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Objectives
In this activity you will examine six extracts from the opening scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream from a director’s point of view. You will block the actors’ moves for two stage types and consider the ways in which an actor’s position on stage can communicate meaning to an audience.
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Outcomes
By working through this activity you will have:
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a storyboard showing how you would position actors on two stage types during key moments in Act 1 Scene 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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Resources
To complete the activities you will need access to:
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Kar2ouche Rehearsal Room Content Library
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Sheet 14.1 Study Questions
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1. First read the text and/or listen to the audio files of Act 1 Scene 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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2. Now open the Staging Act 1 Scene 1 storyboard and complete the frames, showing how you would position the actors during each of the extracts printed in the caption windows. There are ground plans of both stages at the end of the storyboard, which you can copy and paste into position if you need to explain your ideas in diagrammatic form. Insert extra frames at any point if you wish. There are prompt questions available (Sheet 14.1 Study Questions) to help you with this task.
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To open the Staging Act 1 Scene 1 storyboard
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3. You will have the opportunity to perform the extracts you have studied to the rest of your class and to watch and discuss their interpretation of this scene. First set up a proscenium stage: set out chairs facing the acting area, and mark the boundaries of the stage with bags or chairs. When you have seen and discussed all the extracts for this stage layout, set up a thrust stage using bags and chairs as before, and watch/perform the extracts again. What are the main differences in the staging for the two layouts? What effect does the staging have on the performance of this scene?
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4. Use the work you have done on this scene to help you to answer the following essay question:
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Outline the methods a director could use to convey character, status and relationships to the audience in the opening scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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