MY CREATIVE PROCESS

In order to become a confident workshop leader and bring together an ensemble of actors who exhibited enthusiasm,  organization and discussions were two factors that made this goal possible. First, I was able to draw on my own experiences and interests from high school, and relay this theatrical technique to my peers as one that I have been proud to be a part of. However, it is crucial to become skilled in the material, able to draw from sources, such as An Actor's Handbook (Rudlin), from memory, and become a reliable reference for questions. Therefore, it was critical to create detailed lesson plans with specific timestamps and objectives achievable by the end of the class period. These lesson plans allowed me to teach the material to the best of my abilities, but also to fully engage the students, returning to the next class period with this material still in mind.

Accordingly, group discussions were significantly impactful, especially when it came to brainstorming ideas for each character, learning from others, and asking questions to clarify confusion. Moreover, having a variety of discussions including sitting in a circle, doing a ‘popcorn’ oriented sharing, reflecting on one’s work through writing, and having a conversation with one another about the topic and its relevance contributed each student’s preferred way of learning. This way, the room becomes more interactive and usable, as for my workshop, a stage was necessary for the actors to perform, however it was also used as a place for reflection and conversation, which increases the students’ absorption of the theory that was presented. From this, a routine fell into place in which the actors and I felt comfortable having conversations about success and confusion, establishing a friendly environment consisting of motivation and excitement to portray a unique form of theater.  

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Rudlin, John. 1994. Commedia Dell’arte: An Actor's Handbook. London: Routledge.

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