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This is a special and effective unit designed to combine mime, movement in Drama and Romeo and Juliet in English. The unit is designed to develop storytelling skills, emotional identification and personal perspective. The essential element of pantomime is the ability to express yourself without the need for words. It is therefore important for the student to understand and establish the emotional element of the message they are trying to convey or extract from the scene. Another essential element is known as “economy of movement”. This involves condensing and simplifying the movements you use. Below you will find a shortened version of the unit. You can find the full unit with class plans on the web site at, www.mimeguy.com in the “Teacher’s Lounge”.

Take a side step to the right and point into the air as high as you can without going onto your toes. The arm should describe a circle. As you step to the right your right hand lifts and crosses in front of your left shoulder and then moves in a downward arc sweeping up to the right. (Your breath should match this as well. Inhale as you lift the arm to the shoulder and then exhale as you describe the rest of the movement.) Repeat to the left using your left hand.

Take a long step to the right bending your right knee and leaning your weight onto your right leg and keeping your left leg straight and your left foot planted on the same spot. Your right arm is at full stretch pointing to stage right. As you step your right arm again lifts and crosses in front of your left shoulder before moving in a straight line shoulder height to the right. (The breath follows the same pattern. Inhale until your hand crosses your left shoulder and then exhale for the rest of the movement.) Repeat to the left. Now do all four movements in succession with a small one-second pause at the end of each point.

Now the students have an idea of the size of pantomime and how much energy they need to perform the movements. Remind them regularly as you observe, that small movements will not be visible to the audience in the back. I like to describe it as playing to the poor gallery high up in the back of a huge theatre. You are playing and reaching out to them.

You now take them through a pantomime ‘conversation’. Pantomime is melodramatic and over acted so the students must now exaggerate their emotions to match their movements in this exercise. You give them the phrase and tell them the number of movements they have to ‘say’ it. They must express it in clear, exaggerated movements. They must use their legs as well by stepping toward the imaginary person and returning to their spot. You must keep encouraging them to use their whole bodies to express the ‘feeling’ of the phrase and not ‘think’ about the words. They freeze at the end of each phrase so that you get a tableau of the last emotion expressed. Have them hold the tableau for a few moments allowing them to learn how to sustain the emotion and focus it.

The scene

(Note. The reaction to the imaginary person’s dialogue is separate and not counted as one of the movements. The audience must understand what the imaginary person says by your reaction.)

1) An imaginary person enters from down stage right. You see them and recognize them. You say, “You come here.” (Two clear movements.) Freeze.

2) The imaginary person says, “No!” You react and say, “You come here or else!” (Three movements.) Freeze.

3) Before you hear their response another imaginary person enters from down stage left interrupting you. You see this person and react to them. This is a person you secretly love and adore. Before you can stop yourself you say, “I love you!” (Three movements.) Freeze.

4) This second person says to you, “Really? So what.” You react to this and then say even stronger, “But I really love you!” (Three movements.) Freeze.

5) This second person says, “I don’t care.” You react to this and then watch them slowly walk over to the first person then kissing and hugging them. You react to this and then watch both of them exit together down stage right. You turn and face front and say to the audience, “I’m heartbroken!” (Four movements.) Freeze. Finished. Now have them repeat all five steps together as one complete scene. Or as an option you can have them start at step one each time you add a new one and build the whole conversation up as you go. They have now performed a scene consisting of 15 clear exaggerated melodramatic movements and 5 exaggerated reactions.

1/ Introduction. Street fight that establishes the rivalry and hatred between both families. 2/ Romeo and Juliet meet at the party. 3/ Balcony scene 4/ Secret Wedding 5/ Fight between Tybalt and Mercutio. Mercutio is accidentally killed. Romeo fights Tybalt and Tybalt is killed. Romeo is banned. 6/ Juliet goes to the Friar and obtains sleeping potion. 7/ Final death scene.

Everyone must participate in each scene. This encourages them to be creative and find different ways to incorporate the group. There is no verbal talking; instead each scene must consist of pantomime language and gestures. There must be at least one narrator who introduces each scene in pantomime language. This should be a different narrator for each scene. This further encourages them to condense the scene to it’s essential message. The narrator must then participate in each scene after narrating.

Drama, English, Literacy Unit: Using a Canadian short story, and Drama methodology to enhance student literacy. (Grades nine and ten)

Source: Everyone Talked Loudly in Chinatown, by Ann Jew, Breaking Free, Prentice-Hall, 1995. Source connects directly to themeweb for Romeo and Juliet.

a) In Pairs- personal stories - students talk about “love” : crushes, first kiss, arranged marriages.

b) Communication/Role-Play – Bring an imaginary guest to a party – introduce and exchange guests. At the end of a few minutes, group assembles to discover who gets lost in the process. What happened in the communication chain?

c) Statues- guessing game – freeze in emotional/ shape (abstract) or wax museum figure – students observe ‘who’s moving?

Advanced *Sculptor of Emotions – pairs – A. sculpts B and vice versa – add music. Interpret Emotion. Discussion.

d) Game -Feelings vocabulary chart – Pass a face game – make wacky, distorted facial expressions, add words, abstract sounds. For the second round, the one who identifies or describes the emotion/feeling catches that “face”, then recreates the face and transforms it to create a new one and so on….

Every student is given a copy of the story. The complete short story is read aloud (by teacher or by students in reading circles as readers’ theatre). Audio recording available from the CBC Radio Canada.

After the story is read, specific questions are distributed to the students with instructions about how to “mind map” specific answers using strategies such as symbols, shapes, colours, arrows, and key words or phrases. This is done individually or in groups of 5 –6 students who collectively contribute to the answers on chart paper. With the teacher as role model, students highlight key words in each question. Students paraphrase questions (orally) when requested by teacher. Answers are shared with a partner, groups or whole class.

The students re-tell the story from a particular character’s point of view. The character could be: Lin, Father, Mother or Todd. One person in the group must re-tell the story from the perspective of the “third person”. In their groups, the students discuss the “mixed emotions” of the main character; Lin. Students identify and practice the use of specific types of non-verbal communicators to convey Lin’s inner conflicts, especially when she must feed her grandmother.

In pairs, the students assume the role of either Lin or her grandmother. Lin feeds her grandmother and experiences mixed emotions. Students role-play and interpret the scene using a) non-verbal cues, gestures, facial expressions b) a script that uses five words (total for both characters) that express inner emotions felt by the characters and c) background music that suits the movement and the mood of the scene, and d) a clearly-defined crescendo point that is frozen (at the end of the scene).

Suggested music: any slow paced selection from the Narada collection, Enya’s “Watermarks”.

Extension: Voices in the Heads: Groups of four students prepare activity described above– but two students role-play characters and two, the character’s voices in their heads.

This is a non-verbal activity. In pairs, A. Sculpts B to create a physical sculpture that represents a) Todd’s – external image and spirit and then B sculpts A to create a physical representation b) Lin – before and after the ‘slap’

* Note: Sculpting builds trust by having students allow each other to physically touch, and move their partners as a puppeteer controls the movements of his/her puppet and a sculptor moulds his/her lump of clay into sculptures. When the sculptor has completed the sculpture, they step away from their ‘artwork’ and observe their creations. They can adjust their sculpture only once if they choose. Sculpting is done in silence or with suitable music for pacing of the movements.

Students formulate specific questions to ask characters from the story or others “beyond the story” who may supply information about the characters in the story. Then, students select one character from the story at a time for the “questioning session”. i.e. Father, Mother, neighbour, friend of Lin, Todd. The selected character takes the ‘hot seat’. The teacher may have to remind the students to ask the character how they predict how Lin can resolve the conflict with her father? The teacher may decide to “hot seat’ one or many characters.

In groups of four, students draw life-size outlines of the characters on paper unrolled from a larger roll and cut appropriately: Lin, Mother, Todd, Grandmother and Father. Using colored markers, they collectively label specific parts of the body with descriptive words that express the emotional and physical qualities of each character. These characters are then posted on the wall and the whole class has a viewing and a subsequent discussion led by the teacher. The focus is the students’ interpretation of major traits and minor traits of the characters and similarities in interpretation.

Students select one episode in the story as the anchor point for their dramatic monologues. They can choose from these main actions in the story a) feeding grandmother, b) kissing c) slapping or d) discovering that grandma has died

Students are required to include answers to the following questions in their monologues:

Students submit a written copy of their monologues prior to presenting them to the class.

Optional Activity: Writing in Role –In class – Students, in the role of one of the characters in the story, write a letter of apology that states their regrets to another character to another in the story. (Sandra to Lin, Lin to Grandmother, Lin to Todd) – This can become a script for a narration/ dualogue performance.

a) Each student completes a written monologue performance assignment: Self-Evaluation

b) Critique writing – Using a rubric, checklist or scale type of assessment, students evaluate one character monologue for vocal skills and delivery only.

In groups of three, students create scenes that might occur beyond the story where Lin has to deal with:a) Mom and Dad b) Grandma’s death c) Todd d) student choice approved by the teacher. These scenes will contain more than one of the following forms of drama: narration, tableaux, movement, sound tracking ,role-play, slow motion movement, dialogue, gibberish. Scenes must have a clear beginning, climax point and conclusion.

First, prepare students for gibberish as original language exercise. Large groups of ten or more will re-enact Lin’s memory of the scene in Chinatown when she, as a young girl accompanied her grandmother. Compare a pantomimed version with no sound effects to the same actions adding sounds and gibberish language. Discuss the images that affected Lin and her reactions to the activities happening around her.

1. Movie scripts (West Side Story or other R&J movie) as sources for exploration – for senior grades 11 + involving group choreography based on stage fighting moves.

2. Materials -- Mats - At least 20, preferably as many as possible to cover entire working space.

Activity #1

Activity #2

Stage Combat Basics -- The leader(s) will demonstrate one technique and then will separate and demonstrate the techniques on students. Next, in pairs, students will practice technique. Leader(s) will circulate during this time, commenting on effective work and giving pointers when necessary. This is the framework for each technique.

Discussion about Reactions -- The individual receiving the blow sells the slap, punch, shove, etc.

Hand Slap -- Point left hand toward partner’s chin creating a perpendicular plane. Use right hand to slap left hand or your partner’s hand which comes up at the last moment. Partner should react as if truly slapped.

Hand Punch -- Same as hand slap, only punch with right hand instead of slap.

Shoulder Punch -- Aim punch toward partner’s chin. As you come in front of chin, allow your hand to continue past your partner’s shoulder. Watch out for collar bones.

Side Fall -- Crumple to the side starting with the knees and progressing onward. Remember to protect the head with arm.

Shoulder Roll -- Not a somersault or side roll. Rolling forward, using forearm and side of head to propel you over.

Shove -- Shoving from the front and from behind. Shove moves into a side fall or shoulder roll.

Activity #3

Whole group drama based on a fight scene in the script from “West Side Story”, or a more contemporary film version of the play; the students rehearse movement and add text and dialogue (improvised) - keep it clean - Rehearse scenes thoroughly.

Special Note: It is very difficult to envision these moves simply from the descriptions. You really must have someone show you these moves for safety and back up to understand how they work. Contact S. La Frenie (mimeguy@sympatico.ca) or Theatre Ontario, or the Stage Combat Guild of Ontario for a list of properly trained actors/educators of stage combat.

1) Comparison essay - Writing a review of a modern movie version and comparing it to the play is highly recommended. See exemplars from e-newspaper movie reviews (i.e. www.the globeandmail.ca/entertainment)

2) Media Study – Referring to the section 1X above on stage combat. Adapting the techniques for camera angles and shots. Make video scene of the street fights with live on the spot news coverage and editorial comments.

From Curriculum Profile

The Folger Shakespeare Library has gathered strategies for teaching Shakespearean plays, including Romeo and Juliet, which focus on activities, language, and relevance. New York: Washington Square Press, 1993.

The Global Shakespeare Series includes related readings and teaching ideas. International Thomson Publishing, 1997. ITP Nelson (Canada).

Saliani, D. and G. Ferguson and T. Scott, Eds. Romeo and Juliet. Toronto: ITP Nelson, 1997. ISBN 0-17-606613-6

Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1987. ISBN 0-7747-1269-4 The HBJ version of the script of Romeo and Juliet, prepared for use in high schools.

Dawe, Robert, Barry Duncan, and Wendy Mathieu. ResourceLines 9/10. Scarborough, Ontario, Canada: Prentice-Hall Ginn, 1999. ISBN 0-13-012922-4 Terms and techniques, pp. 49, 125.

Zeffirelli, Franco. Romeo and Juliet (film). Paramount, 1968. ISBN 0-7921-0664-4 1997. ISBN 0-17-606610-1

Luhrmann, Baz. Romeo and Juliet (film). Twentieth Century Fox, 1996. 120 min. ISBN 0-7939-4143-1 www.foxhome.com/romeoand juliet

Shakespeare in Love. Alliance Vivafilm, Inc. 5 Place Ville Marie, Suite 1435, Montreal, Quebec. H3B 2G2

The scene

The Play: Romeo and Juliet

2. Materials -- Mats - At least 20, preferably as many as possible to cover entire working space.

Activity #1

Activity #2

Hand Punch -- Same as hand slap, only punch with right hand instead of slap.

Activity #3

From Curriculum Profile