Assignment Questions - Grotesque

1.    What is Grotesque theatre? - a brief history  

2.    What is Buffon theatre? - a brief history

3.    Describe the Body part walking exercise, why we did it and what you got from it? Include; starting from neutral, discovering where you lead from, over exaggeration, stuffing and rhythm. 

4.    Describe the 1-10 exercise. Noting the difference between naturalistic and the grotesque.

5.    Why is the Buffon and the Grotesque often used in theatre, to high light and tackle social issues in every day life?  Include stereotypes.

6.    Explain why you chose your celebrity and talk about their characteristics and your interpretation of their grotesque form.

7.    What are the techniques of performing in a grotesque style?

8.    Why is simple language, repetition an rhythm so important to larger than life characters?

9.    What is a counter mask?

10. Record your devising proses.

11. Evaluate your performance.

Assignment Questions

1 What are the rules and techniques of working with a mask?

2 Why is mask work used in theatre training?

3 Annotate the 6 commandments exercise?

4 600 words on the history of Commedia Dell’arte including the stock characters.

5 Write a detailed description of how to make a mask and evaluate your process.

6 Describe the state of the mask.  The energy and presence of the masked performer.  What does the performer have to do to live up to the mask and bring it alive in the space?

7 What was your experience of wearing a mask?

8 What is Gramalote speech?

9 Create a character profile for your mask, and character that you are playing in your final performance;

• Include a photo with your finished mask and costume.
• Which stock character have you used as a template - how has this developed?
• Who are you? Where are you from? Likes? Dislikes? etc..... Anything that will help you to create your masked character.

10 Record your devising process.

11 Evaluate your performance

Session 2 Task

Write 600 words on commedia dell'arte. Including, the history, the stock characters and techniques for performance. 

Please check the 'Useful Links Page' for additional resources.

Session 1 - Questions and Tasks

What are the rules and basic techniques when working with the mask?

Why is mask work used in theatre training?

Describe and comment on the 6 commands exercise we explored in class.