior would, through insults at their opponent and show the audience the pain they are in.

Exercise: Commedia Dell Arte’

Everyone walks around the room and I read/describe different characteristics and everyone embodies them. The Commedia Dell Arte’ is an Italian mask theatre form and takes the micky out of the different levels of society and status.

For this week: The Zanni- servant, low status, loves chicken, simple, slow, always gets the masters orders wrong.

The captain- Brash, over the top, show off, bragging, con man hasn’t done the things that he said that he has done, fake adventurer.

When everyone has experimented with these characters I put them into different scenarios to see how the characters react to them.

Have a discussion at the end to see what everyone has observed and what everyone can take away from it.

http://shane-arts.com/Commedia-Arlechinno.htm (website on Commedia Dell Arte’)

Adam Hughes Saturday lesson plan 26th/09/2015

Green group age 6-9

Start warm up

Physical game: stuck in the mud or tag or Zombie

Vocal warm up- sing a group song together (banana song), play a rhythm song for muscle memory and hand eye coordination

Game: grandmothers footsteps, everyone goes to the end of the room and one person stays at the top (grandmother) everyone walks forward and freezes when grandmothers turns around, the aim is to get to grandmother without being caught.

Exercises

Everyone starts by walking around the room and then I read out a list of animals and everyone slowly morphs into these animals. Everyone explores the room for a bit as these animals, half the group watch whilst the other half go around the room then they swap.

The group then splits into several smaller groups and then make circles around the room and someone starts in each circle with a noise and then that noise travels around the circles getting bigger and more physical with each person.

After this everyone goes back to their animals exploring around the room and slowly start to turn their animals into characters, what would they be if they were human and had a voice and a job and lives. They explore with these characters and create relationships with other characters and explore the room.

Discussion at the end

Blue group age 10-12

Start warm up

Physical games: stuck in the mud, tag, Zombie, Zip Zap Boing, statues

Vocal warm up: articulation exercises, group songs (ensemble, small groups), rhythm exercises

Exercises

Everyone stands in a circle and has a number then everyone swaps places in the circle. Number 1 then starts and each number after that copy’s what the number in front of them is doing but gets bigger each time.

Exercise

The group is then split into two and both have to create an atmosphere (which I shall give them) in the room/studio; this can be anything, a soundscape, a physical representation, using objects in the room. This atmosphere could be anything from a zoo, a graveyard or a playground it can be anything but it has to be created using everyone. The other group waits outside while the other group is working.

Discussion at the end

Red group age: 13-18

Warm up: physically warm up the body with stretches/yoga

Vocally warm up with articulation exercises, musical scales, singing a song as a group and then in smaller groups

Games: Zombie, zip zap boing, tag, King John, clapping rhythm game, samurai

Exercise: Everyone is split into smaller groups and as a group they have to create a group name and a song and dance for their group and then present it to each other.

Exercise: In these small groups, go over the characters that we explored the week before, the Captain and the Zanni and work on them.

Everyone this then put into pairs and creates a short scene where the Captain gives Zanni and instruction but something goes wrong and the captain punishes the Zanni.

Exercises: We then go into exploring the Arlecchino and Arlecchina, who are the old man and old woman who are creepy and like to con everyone, creepy old physicality and horrible faces, obsessed with money.

The group explores these characters and then are split into two one group watches whilst other perform and then swap over. The characters will be put into different scenarios and see how they react to them. This is individual but everyone is performing to an audience.

If there is time get some people up to be the captain or Zanni, to see how the two interact.

Discussion at the end