(This was written up after-the-fact. As a class, we defined this exercise because it seemed like fun, and built nicely on our improv work. Next time around, this exercise can be improved, and more work done to improve the quality of the scene presentations... but I would call it a successful experiment the first time around.)
We've watched Much Ado About Nothing (MAAN), but do we understand it?
Our first speaking exercise is diagnostic in nature: we've been practicing breathing and improv, but we haven't "performed." So, to put MAAN in context, we rewrote a scene (or the whole play, or really anything that fit in 5-8 minutes of presentation) as small groups (teams of 2-4).
First, as a class, we brainstormed all the media contexts we might imagine re-writing a scene in. Scrubs. Shrek. Dora the Explorer. Then, we broke into groups and began thinking about scenes and how they would translate. We then presented our scenes to the rest of the class.
What was fun was that people took risks, tried on new characters, played with voices, etc. We didn't have evaluation in place up-front, but we engaged in a full-class discussion afterwards where we analyzed our recorded performances. (Yes, painful to do, but very educational.)
In the future, it is likely that this will get broken out into multiple assignments (eg. first an exercise in exploring the nature of the humor in the target environment, and how that compares with MAAN), and then the exercise in translation. Further, we'll stress some additional aspects of performance, pushing people to get out of their scripts and really perform their piece.
In the meantime, it was a good experiment, and it contributed to the level of trust and comfort that the members of the class had with performing in front of a group. Therefore, as a first FS101 speaking exercise, I consider it a success, but also see ways to improve it in the future.
