Detailed example

Respond to a solo performance structure

Students choose one of the prescribed structures from the VCE Drama Solo Performance Examination published annually by the VCAA and use the play-making techniques while completing the following activities:

Researching

• Research a variety of resources, beyond the stimulus and reference material
• Research the time period (language, costume, social mores, culture, politics, economics)
  

Brainstorming

• In pairs or small groups, share and discuss the result of research
• In pairs or small groups, discuss how the research could be used to develop a character
  

Improvising

• Create a character biography using improvisation and hot-seating
• Participate in character and vocal workshops
• Experiment with moving around the space as the central character and using different emotions to inform the movement (anxious, jealous, ecstatic, angry, etc.)
• Experiment with moving around the space as the central character and using external influences to inform the movement (raining, a sore knee, a bad back, boiling hot weather, etc.)
• Pick two lines of dialogue for the central character and experiment with ways of saying the lines (speaking to a large group, whispering a secret, annoyed, excited, scared)
• Repeat the exercise for two other minor characters and ensure that the responses are contrasting
• Explore ways in which expressive skills can be employed, making a list of the expressive skills being used for the central character and at least two other characters (they must be contrasting)
• Map options for using production areas by working with costume elements and shoes or bare feet from the start
• Improvise a response to one of the dot points
• Experiment with stripping back dialogue and action, considering which words and actions are essential
• Re-work using song, gibberish, mime, heightened language and movement
• Re-visit the solo structure and identify where and how each dot point is represented
• Add vocal sounds and/or sound design to underscore or accentuate moments
• Examine the pace of your work and add moments of stillness and silence if needed

Scripting

• Create a working script, documenting the work
• Storyboard the solo and make links/transitions between the three dot points, mapping out where and how symbol is being applied
• Use editing to experiment with making the dot points non-linear
  

Rehearsing

• Explore the use of dramatic elements: (i) pick two or three moments and exaggerate the use of contrast, or tension, or space; (ii) build the work up to a clear climax; (iii) track the mood and mood shifts in the piece; (iv) link this to the performance skills of energy and timing (high energy to create tension, comic or dramatic timing to create contrast, etc.)
• Experiment with a variety of transformation techniques in order to demonstrate a range of ways to transform between characters, times and places; for example: using slow motion and the object of a dog's lead to move from the central character of a Show Dog with the lead in its mouth to the character of the Dog Handler with the lead in its hand; using the sound of clapping accompanied by a snap movement while dropping to the ground to transform back in time from a school playground to a hospital bed.
• Map out the use of space throughout the piece, ensuring that more than one area is used (unless this is intentional)
• Reflect on how the actor-audience relationship is being manipulated (e.g. if the examiners are the implied audience the actor must talk directly to them) and experiment with performing to various audiences to establish and maintain this actor-audience relationship

Refining

• Time the work while rehearsing and refining
• Perform the work; seek feedback and use this to rehearse and refine further
• Draft a statement of intention using no more than 10 words per dot point and listing key points that alert the audience to decisions made in relation to the setting/context.