Lazzo – Piece of rehearsed comic business (plural = lazzi)
Lazzi of asides and freezes
Lazzi of changing places
Lazzi of charging
Lazzi of chasing
Lazzi of double takes
Lazzi of conspiracy
EXPLORE THEATRE
Ms. Tami Monsod
2011-2012
monsods@ismanila.org
Course Description:
Students gain skills and knowledge in areas of performance and production by working as researchers, writers, designers, performers and technicians. Students are exposed to a sampling of historical theatre practices and conventions. They document their learning through writing and/or blogging reflections, journals, research tasks, self/peer assessment, and formal play reviews. Ensemble and group work are stressed as the students collaborate towards creating polished performances, both published and devised, for public viewing.
Course Content:
Status
Masks and Commedia dell arte
Stereotypes and Melodrama
Realism
Assessment:
There are six areas of assessment:
Application of Skills 25%
Reflection and Evaluation 20%
Personal Engagement and Group Work 20%
Personal Management 5%
Each of the first five areas will be assessed using tasks appropriate to the unit being studied.
Informal assessment in each of the areas will take place regularly to allow students to become comfortable with the indicators and to begin to use the indicators as guides for their own work. Class will agree, in advance, on the indicators/criteria for formal assessments.
Personal Management assesses timely preparation for, and delivery of, assignments and performances.
There is one date per quarter after which late assignments will not be accepted and students will be awarded an F for that assignment.
Those dates are as follows:
Q1: Monday 26 Sep. 2011
Q2: Monday 21 Nov. 2011
Q3: Monday 20 Feb. 2012
Q4: Monday 14 May 2012
Course Requirements and Expectations:
1) When you enter the room, put belongings in cubbies and leave the space clear and clean for work. When you leave the room, make sure it is also clear and clean for the next class.
2) Maximize use of class time.
3) Come to class wearing uniform that allows for lots of movement (safe shoes, i.e., please, no mini- skirts, belly-exposing tops, or trousers hanging below the belt line).
4) Bring a thin notebook /folder/ clearbook to record and keep notes in. Always bring something to write with. Bring all other necessary materials to class (scripts, props, costumes, etc.).
5) Maintain a positive learning atmosphere by showing respect, voluntary participation, constructive feedback, and theater etiquette.
6) No gum, food, drinks (except water), iPods, or cell phones are allowed in classroom, FAT, or LT unless permitted for special reasons by the teacher.
7) If you are absent, keep abreast of class activities by checking the blog, contacting teacher and/or fellow students. Exchange email addresses or contact numbers with group mates. Try to ensure, to the best of your ability, that your contributions for a due project are available for your groupmates.
Respect the belongings of others. Use / touch/ move only the items, props, and costumes that are yours or assigned to you. Unclaimed items will be brought to Lost and Found.
9) Do your homework (practice makes perfect) and, if it is to be submitted, do so on time. All non-performance assignments must be submitted upon teacher request on the due date. Five percent of the grade is personal management, and late submissions are reflected in that grade.
10) Be present for all scheduled individual and group performances, which will be set to ensure they do not conflict with school trips, sporting events, standardized tests, etc. Students who are absent on a scheduled performance will not be able to receive top assessment marks for make-up performances.
The three main units studied this semester were Status, Commedia Dell Arte, and Masks. What was the most important principle or technique I learned with regard to each?
Devote a paragraph to each topic. Support your main point with experiential specifics (it could have been your own work or work of a peer that you witnessed). Tell the story of what happened. You may use visuals. To remind you of what is important in a journal, please go to Reminders for Journals at http://monsods.ism-online.org/2010/08/27/reminders-for-journals/
Due Monday, Dec. 6
As promised during Open House, students will be presenting a program of scenes to cap their studies on masks. There are five groups of 4-5 students who have taken stock characters from commedia dell arte and devised scenes based on these characters and lazzi (comic business). The titles and characters of the scenes are as follows:
BANANA OF LOVE Monique, Daniel, Ishan, Simon
MOUSE BREAD JR, Gabriel, Mika
AMERICAN PIE Mackenzie, Carol, Mike, Adrian (directed by Hara)
MMM…A LOVERS’ QUARREL Lloyd, Anushay, Ben (directed by Hiro)
LA CUILLERE Annika, Regina, Gaurav (directed by Je Hee)
For Block G, this homework is due Friday, October 8.
MY MASK: INTRODUCTION TO COMMEDIA DELL’ ARTE
Please do the following in chronological order:
A. Take a picture of your commedia dell’ arte mask and study its physical characteristics in detail.
B. Interpret the mask in your own fashion.
1) The animal that I think best corresponds to this mask is the __________ because ___________________________________.
2) The word that I think would best describe the emotional expression of this mask is __________.
3) The word that I think would best describe the voice of this mask is __________.
C. Take on the character of the mask. In the first person, tell us about yourself by completing the sentences in the most creative (and fitting) manner you can:
1) I am __________.
2) My age is __________.
3) I truly like ___________.
4) If there is one thing I abhor it is___________.
5) Do you notice the __________ on my face? Let me explain how it came to be that way: ___________.
RESEARCH
2 . Look up your mask in the book Commedia dell’ Arte. (You may have to look in the index if your mask is a “derivative” of another. If so, identify it when answering the next question.) Read the chapter on your mask.
3. How close was your interpretation of the mask to the original? Explain in at least 500 words.
…is our new textbook for Explore Theatre. Please collect it at the Textbook center. 
Tami Monsod
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