1. Largs Academy Department of Drama Pantomime Name: Class: Teacher:
Role 1: 1

2. Write down as much as you can about your knowledge of pantomime.
Can you think of any pantomime traditions?

3. Lesson Two Starter Task
Jot down the similarities and differences between the traditional Cinderella and ‘The Ash girl’.
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4. Vocabulary
Word
Category
Definition
Panto-mime
Form
Pantomime is a Christmas theatrical entertainment usually based on a fairytale.
Tableau & Tableaux
Convention
A stage picture held without any movement. There is no movement at all. A series of tableaux (plural of tableau) can be used to tell a story.
Freeze Frame
A moment frozen in time. When there is movement in a drama then you freeze into a picture. Often used at the end of a scene or a drama.
Aside
Convention
An aside happens when a character's dialogue is spoken but not heard by the other actors on the stage.
Asides are useful for giving the audience special information about the other characters onstage or the action of the plot. 4

5. is the precise movement and staging of actors on a stage.
Monologue
Convention
Monologue - from the Greek monos ("single") and legein ("to speak") — is a speech given by a single person to an audience.
Soliloquy
From the Latin solus ("alone") and loqui ("to speak") — is a speech that one gives to oneself. In a play, a character delivering a soliloquy talks to herself — thinking out loud, as it were — so that the audience better understands what is happening to the character internally.
Greek monologue and Latin soliloquy both mean 'single speech', but they are now distinguished in performance. The difference between the two doesn't have to do with who's talking but with who's listening.
Blocking
Movement
is the precise movement and staging of actors on a stage.

6. How will I know that I have been successful?
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Stock Characters – Who’s who?
Character
Traditional Cinderella
The Ash girl
The Dame
The Hero
The Damsel
The Villain
The Sidekick

7. Production Running Order
Directors have a meeting with the backstage crew to discuss designs and ideas.
b) Perform the pantomime to an audience
c) Directors block, actors rehearse and backstage make and source materials/effects.
d) Have a dress rehearsal.
e) Read the play together.
f) Cast the play and decide who will do what.
What other tasks do you think would need to be completed to have a successful performance?
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9. Director Actor Sound Designer Hair and Make-up
Production Team Roles
Director Actor Sound Designer Hair and Make-up
Props Master Costume Designer Set Designer
A___________________ is in charge of the overall vision of the play, s/he approves the decisions made by the team members, gives advice to the actors about their characters.
A___________________ creates costume cards for each character and sources/makes costumes of a suitable size and comfort for the actors.
A_____________ must source sound effects for the play, create a cue sheet and operate the sound.
A _____________ must source or make props for the play and make sure the actors can rehearse with them, s/he must write a props list and use a props table.
A_________________ works bringing to life the locations of the play through using furniture and flats. They must create ground plans for each scene.
An __________ interprets the play by performing a character.
They must learn lines, listen to the director’s ideas about the character, and interact with the other production team members.
A___________________ creates make-up record cards for each character and sources/makes make-up, wig and hair products for the actors.

10. Set Designer Costume Designer Make-Up Designer Sound Designer
Production Skills
Production Role
Skills required
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Make-Up Designer
Sound Designer
Prop Manager
Director
Actor
Aside from acting, what production roles interest you the most.
___________________________

11. What is a Production Meeting?
The production meeting is where all the back stage crew can share information, clarify each person’s needs, establish deadlines, and work together to create a final performance.  Most production meetings are led by the production manager but in this case you will need to assign a leader.  The production manager coordinates all production activities throughout to ensure the production team meet the director and designer’s vision. (What they imagine the performance will look like).
What happens during rehearsals?
The Early Learning Stages It’s the first few rehearsals you will start learning new songs the director has added, blocking (see vocabulary list) scenes and getting a grip on your choreography.
The production team may speak with you to inform you what the set will look like and if you’ve to bring costumes from home etc. The most important part is that you start learning your lines right away!
After a few weeks ….
You’ve learned most of the content by now and this is where you will go back over scenes and sections to revisit parts you learned earlier. You may have to rescheduling rehearsals to allow for some revision and in some cases, entirely re-teaching songs and scenes.

12. The First Glimpse Until this point, the show has only been seen in small sections. Eventually all the bits and pieces you’ve been committing to memory simply slide into place with each other – and you have a show.
Tech Rehearsals The thing to remember about tech rehearsals is simple – it’s not about you. This is the chance for the backstage crew to learn and practise the part that they play in the show. And a vital part it is. Performers will be interrupted, talked over, ordered around the stage and told to do-over scenes. And that is exactly what your job, as an actor, is.

13. Introduction to Acting
What Equipment Does an Actor Use?
The actor’s main piece of equipment is the script. This is his/her initial stimulus and the performance will grow out of what is on those pages.
The actor must use his imagination to create a believable character.
An actor will use his voice and his movement initially to create a character.
He may also use personal props to enhance his/her performance e.g. a stick for an old man, a briefcase and a mobile phone for a businessman, a cloth and cleaning spray for a cleaner.
The actor will also wear a costume that will help with his performance.
Most actors will be required to wear stage make-up. This can help with the creation of his/her character.

14. How can an Actor be Creative?
If an actor is to represent and pretend to be other people, the first thing he/she should be is observant. They should be able to watch and learn from all aspects of society. An actor should be watching life at all times, taking mental notes of how people behave in certain situations.
However, an actor cannot always watch or have first hand experience of every incident that he/she may be expected to act out. This is where his/her imagination must be used. An actor must have a very active imagination in order to come up with characters and their reactions. It is vital that the actor stays truthful to the character at all times. Bad acting is when the audience don’t believe the performance they are watching.
An actor must have a very flexible body and voice. They must take good care of both of these instruments if they are to be used to their full potential. Just as an athlete must keep his muscles at peak fitness so that when called upon the muscles will do the job the athlete asks of them, the actor must take care of his creative muscles, the voice and the body.
Being creative is also about teamwork. The actor must work
closely with his fellow actors and performers. Trust is a huge
part of the process. If you trust your fellow actors you will be
willing to take more risks with them on stage and go further with
your emotions as the character. If you are not 100% focused on
stage then you will bring the rest of the performances down with
yours. Remember, you are part of a team. Every member of the
cast must do their job with maximum effort in order for the
performance to be a success.

15. An actor must also be willing to take risks. This doesn’t mean doing
anything stupid or unsafe on stage. It means being willing to push
yourself to the limits of your talent. Striving to be as believable and
truthful to the character as you can be. Pushing the emotion and
reactions of the character as far as they can go. Being professional
about everything you do on stage.

16. Roles & Responsibilities of the Actor.
Roles & Responsibilities of the Actor.
The role of an actor.
It is the job of the actor to bring the character
alive on stage. This means adopting the vocal, physical and mental characteristics of a different person and portraying that person in a performance.
The actor must be able to convince the audience that they have the attitudes, beliefs, views, thoughts, feelings and emotions of their character. An actor must make the character seem believable and real.
The actor must interpret a script by deciding the background and personality of the character.
An actor must learn his/her lines.
They must also contribute to the overall message of the performance. They do this by showing the story through the actions of their characters.
An actor must clearly show his objective (what he/she is trying to achieve) and his motivation (why he/she is trying to achieve it). They must reach out into the theatre with their performance and grab the audience’s attention forcing them to react in an engaging manner.
If an actor does his job properly, he/she will force the audience to have an opinion about his/her character and not just his/her performance. They must challenge an audience, provoking them into having an opinion about the themes and issues presented in the play.
The actor must translate a writer’s words and a director’s thoughts into reality. They have to show the story, the relationships, the tension, the mood, the atmosphere and the purpose of the play. They are the primary mouthpieces for the message.
Above all else, an actor must entertain his/her audience.

17. Who does the Actor Work With?
Who does an actor work with?
The actor will work closely with the following people:
the director – to ensure that the characterisation and performance of the character supports the director’s interpretation of the play in terms of period and style. The actor must trust the director’s vision and take advice and suggestions at all times.
fellow actors – unless it is a one man or one woman show the actor will have to perform with others and this means co-operating with other actors.
the sound designer/technician – the actor may have to record voice-overs or sound effects and the sound technician will be responsible for this. If the actor is using a microphone of some sort, he/she will need help and advice on how to use and maintain it properly.
the costume designer – if there are any problems with the actor’s costume, it will need to be fixed/repaired by somebody. The actor may also have some ideas of his own about what the character would wear. This would be a three way discussion with the director, costume designer and actor.
the stage manager as this is the team member with the best overview of all of the technical aspects of the production. The actor must work closely with the stage manager, particularly during the technical week, to ensure any problems that arise are fixed to everybody’s satisfaction. The stage manager is responsible for company discipline once the show is up and running. An actor must respect this.
the props master – to ensure that the actor knows how to use and look after the props.
the make-up designer/technician to ensure the character’s make-up matches the director’s interpretation of the play in terms of period and style.

18. Activity Logs
Dear Diary, Date:
Today in rehearsal we__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We are having problems with ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We are doing well with ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. Activity Logs
Dear Diary, Date:
Today in rehearsal we__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We are having problems with ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We are doing well with ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20. Activity Logs
Dear Diary, Date:
Today in rehearsal we__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We are having problems with ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We are doing well with ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

21. Production Meeting One: Date:
What we discussed:
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What I need to do/Action Points:
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Production Meeting Two: Date:
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22. Production Meeting Three: Date:
What we discussed:
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What I need to do/Action Points:
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Production Meeting Four: Date:
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23. Production Meeting Five: Date:
What we discussed:
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What I need to do/Action Points:
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Production Meeting Six: Date:
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24. Production Notes
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26. Production Sketches
Extra pages should be stapled onto this booklet to keep all your evidence together.

29. Final Performance Evaluation
Did you effectively use class time to rehearse/discuss/plan? Give some examples.
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2. Did you rehearse/meet out of class time? Why or why not?
3. Describe what it was like to work with your group. Did you get along with them? Why or why not?
4. How prepared were you for each rehearsal/lessom? Give examples. (Eg: I learned my lines before rehearsal; I always had a pencil to record blocking; I arrived at class on time.)

30. 5. In what ways did you participate during rehearsals/meetings
5. In what ways did you participate during rehearsals/meetings? Give examples. (Eg: I had ideas for blocking; I was enthusiastic during rehearsals; I stayed on task.)
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6. Describe how you listened to others in your group during rehearsals/meetings.
7. Describe your attitude toward the assignment during rehearsals/ meetings.
8. Describe how you took any criticism during rehearsals/meetings.

31. 9. Describe how you gave criticism during rehearsals/meetings.
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10. Describe what worked well for you during the performance.
11. Describe what you wish went differently during the performance.
12. How have your drama skills improved this year and where do you need to improve?

32. Cast & Crew List
Pantomime Title:
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