February 20th Masters Class!

Welcome to Shakespeare!

First, watch this video:

We hope that you will have as much determination as this woman when it comes to this play! Only you have a lot more in store for you than a clothing hanger... ;) 

Since all of next Thursday will be dedicated to play practice there will be a little more homework to do. However, in the future when Shakespeare will only be taking place during Masters then your homework will most likely just be memorizing certain lines.

Assignments(:

• Highlight your parts in a COLORFUL highlight!  Please don't black out the other lines, or anything like that. You will still want complete access to everyone else's lines so that you can follow along! :D
• Memorize your lines and your cues from the beginning of the play until ACT 2, Scene 2 (Page 1-16). This may seem intimidating, but don't worry! Most of you will only have lines in one scene in that grouping of scenes, and only some of you will have lines in 2 scenes.
  
  Every week that you memorize your assigned lines by the deadline you will get a prize! AND if you decide to be amazing and memorize your lines early, before or by March 26th, then you will get an even bigger and better prize! That gives you over a month, so let's get poppin'!
• Next you will need to fill out a character analysis. Print and fill this out. Make sure to bring it to class to share with us, and have fun with it! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hYG6LY9qEjiwvbsBwyVPCe3Wt_VmXLe-/view?usp=sharing
• Be prepared to show us your characters walk and posture! 
• Be thinking of ideas for your costume! We're setting the play during the 1950's because we thought it would be fun to end the Vanguard year by revisiting the decade that we started with.

           

We cannot stress the importance of you having your lines memorized in time. It's incredibly important in order for rehearsals and the performance to run smoothly. You will have the opportunity for one second chance. That means that if you miss the deadline once, we will forgive you. :) But if you miss the deadline a second time we will have to cut lines or swap your character, which isn't going to be a good situation for anyone. Please note that we aren't hoping you will use your second chance simply because it's there. We would love to see everyone meeting the deadlines in time! 

Also please know that you are not limited to only memorizing the lines in the scenes we assign you! In fact, we strongly encourage you to get ahead of the deadlines and memorize all of your lines as soon as possible! (That way you can get the big prize! :)

Tips and Tricks for Memorizing:

• Record yourself saying your cues and lines and replay them as you go about your day or as you're going to sleep. 
• Try writing them down with a pencil after memorizing. It causes a different part of your brain to start working!
• Read one line over and over again, then add on another!

Memorizing lines is a lot easier the sooner you get started. Something that helps me is to set aside a certain amount of time (30 minutes or an hour) where I am going to only focus on memorizing. (No distractions!) You'll be surprised how much you can get through when you focus. :)

Here is the cast list:

Afton - Hermia's Mother (Egeus)
Anneka - Puck/Robin Goodfellow
Caleb - Flute/Thisbe
Chris - Demetrius
Elena - Titania
Eryn - Mustard Seed
Evelyn - Cobweb
Isa - Hermia
Jacob - Snout/Wall
Jaykob - Bottom/Pyramus
Jayson - Lysander
Jefferson - Oberon
Kassie - Snug/Lion
Kensie - Peaseblossom
Kylee - Starveling/Moonshine
Paige - Quince/Prologue
Sam - Theseus
Sarah - Helena
Shaylie - Hippolyta

Good luck with memorizing! I would strongly advise you to not wait until right before class to get started. The sooner you start memorizing the more you can repeat them throughout the week, which means they'll stick better during practice!

See you Thursday!

- Helena and Titania :)

P.S. If you missed the homework last week, and you still don't feel like you understand the play very well then PLEASE go watch the videos from the last blog post. They're short, helpful, and fun.