LESSON THREE:
The emphasis in this lesson plan is on building a character, focusing on the "throughline" or "spine" of the character. Students will explore character through exploring place and object exercises.
MATERIALS:
Film: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Script: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE: ACTING EDITION. The class will work on Act I, ii & iii. Video equipment will be used. The props are specified in the following descriptions.
DESCRIPTION:
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1. Act I, ii (the trunk scene) is a confrontation between Blanche and Stanley. The actors will define for themselves their character's action in this scene, based on their knowledge of their character's "throughline" of action in the play. After rehearsing the scene, actors will discuss with the class their intentions and what they felt they accomplished in the scene.
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2. Act I, ii will be worked on using real objects. The class will borrow a period trunk from the props department of the Alliance Theatre. Students and teacher will bring in as many objects as possible to fulfill this scene (i.e. Blanche's wardrobe, box of letters from young husband, legal papers, etc.). Special attention will be paid to the creation of the place. A believable place and the use of real objects ground actors in the play's reality and help actors build characters organically.
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3. Act I, iii (the poker night) will be worked on to develop character behavior. This scene especially lends itself to the development of logical behavior because the scene opens with the characters playing poker and drinking. The actors will set up the scene with all the objects they feel they will use in the scene. They will work out the poker game so that it truly corresponds to the script. In my experience of working on this scene, I have always found that the actors enjoyed the poker game and the building of the action into the physical conflict at the end of the scene.
C. VIVA ZAPATA!
(1.) Background:
Credits:
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The screenplay by John Steinbeck; directed by Elia Kazan; produced by Darryl F. Zanuck; photographed by Joe MacDonald; presented by Twentieth Century-Fox. Filmed: 1952.
Emiliano Zapata-Marlon Brando
Soldadera-Margo
Josefa-Jean Peters
Eufemio Zapata-Anthony Quinn
Madero-Harold Gordon
Pablo-Lou Gilbert
Huerta-Frank Silvera
Fernando-Joseph Wiseman
Lazaro-Will Kuluva
Don Nacio-Arnold Moss
Senor Espejo-Florenz Ames
Colonel Guajardo-Frank De Kova
Pancho Villa-Alan Reed
VIVA ZAPATA! won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Quinn).
VIVA ZAPATA!, based on the life of the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, is a mixture of truth and legend with scenes of the Mexican revolution. It is a political statement on the corruption of power. In the first scene, we see a group of peasants who have come to Mexico City in 1909 for an audience with President Porfirio Diaz. The camera moves from one man to the next until it picks out Brando's Zapata. The peasants are asking for their land rights. Zapata stands up to Diaz and rejects his offer.
Diaz and Zapata never meet again, but Zapata's life becomes dedicated to overthrowing Diaz. Zapata decides to join his peasant revolt with Madero, who in Texas, is plotting revolution against Diaz. Diaz is forced into exile, but Zapata finds that Madero is a weak leader. Madero is killed by another would be dictator. Finally, Pancho Villa leaves the burden of power to Zapata, who accepts it reluctantly.
Next comes Brando's Zapata awakening to the corruption of power. His brother Eufemio (Anthony Quinn) is denounced by the peasants for taking graft and for being a petty tyrant. In a scene constructed to look like the first scene of the film-his confrontation with Diaz-Zapata sees that he is being corrupted by power; he rejects the presidency and goes back to his home.
Finally, only Death and Transfiguration remain for Zapata. Weary, stoic, he walks into the trap set for him. The problem is that the murderers do their job too well. His body is so riddled with bullets that the people wonder whether it is really Zapata. The peasants choose to believe that the bullet-riddled corpse in the square is not that of their warrior hero. The movie fades out with Zapata's beautiful white horse galloping through the mountains.
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(2.)STRATEGIES:
I have chosen four lessons that focus on acting exercises, building a character, and a variety of rehearsal methods based on the tenets of Method acting. The film, VIVA ZAPATA!, and the novelette of the film printed in Argosy Magazine, will be our text.
LESSON ONE: I will provide bound handouts of the novelette from Argosy Magazine. This text, in novelette form, has dialogue like a screen play. The students will study the text and divide it into scenes. By studying the film and the novelette they will be able to find the natural scene breaks.
LESSON TWO: At least one third of my students are Hispanic; these student will translate scenes of their choosing into Spanish. They will perform these scenes in Spanish. The class will research and discuss their research into Mexico of the early twentieth century and the Mexican revolution.
LESSON THREE: This lesson will combine study of visual arts and acting. From our library of visual arts books and prints that I will bring to class, the students will choose paintings to recreate. By physically recreating the painting, they will create a living picture or tableau vivant. This exercise will stimulate their imaginations, and they will enjoy the ensemble effort of creating this tableau vivant. Paintings and murals of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo will be studied for this purpose.
LESSON FOUR: This lesson will focus on four memorable scenes: the first scene of the peasant delegation to President Diaz; the scene of the arrest and rescue of Zapata by the peasants; the scene of the assassination of Modera; and the final ambush and murder of Zapata. See Sample Lesson Plan Number Four.