Day #3: Committing to our Imagination with Prop Infomercials

Today was a great day of fun and creative theatre. We started off right by doing a warm-up called "The Shake Down". The students stood up and spread out. Then we shook our right arm slowly and quietly, counting aloud from 1-8, shaking once on each number. Then we shook our left arm for 8 counts. Then our right leg. Then our left leg. Then we repeated the 4 steps, but only counted from 1-7, a little louder and faster this time. Then we counted from 1-6, then 1-5, then 1-4, then 1-3, then 1-2, then we shook each limb for one count and shook all over! By the end, we were counting loud and fast! This warm-up unifies students and helps them tune in by focusing on which limb and number they are on. It also warms up their bodies and voices, and consequently their minds and creative juices. It's so much fun!

THEATRE VOCABULARY WORDS OF THE DAY:
Then we learned our theatre vocabulary for the day. During the past two lessons, I taught them the stage terms at the end of the lesson. I tried it at the beginning today. We reviewed the words we have already learned: stage, house, and wings. Then they learned about the three major stage configurations and were shown the following images. Perhaps we will stage some scenes in class using these different stage formations to change and experiment with both the acting and viewing experience. Currently we are using this formation:

PROSCENIUM: the most common stage configuration where the audience all sits on one side and faces the stage, much like when you watch television.

THRUST: the audience sits on three sides of the stage, so it appears that the stage has been thrust into the audience. Like a catwalk at a fashion runway or many different concerts.

 THEATRE IN THE ROUND (OR AN ARENA): the audience sits on all sides (typically 4) of the stage and the actors enter and exit from the aisles. Just like at the Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley (pictured below), basketball arenas, and football stadiums.

Before we began our activity, we reviewed the vocabulary from the previous lesson: The 6 Questions of Storytelling and the R.O.O.T. of every story. I was so happy to see that they all remembered! Then I introduced a few new terms for the lesson. Today's theme was

IMAGINATION!

In theatre, if someone says they are a tree...guess what? They are a tree! Also, objects can be transferred into whatever we want them to be. A very common way to create theater is to find things and turn them into something else using your imagination. This is called "Transformation of Objects". In theatre, an object handled by an actor during a scene is called a "prop", which is short for property. The reason why props can be transformed into anything and everything is because the audience naturally understands that in the magical world of theatre, we all must follows this rule: suspend our disbelief! We choose to ignore the fact that we know something isn't real and we buy into it because the actors have made a commitment to their imagination.

ACTIVITY: PROP INFORMERCIALS

Tool: Prop and prompt

Technique Infomercial format

A great storytelling exercise to practice transforming objects, suspending disbelief, and committing to your imagination is by making an INFOMERCIAL using random props! I showed the class this infomercial about Hamper Hoops: a basketball hoop attached to a cylinder-shaped laundry basket that hangs on the back of a door so kids can have fun cleaning up their dirty clothes off the floor.

Then I put these different parts of the infomercial up on the whiteboard and we discussed each one in preparation for their worksheet, which has the same categories on it. 

These were the following props that I gave the different groups:

Then the students were handed a worksheet, a sample sheet with the Hamper Hoops example on it, and a
random prop. Here's the worksheet:

                   

Then the groups rehearsed and assigned people to read the paper like the announcer, while others demonstrated how to use the prop and/or give verbal testimonies about the product. They are encouraged to really sell us the item, making us believe not only that the object is what they now say it is, but that we really need to buy it because of its many uses. Here are some pictures and examples of the ideas they came up with for their props:

These cool glasses made an unpopular kid suddenly the life of the party!

This group pretended that the baby toy box could make faces to make their friends laugh.

Here is their sheet:

This group used the pink steering wheel cover as a toy for kids and perfected their ability during rehearsal to catch it over their head when the other threw it toward him. It was really impressive. It was entertaining and educational to watch the students experiment and play with the prop to see what else it could do, and ways they could sell their product.

This group was unique because they acted out the purchasing of the object: the sippy cup,
so that the baby would stop crying and go to sleep.

At the end of the scene, all the groups had to perform a slogan for their prop.
Some made a little jingle out of the slogan. Some used the phone number as the slogan.

This group made a large red Christmas bell decoration into a hat that could sting bullies when they touched it.

Here's what happened when the bully touched the hat of the kid wearing it. He fell down! I thought this taught a good message about anti-bullying. These kids chose real obstacles/problems they are familiar with and found solutions for them using their props.

Here is the sheet for the two above pictures: the Bell Hat!

The "everything dragon" cannot only be used as a fun frisbee for the kids.
Mom can also use it as a back scratcher! Ahhh....

Overall, this was a very successful activity and the kids expanded their imaginations and learned the power of theatre, when it comes to committing and convincing audiences that objects, people, and places have transformed into whatever we want! I feel some of the obstacles and tactics were very clever and strong, yet I should have emphasized or picked a better example to encourage the students to have the prop solve 2 different obstacles rather than one really big one. We are working on thinking outside of the box, using our time wisely, and reading aloud what we write on the paper. But we are getting there, and the students are gaining more confidence as they create, rehearse, and present in front of their classmates. Next, onto Mad Libs!