At one point in my teaching career, the administration wanted to allow a newly formed semester-long drama class to substitute for a semester of English. With that in mind, I used critiques and play writing for the writing elements, ending the semester with scene work from well-known plays and I used Charles Aidman’s adaptation of Edgar Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology as my source of monologues. I was able to buy a class set of the play, which I used for the better part of 30 years! Of course, I had to replace some.  After we spent the better part of seven weeks on technical theatre, as well as group improv, vocal and mime activities, we began to work with monologues.  By this time everyone was comfortable with getting up in front of the class

Today, there are excellent monologue books available for middle school as well as high school actors. Meriwether Publishing has many to choose from.  The way I approached Spoon River can be adapted to any monologue books. As I’ve stated in my book — more than a couple of times! — a play is about people, so my major concern with young actors was to work with character.

The Ten Day Assignment

Day One: I discussed the characters in general. These people represented a whole town in the middle of the 1800s including crooked politicians, ladies of the evening and drunks.  I always told my students that to play these roles was such fun because in real life we weren’t these people. If the students knew their parents would object to them playing disreputable characters, then they had over 50 characters to pick from.  (One parent called and informed me that his daughter was not going to play a whore!) The students were then to read the script and write down 3 characters they would like to be.

Day Two: They continued reading and then selected who would be which character.  I had prepared ahead of time a list of all the characters, the pages their solo appeared on and for those that had 10 lines or fewer I marked in bold. Most of the characters had between 16 and 20 lines. I wanted the students to all be on a level playing ground and if a student chose a character from the bolded list, they knew they would be graded differently.

Then it was time to decide which student got which character.  I started reading down the list.  If only one student raised their hand when a character’s name was read, they would get that character. If two or more students wanted a specific character, I would select a number between 1 and 20 and the one who came closest would get it. I felt that was the fairest way of deciding.  Often after going through the whole list some students would change their minds. 

When everyone had selected their solo they were to take out a clean sheet of paper, put the name of the character and the page he/she appeared on at the top and carefully copy the solo. This copy was used to read, memorize and write an analysis of their character so it had to be correct. If they did not have enough time, I was always available during lunch and after school for those students to come in and finish writing.

Day Three: I first made sure every one was caught up — if some needed still more time to copy the piece, I allowed them to do so and had the rest of the class quietly start the memorization process.  Next, once every one had their pieces copied, they were to read through the piece and make sure they understood what all the words meant.  Then they were to turn their paper over — if there was not room at the bottom — and write a concise paraphrase of their piece. Of course, a discussion of paraphrasing was done. As this was poetry, sometimes it proved to be a very difficult assignment. When the students were done, I passed out my Making Memories sheet with tips on memorization and they were to either start or continue working on their memorization.

Next time I will discuss the next four days of the unit.  

Of course, the age-old problems of procrastination and distraction plague nearly everyone at one time or another, whether their noses are pressed to a textbook or a computer at work or a dust cloth at home. 

Improving isn't easy, but success can help put order into busy lives and stop a cycle of frustration. Too many people view good organizational and concentration skills as an innate ability that some people have and others don't. There's some truth to that. It's easier for some people to sit quietly and do their work. But concentration and memory can be improved.

External Distractions: People who have trouble memorizing often have a host of distractions they need to deal with first.  External distractions are the easiest to eliminate by turning down the radio, turning off the TV, moving to a secluded library corner instead of the center of the coffee shop.

Don't try to do too much at once.  Narrow your focus and take a good look at your energy and resources versus your workload. We tend not to concentrate very well if we try to do 17 things at once.

Avoidance: Sometimes we set ourselves up to fail -- we just overtax ourselves.  Don't get trapped in the "clean-house syndrome" when you have the compulsion to have a spotless home (or completing some other task) at the expense of more difficult homework or office work.

Goal Setting: Decide two or three goals, prioritize them and begin work immediately, rather than waiting for something “wonderful” to happen before starting.

DO NOT compare yourself or your progress to others'. You'll either become conceited or complacent because you compare favorably, or you’ll become depressed and anxious because you don't. Besides, setting your own goals and reaching them yourself is healthier and more productive in the long run.

Tackle Small Pieces: Playwrights make things more convenient for performers by splitting the script into acts and scenes. Take advantage of this by splitting up your memorizing work into manageable pieces.

Word Relations: Pick out the most important words in a sentence and find the relationship between those words. Are there rhyming words? Does the same letter repeat at the beginning of words? What links one important word to the next important word or one sentence to the next sentence?

Lights Out Techinque: Sit back, close your eyes, take a deep breath and let your mind run over all of your thoughts and internal roadblocks for a few moments.  Then clear the mind, relax, open your eyes and buckle down.  Everyone learns in their own way, so do what works for you.

Dramatic performances are that special something that enhances women’s gatherings – the “icing on the cake”! Find those “hams” in your midst, and let them take it from there. We have scripts to inspire you, to touch you, to relate to you, and to just flat-out make you laugh! All guaranteed to “satisfy” you. And now, before these food metaphors completely take over this post, here are some of our “specialties”:

Selecting plays to strengthen your drama department

If this is your first year of teaching, I have some helpful hints in chapter three of my book The Drama Teacher’s Survival Guide. One of the things I didn’t mention when developing your drama department is to always keep in mind the size of the cast when choosing your plays for a season. We all love to work with a small group, but having a limited number of roles does not allow you to encourage more students to get involved with your drama department. Try to pick one show a year with a cast between 15 and 20. On page 72 of my book, I talk about double casting, another way of engaging more students:

This is when you cast two people in the same role. It is a mixed bag. It certainly allows many more students to become involved in your drama program. It does, however, foster jealousy because of the, “Our show is better than yours” syndrome. It also only allows you one-half the time to work with each actor.

Plays with blackouts

I recently attended a production that had many scenes consisting of flashbacks, but it only required one set. I’m sure the blackouts were given in the script so the actors could prepare for the flashbacks or to tell the audience that they were being transported back in time. But as an audience member, every time the lights went out I was immediately taken out of the flow of the story.

When you are confronted with this dilemma, or one that does not contain flashbacks but many short scenes separated by blackouts, try to avoid a complete blackout and come up with a common thread.

One suggestion would be to use music as the bridge between the present and the past. When I produced I Remember Mama I used that as my link between Katrina’s talking to us and her memories.

Another suggestion might be to use a change of light — if you’re lucky enough to have sophisticated lighting facilities. Even if we have to see the characters add a costume or prop before the scene begins it indicates that we have another flashback/memory.

Yet another suggestion might be to combine some of the scenes. Having one scene flow into another can eliminate many blackouts, David and Lisa is a prime example. Also, if you have a large stage, indicating one area for your memory/flashback can add to the flow of the show.

I guess what I am saying is use your imagination and always keep your audience’s attention in mind. Anytime they are sitting in total darkness takes them away from the action and the story.