Intermediate Drama

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Intermediate Drama Theatre Production Skills
Name _____________________ Title of
Extract_______________________ Theatre
Production Skill______________
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Contents 1. Themes Write the name of the play
in the oval and the themes / issues and message
of the extract round it. 2. Plot Describe the
plot, narrative and structure of the extract.
Identify the setting, time and place. 3.
Characters Describe each character in the
extract and describe their relationships. 4.
Ideas Write down your ideas for your chosen
theatre art. 5. Plans / notes / diagrams / cue
sheets.
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1. THEMES Write the name of the play in the oval
and the themes / issues and message of the
extract round it. Love Oh break my
heart Death Tybalt is
dead Hes dead, hes dead, hes
dead Beliefs Can heaven be so envious
A damned saint
Romeo and Juliet
Family My dearest cousin Despair If he
be slain, say Ay or if not, No. Brief
sounds determine of my weal or woe These
griefs, these owes, these sorrows make me old
Family My dearest
cousin Marriage Shall I speak ill of
him that is my husband
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2. PLOT Describe the plot, narrative and
structure of the extract. Identify the setting,
time and place. The plot of the extract shows
Juliet discovering from her nurse that her cousin
Tybalt has been killed by her new husband Romeo.
At first there is confusion as to who has been
killed but them the nurse makes it clear to
Juliet that it is Tybalt that is dead and that
she saw the body. She also tells Juliet that
Romeo has been banished for the deed. Juliet is
very upset about the news and doesnt know who
to cry for, her dead cousin or the fact her
husband has been sent away, because she loves
him so much. The nurse is very upset about the
death of Tybalt and gives Juliet into trouble
for saying nice things about Romeo, but Juliet
tells her off.___________________________________
_______ The setting is in the past, we know this
because the dialogue is in old English. It is 3
hours since Juliet has married Romeo. The place
is at Juliets house.
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2. PLOT Describe the plot, narrative and
structure of the extract. Identify the setting,
time and place. Plot - Juliet gets news from
her nurse that her cousin Tybalt has been killed
by her new husband Romeo. The nurse gives the
message in a confusing way and Juliet doesnt
know who is dead. The nurse also tells Juliet
that Romeo has been banished because he killed
Tybalt. Both Juliet and the nurse are very
upset about the news but they are upset for
different people, the nurse for Tybalt and
Juliet because her husband has been sent away,
because she loves him so much. Structure
Linear Setting - the past, we know this because
the dialogue is in old English. Time - 3 hours
since Juliet has married Romeo. Place -
Juliets house.
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3. CHARACTERS Write down in your own words a
description of each character in the
extract. CHARACTER 1 Juliet She is a young
girl who has just married the love of her life,
Romeo. She gets very upset, but also remains
strong when she hears of the death of her
cousin. Her emotions are very torn between
grieving for her cousin and the lost of her new
husband, Romeo. She has a nurse, which as it is
written in old English and seems old fashioned,
makes me think she must be in her early teens
and from a wealthy family. CHARACTER 2 The
nurse She is Juliets nurse/servant and it
seems that they have a close relationship because
Juliet had sent her on an errand to see and get
something from her new husband. She is very
upset at the death of Tybalt and she describes
how she nearly swooned when she saw the dead
body. I think she is an older lady as she talks
about not believing that she would live to see
Tybalt dead, so she maybe in her late forties.
She is also single. She is surprised that Romeo
killed Tybalt but is old fashioned in her view
that family blood is the most important thing. I
think she is a loyal servant.
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Describe the relationships of the characters in
the extract, comment on their motivation and
status. The two characters are master and
servant. Juliet gets quite frustrated with her
nurse because she cant understand at first who
is dead and she asks her to speak plainly
showing her status as master. The nurse has
lower status because she is a servant and must
look after Juliet but she gets annoyed with her
because her loyalty is divided between her dead
cousin and new husband (murderer). They have a
close relationship, which we can tell because
Juliet sends her on special errands and the way
they talk to each other shows they have known
each other for a long time. Juliets motivation
is to get news of her new husband and the nurse
is to break the news of the death and banishment
and to look after Juliet.
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3. CHARACTERS Write down in your own words a
description of each character in the
extract. CHARACTER 1 Juliet Young girl who
has just got married Upset by the news Wealthy
she has a nurse Confused by the death of her
cousin and the banishment of her
husband CHARACTER 2 The nurse Servant to
Juliet Loyal Upset by the news Gives Juliet
into trouble for caring too much about Romeo and
not her cousin Shaken by seeing a dead body
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Describe the relationships of the characters in
the extract, comment on their motivation and
status. Master and servant Confusion between
them as the nurse doesnt explain who is dead
properly Juliet has higher status as she is the
master. The nurse has lower status because she
is a servant Loyalty - Juliet finds her loyalty
is divided between her dead cousin and new
husband (murderer). Close relationship Juliet
s motivation is to get news of her new husband
and the nurse is to break the news of the death
and banishment and to look after Juliet.
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4. IDEAS - THEATRE PRODUCTION AREA
Acting Write down your ideas for interpreting
the extract and the choice of available
resources. I have chosen to act for this extract
and will play the part of Juliet. Juliet is about
the same age as me and is very much in love. I
think we should set the play in the past. The
themes that are contained in this extract are as
relevant today as they must have been when it
was written love, marriage, death, despair,
beliefs and family, but I think that the
original time period is about the late 16th
century. From the extract I think that Juliets
family are wealthy and that the nurse has been a
nanny to her since she was a small child and has
watched her growing up. I think we should set
it in the garden of Juliets house where she is
waiting for the nurse to bring her news of her
new husband. I think it is during the afternoon
because she has been married for 3 hours (and
probably got married in the morning). I would
like to use modern music as this can bring out
the themes to the audience, and have listened to
a number of songs about love and loss. I hope
to be able to use old fashioned dresses and for
Juliets to be colourful and quite fancy, while
the nurse will have a plain one in a dark colour
like, black or brown to show her status as a
servant.
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I have decided that at the beginning of the scene
I will be happy and smiling but pacing about
because I am anxious to hear news from my new
husband. Quickly when I hear the confusing news
from my nurse I will change my facial expression
and body language to despair and confusion. My
voice will go high pitched and louder in volume
and my tone will become confused and worried. I
will continue to pace and shake the nurse when I
dont understand who is dead, then I will sit
heavily down on the floor and have a desperate
face expression and use the gesture of twisting
my hair and wringing my hands. My voice will be
a low volume and have a sad tone. My voice will
change again at the end of the scene, to show I
am angry with the nurse using a loud volume and
puzzled tone. I will stand up and stare
straight at the nurse throughout this speech.
The resources I will use are the set, costume,
other cast member, my teacher, the extract and
the rest of my group.
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Plans / notes / diagrams / cue sheets. Groundplan
KEY

Entrances and exits
Garden pot Garden seat
AUDIENCE
In the next few pages are my character
description, my role card and my dramatic
commentary for Juliet.
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4. IDEAS - THEATRE PRODUCTION AREA Set
Design Write down your ideas for interpreting the
extract and the choice of available
resources. I have chosen to design the set for
this extract. I think we should set the play
in the past - original time period is about the
late 16th century. Juliets family are
wealthy, she has a nurse We could set the
extract in a number of places including in the
garden of Juliets house, Juliets bedroom, or a
room (lounge) in Juliets house. Its afternoon
Modern music easier to find and could bring
out the themes to the audience. Traditional
dresses for the characters to show their
personalities. Plain make-up for Juliet she
is a young girl and make the nurse look older
with wrinkles. Chords as props, hankies for both
characters.
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I have decided that the scene will be set in the
garden of Juliets house. I suggested this to
the group and they all agreed that this would be
different from just having it in her bedroom. I
imagined the set to be quite simple, maybe in a
courtyard, this got round the problem of having
grass. I thought it would be good for the
characters to have somewhere to sit and decided
this could be a garden bench. I will also use
garden/flower pots filled with flowers and small
bushes to give it a garden atmosphere. I
decided not to use a garden wall with flowers
growing up it as this would have been to time
consuming to make as well as the bench. The
resources I will use are wood from the
department and the tools in the technical
department, paint from drama, some flower pots
from home and some flowers and bushes from my
own garden, my teacher and the actors to try out
the set. I think my set will give the actors
enough room to move about in.
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Elevation drawing


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4. IDEAS - THEATRE PRODUCTION AREA Costume I
have chosen to do costume for this extract. I
have decided to use an old fashioned dress that
we have in the drama department for Juliet. It
is long, pink satin with sleeves that come to
the elbow. I am going to add a lace bit at the
front and a pink shawl. For the nurse I am going
to use a plain long black dress, which has long
sleeves and make a waist apron in white. I have
measured both actors and the costumes have
chosen are suitable for their size. Each actor
will wear skin tone tights and black shoes that
they have (these are flat dolly shoes). I will
have to talk to the make-up designer to discuss
hair and make-up to go with my costumes. The
resources I will use are the costumes dresses
from the department, some white lace and pink
ribbon, a pink shawl, some white material to
make the apron, the sewing machine, the cast
members, my teacher, the extract and the make-up
designer. In the next few pages are my costume
designs for the nurse and Juliet.
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4. IDEAS - THEATRE PRODUCTION AREA Make-up I
have chosen to do make-up for this extract. I
have decided that I want to make Juliet look
like a young girl, natural but pretty. The
nurse who is older approx late forties I will
have to make look older, with wrinkles and upset
as she has just heard the news about Romeo and
Tybalt and has seen the dead body. I will talk
to the costume designer about the colours she is
going to use, but I would like to use soft
peaches and pinks on Juliet to give her a young,
fresh complexion. I will use pink eye shadow
and blusher to give her a flushed look as she is
waiting outside for news of Romeo. Some pink
lipstick will finish the look. I will
straighten her hair and put it in a loose pony
tail at the nape of her neck, tied with a ribbon.
For the nurse I want to use an old age
foundation to give her skin a weathered look. I
will also age her by putting wrinkles on her
face and using browns and greys to give her dark
circles under her eyes. I will smudge her
mascara to give the effect that she has been
crying, after seeing the body.
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I will put her hair in a tight bun (if the
costume designer doesnt want to make her wear a
hat. I will also need to check the effects of
my make-up under the lighting to see if it looks
effective. The resources I will use are the
cast member, my teacher, the extract, the
costume designer, the lighting designer and the
departments make-up - 6 foundations, 6 powders,
36 eye shadows, 6 blushers, various colours of
eye pencil, 24 lipsticks, 6 mascaras, grey
hairspray. In the next few pages are my make-up
designs for the nurse and Juliet.
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4. IDEAS - THEATRE PRODUCTION AREA Lighting I
have chosen to do lighting for this extract. I
have decided that at the beginning of the scene
the mood is happy, as Juliet is waiting for news
of her new husband, I will use soft yellow/pink
lighting from 4 Fresnels to show this mood
this will also indicate the time of day
afternoon. When the nurse arrives I will start
to introduce some blues and purples these will
gradually become brighter and brighter with the
yellow/pink fading out. This will change the
mood to one of darkness and despair to show the
characters feelings. I will use 4 Fresnels for
the blues and purples. I also think I might use
a red light downstage when the nurse talks about
Tybalts body and blood, this will fade in and
then out again. I will end the scene with a
slow fade to blackout. The resources I have are
4 floods, 16 Fresnels, 2 profile spots, various
gels, the set, the extract and the rest of my
group. I will need to talk to the following
people before making my final choice the
director, the set designer, the sound designer,
the costume designer and the make-up
designer. In the next few pages are my lighting
grid, cue sheet and marked script. The groundplan
is also included.
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4. IDEAS - THEATRE PRODUCTION AREA Sound Love
song to start the extract, sets the
mood. Birdsong sound effect to show set outside
and day time. Sad music to show the death of
Tybalt. Sad music to show Romeo has been sent
away. Rain sound effect to show the gloomy
effect at the end of the scene. Resources
Various sound effects CDS, Various music CDS, CD
Player, Sound system, the teacher, the
extract. Talk to Director, lighting designer,
actors. In the next few pages are my sound list,
cue sheet and marked script.
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4. IDEAS - THEATRE PRODUCTION AREA Props I
have chosen to do props. The extract does not
give many ideas for props. The only thing that
is mentioned is the nurse holding some cords. I
think I will also use hankies for both
characters as if we set it in the past they would
have carried one at all times. I will also give
the nurse a personal prop of a cross on a chain
which she can hold when she talks about god. I
will need to talk to the costume designer about
this. I think that Juliet should also have some
personal props of a fan and some jewellery. I
will talk to the costume designer about this
also. The characters can use the hankies to dab
their eyes and to twist round to show they are
upset and dont know what to do especially
Juliet. The resources I have are various
jewellery, variety of hand held and pre-set
props. my teacher, the extract. I will make the
2 hankies out of white cotton and sew a design
onto each one. In the next few pages are my props
list and my design for the hankies.
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4. IDEAS - THEATRE PRODUCTION AREA Stage
Management I have chosen to do stage management
for this extract. I think the extract should be
set in the past as I think it will look better.
I would like to set the scene in Juliets
bedroom as she is waiting for news of her lover
and the bedroom would be a good place to wait. I
think the sound should be one sad love song that
plays throughout the scene. I think we should
use old fashioned dresses. Make-up and props
should be simple and show the status of the
characters. Lighting should also be simple
showing the mood of love and then despair
colours like pink and blue would be good. I will
work with all the designers, the director and the
actors to make sure the extract is performed
well. I will met with the director and actors
to work out a rehearsal timetable and then give
this information to the designers and see when
they need to see the actors and director for
costume fittings, make-up trials and set/
lighting/sound rehearsals. I will keep a record
of all the actors moves and voice and the
designers decisions. The resources I will use
are the designers, cast members, my teacher, the
extract and the resources in the drama studio. In
the next few pages are the rehearsal schedule,
the prompt copy, groundplan, costume designs,
make-up designs, lighting cue sheet, sound cue
sheet, prop list and record of meetings with the
cast and crew.