Professor Tom Isbell
Office: 148 MPAC, Phone: 726-6313
Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 12:30-1:30
E-Mail: tisbell@d.umn.edu
Home Page: http://www.d.umn.edu/~tisbell
- COURSE OBJECTIVE:
- To continue in the exploration of truthful behavior on stage.
- To better understand how to approach a character.
- To further explore your own personal relationship to acting.
- To develop your own personal warm-up to aid you in relaxation and technical control.
COURSE APPROACH: The main emphasis of the class will be on tapping the creative side of the brain and applying it to the logical. Students will concentrate on five major components throughout the semester: monologues, Talking & Listening exercises, neutral scenes, creating a personal warm-up, and a final scene presentation. In addition, there will be work with advanced solo exercises, intended to further cement the truthful foundation of acting. The Robert Lewis text will be the touchstone for the course.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
- Attendance is mandatory. No more than two absences are allowed. Each absence beyond two will automatically lower the final letter grade one third of a letter. Chronic absentees will be dropped from the course and the BFA track.
- Please be on time. Two late arrivals (by five minutes or more) equal one absence.
- Although written critiques will not be required, all students are expected to attend the UMD productions of Seussical, Hummingbirds, and the Stage II production.
- Students are expected to read along in the three texts and be prepared for roundtable discussions and open-book exams. Because you will be graded on your participation in these discussions, it helps to highlight passages which you plan to discuss.
- Students are expected to wear clothing to class that permits movement. Please: no tennis shoes on performance days.
- Each student will be expected to turn in a 3-page (typed) Character Biography based on their neutral scene. Late papers will be accepted but will lose one point per day.
- Each student will be responsible for creating his/her own Actor's Credo. (Click here to see examples of past credos.)
- Each student will keep an active Journal, writing at least three entries per week on their thoughts on acting and their own progress as an actor throughout the semester. All journal entries must be dated. The Journals will be handed in twice.
- Each student will be expected to post at least one entry per week (not counting Week #1 and Thanksgiving Week) on the Webcrossing site, either in reaction to that week's question (or mantra), in response to another student's entry, or a reaction to a current rehearsal or general acting question. Points will be given based on the amount of thought given the entries. All entries must be posted by 9 a.m. on Monday morning.
- Each student will perform one poetry monologue, one contemporary monologue, perform a Neutral Scene, create their own physical and vocal warm-up, and perform scenes from American Realism (to be chosen by the instructor at a later date).
- Each scene and monologue will be presented twice. Although they will not be graded the first time, points will automatically be deducted if lines are not thoroughly memorized.
REQUIRED READING:
- Brestoff, Richard. The Great Acting Teachers and their Methods. Smith and Kraus.
- Isbell, Tom. Lessons: The Craft of Acting. Meriwether Press.
- Lewis, Robert. Method or Madness. Samuel French, Inc.
COURSE OUTLINE Day
Assignment
Wed. Sept. 3 Review of Circumstances, Objectives, Actions. Hand out poetry monologues. Fri. Sept. 5 Talking & Listening. Hand out Neutral Scene assignments. Mon. Sept. 8 Talking & Listening. Wed. Sept. 10 Concentration Fri. Sept. 12 Personalization Mon. Sept. 15 Method or Madness Discussion Wed. Sept. 17 Present poetry monologues Fri. Sept. 19 Neutral Scene Improvs due. Work monologues. Rehearse neutral scenes. Mon. Sept. 22 Work monologues. Rehearse neutral scenes. Wed. Sept. 24 Work monologues. Rehearse neutral scenes. Fri. Sept. 26 Perform poetry monologues. Neutral Scenes Character Bio due. Mon. Sept. 29 The Great Acting Teachers Exam & Discussion (Chapters 1-4) Wed. Oct. 1 Characterization Fri. Oct. 3 Characterization Mon. Oct. 6 Warming Up: The Voice & Body Wed. Oct. 8 Neutral scene improvs Fri. Oct. 10 Neutral scene improvs Mon. Oct. 13 The Great Acting Teachers Exam & Discussion (Chapters 5-12) Wed. Oct. 15 Present Neutral Scenes Fri. Oct. 17 Work Neutral Scenes Mon. Oct. 20 Scenework. Journals due. Wed. Oct. 22 Perform Neutral Scenes Fri. Oct. 24 Individual conferences Mon. Oct. 27 Present Warm-ups Wed. Oct. 29 Personalization Fri. Oct. 31 Perform Warm-ups. Personalization. Mon. Nov. 3 Present Contemporary Monologues Wed. Nov. 5 Present Contemporary Monologues Fri. Nov. 7 Longform Improvs Mon. Nov. 10 Perform Contemporary Monologues Wed. Nov. 12 Scene improvs Fri. Nov. 14 Scene improvs. Mon. Nov. 17 Roundtable discussion on acting. Wed. Nov. 19 Rehearse scenes Fri. Nov. 21 Rehearse scenes Mon. Nov. 24 Lessons Discussion. Rehearse scenes - off book Wed. Nov. 26 Improvs Fri. Nov. 28 No Class. Thanksgiving Holiday. Mon. Dec. 1 Rehearse scenes. Inner monologues. Wed. Dec. 3 Present Scenes Fri. Dec. 5 Work scenes. Actor Credos due. Mon. Dec. 8 Work scenes Wed. Dec. 10 Work scenes Fri. Dec. 12 Work scenes. Journals due.
FINAL EXAM: Wed. December 17 10:00-11:55 a.m.
Course Evaluation
Assignment
Point Value
Book discussions 6 (3 each) Book exams 10 (5 each) Character Biography 5 Contemporary monologue 10 Poetry monologues 10 Warm-ups 5 Neutral Scene Presentation 10 Journal 10 (5 each) Webcrossing entries 13 (1 each) Actor's Credo 5 Attitude, Improvement, Desire 10 Final Scene Presentation 20 At the end of the semester, points will be totaled and graded on the following scale:
Grading Scale Letter Grade
Percentage
A 91-100 A- 88-90 B+ 85-87 B 81-84 B- 78-80 C+ 75-77 C 72-74 C- 69-71 D+ 66-68 D 62-65 OTHER NOTES:
Individuals who have any legitimate disability, either permanent or temporary, which might affect their ability to perform in this class, are encouraged to inform the instructor at the start of the semester. Adaptations of methods, materials or testing may be made as required to provide equitable participation.
Academic dishonesty tarnishes UMD's reputation and discredits the accomplishments of students. UMD is committed to providing students every possible opportunity to grow in mind and spirit. This pledge can only be redeemed in an environment of trust, honesty, and fairness. As a result, academic dishonesty is regarded as a serious offense by all members of the academic community. In keeping with this ideal, this course will adhere to UMD's Student Academic Integrity Policy, which can be found at www.d.umn.edu/assl/conduct/integrity. This policy sanctions students engaging in academic dishonesty with penalties up to and including expulsion from the university for repeat offenders.
The instructor will enforce and students are expected to follow the University's Student Conduct Code (http://www.d.umn.edu/assl/conduct/code). Appropriate classroom conduct promotes an environment of academic achievement and integrity. Disruptive classroom behavior that substantially or repeatedly interrupts either the instructor's ability to teach, or student learning, is prohibited. Disruptive behavior includes inappropriate use of technology in the classroom. Examples include ringing cell phones, text-messaging, watching videos, playing computer games, doing email, or surfing the Internet on your computer instead of note-taking or other instructor-sanctioned activities.
No food is allowed in the classroom, and the only beverage allowed is water. Please eat either before or after class.