Intro to Theater - Study Guide #4: Acting and Popologues

Due: Monday, October 4th at 11:00 PM - 3 Points

This study guide will give you a chance to learn some basics of acting, watch some
great actors perform monologues, and develop your own “Popologue.” This study guide
is a significant part of your homework for the week, so plan on spending several hours
completing it. .

You’ll know where you need to answer, because there will be a line like this: _________

PART 1: Acting Concepts from The Theatrical Worlds textbook (p. 50)

Read pp. 50 and 51 (The first section of “A brief history of acting theory”) and answer
the following questions in your own words:

1. What is one way an actor is a “craftsperson?” _An actor is considered a

“craftsperson” because he uses a set of skills to build a character on
stage.________
2. What is one way an actor is an “artist?” _At the same time, an actor could also
be called an artist, because he applies creativity and imagination to an
interpretation that transcends the words on the page to create something unique
and individual.________
3. The book says that actors are engaged in a “balancing act, what one critic called
a ‘special gift for double-consciousness.’” During a performance, what are two of
the things the book mentioned that an actor is “balancing?” They balance
_exploring the emotional world of the character______________ and
___meeting a set of technical demands_____________ (among other things!)

Most Western acting training is based on the “system” of the Russian actor and director
Constantin Stanislovsky. Read from p. 59 starting from “The features of his early
system centered on ways to inspire relaxation, concentration, naïveté, and imagination.”
to p. 60, stopping at “As used today, the label ‘method acting’ applies to American
teachers such as Lee Strasberg who emphasized affective memory techniques.” Then
answer the questions

4. Describe Stanislovsky’s controversial technique of “affective memory”: _To carry

out the intensity and level of the emotions that are meant to be portrayed, an
actor should think about things related to that. For example, if an actor needs to
be very sad, they should think about a very sad moment in their life and then say
their lines. ____________

1
 5. What eventually displaced affective memory in Stanislavky’s system? _ The
method of physical actions.___________
6. What a character wants in a scene is their objective. What is Stanislavsky’s
name for what the character wants in the entire play overall?
__super-objective____________
7. Stanislavski moved away from a focus on emotion. “Instead of trying to stir
emotional states or copying the observed emotions of others,” what did
Stanislavsky ask actors to practice? __Stanislavsky asked them to practice the
“magic if”, or the “what would this character do?” in a certain
situation._____________

Emotion in acting: Stanislavsky eventually focused on “action based,” rather than

emotional acting. This is consistent with our relationship with emotions in life. I
remember being at a funeral for a loved one and remembering a comical moment we
shared. I was laughing inside, but I still “looked sad” on the outside. My emotions were
disconnected from my outward appearance, because my “objective” was to project the
“appropriate” funeral behavior. Often what we display to the world is different from what
we feel.

1. Share an example in your life when the emotions you felt inside did not match
those you were “displaying” to the outside world: ___One example of this is when
I was in 9th grade in one of my classes. I remember that my friend and I were
laughing about something during class, and we tried to hold our laughter in as
much as we could. This was because the teacher wouldn’t be very happy with us
bursting out in laughter._(We ended up somewhat suppressing our
laughter...)______________

PART 2: Applying Concepts to Monologues

Visit 100monologues.com . You watched “The Messenger” as part of your lecture video
and quiz, but now you are going to watch 2 others from the site. Look through the
monologues to find and view: Medicine by Seth Gilliam. As you watch, consider the
character’s objective and tactics, and then answer the questions.

1. Who is he talking to? (don’t say the camera!) __His patient

David_____________
2. What does he want from that person (his "objective")? __He wants to treat
David, by giving him prescriptions and advice on his daily
diet/habits_______________

2
Before we move on, a note on tactics: tactics should be action verbs, something you
could really do (or imagine doing) to another person: smash them, flatter them, lure
them, etc. They should not be states of being or emotion words (like: be mad, be sad,
etc.). An actor might, however, evoke emotion in a scene partner as a tactic (move
them to tears, infuriate them, etc.). A tactic is something you actively do (or visualizing
doing, like “burning through them with my eyes!”) to another actor/character. If you are
unsure of tactics, draw from this list of suggestions

3. Identify a tactic Gilliam uses to achieve this objective in Medicine: (this should be
an action verb, as described in the paragraph above!)
a. What was the “action verb” tactic? __When Gilliam says that drinking milk
along with taking the medicine might cause seizures and other negative
side effects, it creates a dramatic effect and gives David a bigger reason
to follow Gilliam’s orders.____________
b. What did you see the actor DO or SAY in the video to bring this tactic to
life? (a specific quote or physical description from the monologue):
__Gilliam says: “We don’t want that, do we?”, and goes on to say that he
wants David to get better. Those words give the statement a more serious
yet friendly tone.______________
4. Identify a different tactic Gilliam uses to achieve this objective in Medicine:
a. What was the tactic? _He talks about how one of his friends had a
random nose bleed at a party, using this as an example of the medicine’s
side effects._____________
b. What did you see the actor DO or SAY in the video to bring this tactic to
life? ___He starts laughing in a creepy way, which, to me, creates a
‘weird’ atmosphere
c. What is one interesting acting choice (something specific that they did
with their body or voice) Gilliam makes in the monologue? __Gilliam
smiles a lot throughout the monologue.________________ (for example:
The actor made fists and stomped around as they said “show me the
picture!”)

Now go back to the website and find Live by Russell G. Jones. Watch the video and
then answer the questions:

1. Who is he talking to? __His friend Jimmy_____________

2. What does he want from that person (his "objective")? ____He wants to show
Jimmy his new expensive purchase. Also, he wants to convince Jimmy to get a
BMW.
3. Identify a tactic Jones uses to achieve this objective in Live.

3
 a. What was the “action verb” tactic? _He says that Jimmy is afraid to “live”
and buy a BMW. _____________
b. What did you see the actor DO or SAY in the video to bring this tactic to
life? : _Jones says that Jimmy has to really live his life, and not be fearful
of spending money. _______________
4. Identify a different tactic Jones uses to achieve this objective in Live:
a. What was the tactic? Jones says that he travels to the Bahamas, and how
he goes on different vacations to live his life._____________
b. What did you see the actor DO or SAY in the video to bring this tactic to
life? __He says it in a loud and lively tone
c. What is one interesting physical or vocal acting choice the actor makes in
the monologue? ___His hand gestures and loud tone_______________

PART 3: Crafting a Blueprint for your own “Popologue”

The “popologue” activity I introduced in the lecture videos uses a familiar song as a
script for a monologue. You’ll analyze the lyrics the way an actor might analyze a
monologue from a play.

Choose a real pop, folk or traditional song that you are familiar with. This song can be
in any language. You will be sharing a bit of these for a discussion next week, so
choose something you would be comfortable speaking out loud (you are not singing
this). Avoid showtunes or rap, since these are too close to our end result.

Follow the steps below to turn your song into a popologue!

1. What is the title of the Song you chose? __Row Row Row Your
Boat________________
a. For example: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
2. To whom are you speaking in the song (be specific!)? _You_________________
a. For example: A shy star up in the sky
3. What do you want from this person/these people? ___To row your
boat_______________
a. Example: I want this star to shine brightly
4. You don’t need to use the whole song. One verse and one chorus is usually
about right, but you are welcome to do more if you’d like. You should present the
lyrics without changing the order or any of the words. Type out below (or copy
and paste) the song lyrics you will use in your popologue: ____Row, row, row
your boat. Gently down the stream. Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a
dream. Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream. Merrily merrily, merrily,

4
 merrily. Life is but a dream. Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream
Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a dream. Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream. Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a
dream._____________________
5. After you speak these words to them, what do you hope to see in the other
person/people? Or what action do you hope to see them take? ____I want this
person to row their boat faster and faster down the stream______________
a. Example: I want to see this star get brighter and brighter as I speak

That’s the end of the study guide. Next, you will make a video of yourself speaking a bit
of your popologue, using the blueprint you made in this study guide. You are making a
video like the woman who performed the “Put a Ring On It” lyrics as a monologue.
You’ll get to share and see some of your peers’ popologues in the discussion.