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Unit One - Introduction to Drama
Module 2: Actor's Tools
Lesson 1 - Objectives

Introduction:
The purpose of this lesson is to give students familiarity with motivation and objectives.

Activities:

Activity 1 - Warm Up "Grab the Ducky"

This game is about being able to focus on the objective - which is to grab the ducky:

  • form two even teams of six and stand facing each other in two rows
  • count one row off "1, 2, 3" etc. and count the other off in the opposite direction (Sound confusing? This means the "1" is facing "6" and "2" is facing "5")
  • place the desired *ducky on the floor in the center between the two rows (*The object can be anything you have handy)
  • the teacher calls out a number - those two people have a goal (an OBJECTIVE) to get the ducky back to their team without being tagged by the other person
  • you can complicate the game by calling out more than one number
  • when they are getting tired of the game, tell them they have 1 minute to come up with a plan in which they can use all 6 team members (the results can be very interesting)
Activity 2- Interview and response
Interview three people outside class about a difficult personal experience.
You must create a list of approximately 10 questions and include three required questions: What were you intending to get and/or accomplish? What tactics did you use to get what you wanted? What obstacles prevented you from getting what you wanted?

After conducting the interviews, you should record the similarities in the types of responses on a Response sheet (handout). These sheets of paper become the basis for dramatic interviews.

Activity 3 - Interview Improvisation

  • Break into groups of two and trade responses sheets.
  • Give a definition of one of the goal terms (objective, motivation, intent) and discuss it as a class.
  • Then the actor reads the information on his or her new response sheet and creates a new character from that information.
  • Each partnership chooses A and B.
  • The objective (intent) of character A will be to gain B's sympathy about (or help with) the issue from the response sheet.
  • A and B conduct an improvisational discussion.
  • Then B sets a goal of proving his or her character did the right thing.
  • A and B again discuss, this time using B's response sheet.
  • A does not return to his/her original character for the second improvisation.
  • Following the improvisations, discuss what worked and did not work in achieving your objectives (intents).
  • Write a journal article of at least 1/2 a page on the process.

Activity 4 - Finding Objectives from Text:

Read Act I, scene vii of Macbeth as a group and discuss the meanings of confusing words. Create a written summary of what happens. Then use the handout to create an analysis of the subtext (what is being said under the actual words) and the objectives of the characters. You should re-create the scene using the subtext or objectives as your lines rather than the original text. Practice and play scenes for the class.

Evaluation:
The interview improvisation evaluation sheet will be used to evaluate your first scene. Your Macbeth scenes will be completed, then discussed as a class. Evaluation for these scenes could be conducted on quality of written work on the handout, group skills, or clarity of objectives and subtext.

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