Introduction

Welcome to the “Beginners Theatre Course”, where you will learn

quickly and easily the essential aspects of the Performing Arts, so that
you can put on your own plays at home, in your community, place of
study or any other place where you are.

If you feel the passion and interest for acting, this is the opportunity for
you to unleash your imagination and, in the company of friends, family
or classmates, carry out your theatrical projects successfully and easily.

The Performing Arts are a fun activity that contributes to the

development of creativity and imagination in children, young people and
adults. In addition, it allows you to explore the fascinating inner world of
each character, where you will be the one who brings them to life, and
one day you can be a doctor, another day a sailor, an airplane pilot, a
Roman soldier and even an astronaut.

Theatre is a valuable resource, and if you feel you have the talent,
discipline and will to get involved in this activity, you will have the
opportunity to generate stage proposals for the entertainment of adults
and children.

Come on! Join me on this short journey through the fascinating world
of Theatre!
Lesson 1 What is Theatre?
When we think of the word "Theater", two ideas come to mind: One,
that it is the building where a group of actors and actresses perform
theatrical performances. The other, which is a literary genre, in prose or
verse, dialogued and conceived to be represented in an open or closed
space before an audience.

The truth is that both are perfectly valid, since the physical structure
where the works are presented, the act of performing, and even the
script or playbook are called theatre.

The important thing is that we are clear that theater is a representative

art, through which we tell a story, by giving life to the characters in that
script, lending them our mind, feelings, body, voice and spirit, to be
represented on a stage before an audience.

Some experts call theatre the "synthesis of the arts" because it

encompasses all other artistic expressions: dance and sculpture (body
expression), architecture (scenery and props), music and singing
(education of the voice, light and sound effects), painting (stage
decorations), etc.

In short, to talk about theater, the presence of four (4) basic elements
that characterize it is very important: The script, the actors, the
performance space and most importantly "the audience", because
without this, so much work would not make sense, right?, since... Every
actor owes it to his audience!

Lesson 2: Let's learn a little about

its history
Before the hunt, the tribe performed the respective magic ritual, with
dances and songs in honor of their gods. Their faith rituals gave them
the confidence to undertake work with the assurance that they would
obtain the necessary food for their families.

Within this ancestral rite, a very important figure emerged, who was
considered to be the person possessing the necessary powers that put
him in direct contact with the deity.

This character was

the "Shaman." A
figure that many
authors and
researchers point
to as the first
example of an
actor known in the
history of
humanity.
Because their
performances and
rituals were highly
theatrical.

Primitive theatre

However, historically it is considered that theatre as an art was born with

the Greeks. Those who gave it form and content through the
performances that were made in the gigantic theaters that they built for
the entertainment of the people.

The Dionysian festivals and the cult of the God Bacchus became the
ideal space for the birth of theatrical art as we know it today.

The Greeks are considered not only the fathers of the performing arts,
but also of the three main genres of representation that this art
possesses: Drama, Tragedy and Comedy.

Plays staged and written in those times by authors such as Aeschylus,

Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes and Menander are still performed
on the world's major stages.
Their actors wore striking costumes, exuberant masks and walked
wearing enormous sandals, called "Cothurnos", which allowed them to
raise their height and be seen even by the spectators who occupied the
last row of the imposing Greek theatres, such as the famous "Theatre
of Epidaurus".

The Greek Theatre

I invite you to learn more about the beginnings of theater. Travel

through history and learn about "The Commedia dell'Arte",
"Elizabethan Theatre", "The Spanish Golden Age",
"Romanticism", "The Theatre of the Absurd", among others.

It will surely be an interesting journey, which will give you good

ideas to put into practice in your future plays! So… Go ahead!
Let's get to work!

Lesson 3: Basic Concepts in

Performing Arts
In this lesson we are going to learn some important terms that we must
learn about theatrical art:

Actor or actress: Person who embodies or represents the characters in

a play.

Acting: The art of interpreting, staging and giving life to the characters
in a play.

Stage: Physical space where the performance takes place through the
different acts, scenes or frames of a play. It serves to locate the viewer
in the space or place where the work takes place. Example: A forest, the
beach, the mountains, the interior of a house, a castle and much more.

Director: Person who has the responsibility of directing the work of the
actors and the staging. Coordinates rehearsals and provides guidance
for acting work.

Props: Additional implements that complement the scenery. They are

generally used by actors. Example: swords, glasses, plates, cutlery,
handkerchiefs, hats, etc.

Costume: Clothing worn by the characters in a play. Each costume

responds to the needs of the show as well as to the instructions of the
general or artistic director. Example: A period costume, a feline costume,
a soldier's uniform, etc.

Lighting: Action through which the shades of light and color are
managed in a theatrical show, controlled through a professional or also
artisanal lighting console. Lighting helps place viewers in time, so that if
it is a bright day, there is plenty of light, or if on the contrary it is night, a
feeling of darkness or gloom will be created.

Musicalization: This involves using recorded or live music to create

different atmospheres or environments of the work in its different scenes
if required. With music we can suggest the idea of an atmosphere of
sadness, joy, action and much more.

Audience: We refer to the group of people who attend a play or

theatrical show. The audience is an essential ingredient that cannot be
missing, without an audience there is no show.

Conflict: It is the other main ingredient of every theatrical work. Most

authors define conflict as "forces in conflict", that is, conflicting or
opposing interests. The motive of the conflict is given by the
confrontation between the main and antagonist characters. Conflict is
the "center of interest of every drama."

Without conflict there is no interesting drama! Conflict is the

main attraction of a work! Don't forget!

Lesson 4: Dramatic Genres

There are different dramatic genres such as farce, satire, melodrama,
tragicomedy, pantomime, secular acts, monologues, experimental
genres, minor genres, among others.

But historically, the most representative are Tragedy, Comedy and

Drama.
Tragedy is the theatrical genre par excellence, characterized by the
predominance of fatalistic events throughout almost the entire
development of the plot.

In tragedy, the protagonists suffer constantly, as a result of life's

adversities or simply the evils produced by the antagonists.

Tragic plays most often end in tragedy (the death of the main character
or the protagonist, or in many cases both, as in the play "Romeo and
Juliet"), hence the reason they are called "Tragedy."

Comedy, unlike tragedy, where the suffering, misfortune and fatality of

the characters predominate, constitutes the other extreme, that is, they
are stories where the funny, the comical, the joke, the pranks and
everything that sounds like fun predominate during the development of
the story.

This does not mean that there is no conflict in comedy, of course there
is, because we have already learned in lesson 3 that without conflict
there is no interesting drama!

What happens in the case of comedy is that the development of the plot
is always humorously oriented, since its main purpose is to entertain the
audience and not make them feel sad. Although at its core, like any
theatrical work, there is always a message, a moral, a premise that the
author wants to share with the audience. Unlike tragedy, comedy always
has a happy ending.

Drama is a kind of hybrid or combination of the two previous ones. In

Drama we find tragic and humorous situations developing in parallel.

In stories inspired by this genre, the characters face adversities, but the
way the work is treated gives it a tragic or humorous tone depending on
the moment in the story: beginning, middle or end.

An example of this genre can be found in the so-called "Soap Operas",

which are broadcast on television and are characterized by showing
different entanglements in dramatic situations ranging from intrigue,
evil, jealousy, envy, love, friendship and many more.

Drama, unlike tragedy and comedy, is open to having a tragic or happy

ending. However, the most common is the latter, that is, an ending
where all conflicts are resolved favorably, the bad guys are punished
and the good guys live happily ever after.
In addition to dramatic genres, there is also another classification called
"Types of theatre", which according to their purpose, the environment
where they take place, the theme that predominates in their content,
their dramatic structure, duration or what type of audience they are
directed to are classified as: School Theatre, Children's Theatre,
Popular Theatre, Rural Theatre, Commercial Theatre, Liturgical
Theatre and Micro Theatre.

I invite you to do more research on them, so you will have a range of

possibilities that allow you to put all your creativity and imagination to
work, choosing the type of theatre you want to perform based on the
dramatic genre that best suits your theatrical project.

…Go ahead, don’t stop in your search! Consistency, discipline

and tenacity will always give you good results! So, let's go!

Lesson 5: The Script or Theatrical

Libretto
The Script or Theatrical Libretto is the text where our play is developed
literarily, through the dialogues between each of the characters that
make it up.

Through these dialogues, the characters introduce us to the story,

showing us each of the facets that form the development of the plot.

In addition to the dialogues, the libretto contains a series of suggestions

that the author adds in order to guide the actors and the director on
specific aspects of the scenes. These suggestions are called
"Annotations."

The theatrical script does not allow narrators or narrations in the text,
since as a genre, its essence in the construction of the story is in the use
of dialogue, therefore the narrator disappears and the characters are in
charge of making known, through dialogues, the story that is going to be
told.

Below is an example of what the structure of a theatrical script looks

like:

The Theatrical Script

 Scene 1 --- Introduction (Characters and conflict)

 Scene 2 ---Development (Development of the conflict – Forces in conflict)

 Scene 3 --- Outcome (Problem solved or not)

Screenplay Format

 (Scenery. Brief description of the scene)

 Character 1: (Note) ----------------------------------------------.

 Character 2: ---------------------------------------------. (Dialogues)

How to write a play script?

To write your own play script, follow these steps:

 Think about the story you want to tell.

 Get an idea of how you want to shape your story, so that it follows
the sequence: introduction, middle, and end.
 Develop it taking into account the aspects outlined in the previous
point.
 Diagram your work by scene, that is, make a kind of sketch where
you briefly say what happens in each of the scenes.
 Write your work, giving yourself the freedom to write as naturally
as possible.
 Don't forget to add notes where you consider them necessary.
 Create a first draft of your work and let it sit for a few days, after
which you do a final revision.
 Once the final review is done, you can print your booklet.

Below is a brief guide for preparing a theatrical script:

Guide to writing a theatrical script

Title: Name of the work. It is generally related to the dramatic action of the same.

Theme: (What the work is about). E.g.: “Freedom”

Plot: (What the story tells) Example: “Story of a bird that was afraid to fly”

Premise: Moral, lesson or reflection, central idea. E.g.: "He who does not risk, does not
win"
Genre and type: Tragedy, comedy or drama. School theatre, youth theatre, rural theatre,
commercial theatre, popular theatre, etc.

Characters: The beings that take part in a literary work and give life to the plot and the
conflict of the work.

Synopsis: Brief account of the events. It should not cover more than 10 lines. It must
have: Introduction (Presentation or beginning, Development (Conflict) and End
(Outcome).

Layout: Brief description of each scene.

Dialogues: Speeches that allow us to understand the characters' personality and the
development of the story.

Take on the challenge of writing your own works. You will

surely feel great satisfaction in discovering that there are no
limits to imagination and creativity!

Lesson 7: Voice Training and Care

In addition to the body, another important resource in theatrical acting is
the voice.

The voice is an essential instrument for an actress or actor, since

through it we communicate the lines written in our theatrical script,
which is why it deserves care and training.

A trained voice will not only sound harmonious and pleasing to the
listener's ear, but will also remain healthy, since misuse of this
instrument can damage the vocal cords and the vocal apparatus in
general.
"For the actor or actress, the voice is a means of expression. Its quality
and qualities must be permanently cared for and cultivated. A good
actor must have the appropriate techniques to never force his voice and
to be able to obtain the maximum expressive performance from it":
Website consulted arteescenicas-wordpress.com

"The following are important qualities of a good voice: range or

amplitude, resistance, clarity in pronunciation, good intonation, rhythm,
intensity, timbre and expressiveness." Website consulted:
arteescenicas.wordpress.com

Breathing is the basis for correct voice emission, its modulation, range
and optimal conditions. That is why it is important to avoid bad habits
such as: Smoking, excessive caffeine consumption, excessive use of air
conditioning, breathing through the mouth, etc.

On the contrary, developing good habits such as drinking two liters of

water per day and sleeping at least 8 hours a day contributes to taking
care of your voice.

Exercises you can do to cultivate your voice:

1. Place a pencil in your mouth (parallel to your lips) so that you hold it
bitten on the corners, then speak or read out loud, trying to make what
you say understandable. (You can also replace the pencil with a cork).

2. Open and close your mouth, pronounce the vowels one by one in an
exaggerated manner.

3. Imitate the action of chewing as if you had a piece of gum in your

mouth.

4. Imitate the sound of an engine with your lips.

5. Stick your tongue in and out repeatedly, try to touch your nose with
the tip of your tongue, stick your tongue out and move it in a circular
motion from one side to the other.

6. Inhale and then exhale with a lot of pressure through your almost
closed mouth, pronouncing the letter "S" (SSSSSS). Control your
breathing by lightly pressing on your abdomen with your hand. Repeat
the exercise with the letters BBBB, RRRR, MMM.

Take the initiative and find out more about voice training! The
more knowledge you have, the greater the variety of exercises
you can perform for the hygiene and care of your voice!
Lesson 8: Acting Techniques
There is no method that can make a person an actor or actress, since
acting is a matter of talent, discipline, and perseverance.

The art of acting, of representing a character, implies possessing a set of

abilities and skills, most of which are innate, although there are also
performing arts theorists who claim that these can be developed
progressively.

The important thing is to be willing to work constantly to develop one's

acting potential, and of course, a lot of practice, which requires
dedication and a spirit of commitment to the profession.
"Acting is more a matter of attitude (wanting to do) than of aptitude
(knowing or being able to do), although if both are combined, the perfect
combination is achieved, which brings us closer to success" Website
consulted: es.eserp.com

However, as in any other discipline of human knowledge, there are

researchers who have developed studies about theatre in all its facets,
and even more so in the area of acting.

"There are several theorists who have made significant contributions to

the understanding of this topic, including the German Bertolt Brecht,
the Polish Jerzy Grotowski and the Russian Constantin
Stanislavski." Website consulted: avempace.com

Each of them contributed in their time to the study of acting techniques,

approaching their research from different angles. For example, whether
acting should be more imaginative than organic, or perhaps a matter of
working on real emotions; or ultimately, whether acting work should
focus more on training the body than on any other aspect, in order to
make it a vehicle for maximum stage expression.

Each position is perfectly valid, and it is up to the future actor or actress

to find the appropriate method to build their own working technique.

Practical activities

Below is a set of exercises that you can put into practice to develop your
acting technique:

1. Manipulate imaginary objects trying to visualize as realistically as

possible their shape, size, weight, smells, flavors, etc.

2. Think about an event in your life in which you felt joy, sadness, anger,
fear, shame or other, and in front of a mirror, express that feeling.

3. Walk inside an enclosed space (living room, bedroom, etc.) and

imagine that you are being chased (by a dog that wants to bite you, by a
burglar, or whatever else you can imagine). Try to experience all the
internal emotions that the feeling of being chased produces in you.

4. Take a book of short stories or any other written material from the
press, magazines, etc. Read one to three paragraphs aloud, putting into
practice the sensations exercised in point number 2.

5. Using the same text from the previous point, read it sung in different
musical genres (ranchera, reggaeton, salsa, merengue, etc.)
 I invite you to do more research on acting techniques so you
can find the appropriate methodology that fits your interests,
understanding and concerns!

Lesson 9: Table Work and Essays

We are almost reaching the end of our course, and in this lesson, it is
time to address the issues related to table work and rehearsals for your
play.

Table work is very important, as it allows you to get closer to the specific
idea of the staging, giving shape and life to your project.

At this stage, it should already be defined whether you will put on a work
of your own authorship or if you will work with a work by a recognized
author, or in any case, if you will make a theater adaptation of a story or
novel of your liking.

Similarly, once you have the final theatrical text at hand, you proceed to
cast the characters and perform the first dramatized readings of the
text.

Later, from the stage, the construction of the movement plan on stage
begins, that is, everything related to the movement of the characters,
their entrances and exits from the scene, etc.
It is important not to forget that before each rehearsal, everything
learned in terms of vocal and physical training of the actors and
actresses who take part in the show must be put into practice.

At this stage, the analysis of the work to be performed must be carried

out during the table work. To do this, you can use the guide presented
below as a reference. Website consulted: arteescenicas.wordpress.com

Guide to analyzing a play

BASIC CONCEPTS FOR THE ANALYSIS OF A THEATRICAL WORK

 THEME: What the work is about. He almost always expresses

himself in few words. Example: Love, jealousy, revenge, friendship,
etc.
 PLOT: What the work tells. It is expressed in no more than two (2)
lines. Example: “Story of an ant who didn’t want to share with his
friends”
 PREMISE: It constitutes the anecdote, the moral, the true
teaching that the author wants to share. It can almost always be
expressed through a popular saying. Example: “Every cloud has a
silver lining”
 STYLE: Set of expressive characteristics of the author. It can be
“Academic” (when its language is sophisticated or intellectual) or
“Free” (when its expressive forms are of a popular nature)
 ACTS: Space for dividing the works of the complete show. The end
of each act allows the audience to enjoy an intermission to avoid
spectator fatigue.
 PICTURES: They are changes of time or place in an act.
 SCENES: They are fragments of a work determined by the
entrance or exit of characters.
 EXPOSITION OR BEGINNING: Presentation of the causes and
circumstances that determine the conflict, the environment and
the characters.
 KNOT: It is the establishment of the dramatic situation, the
conflict in motion.
 OUTCOME: It is the solution to the dramatic situation.
 CONFLICT: Central axis of the work, it represents a struggle of
opposites, of forces in conflict. It can be: Man-Man, Man-Himself,
Man-Nature and Man-Society.
 CLIMAX OR CULMINATION: Moment of maximum tension in a
work. It usually leads immediately to the outcome.
 PROTAGONIST(S): Main character(s) of the work.
 ANTAGONIST(S): Adversaries or adversaries of the protagonist or
protagonists.
Lesson 10: Staging and Premiere
The Staging:

Staging is understood as the director's work in bringing a dramatic text

to the stage, turning it into a theatrical performance.

"The staging refers to the unification of all the elements that make up
the theatrical image and representation: the dramaturgy, interpretation,
scenery, props, lighting, sound, costumes and the personification by the
cast that makes up the work": es.wikipedia.org

To achieve this, it is necessary that all members of the theatre group

that will perform the play be very well-coordinated, working as a team,
with the same goal and willing to give their best for the benefit of the
show.

"The other element of the staging is The Premiere. This is the first time
that the show is presented to the public, and where all the arts are
fused, as we mentioned in the first lesson and which make theatre the
most complete art": Website consulted blog.teatroscanal.com

The stages involved in this phase are:

 Pre-production: Planning the idea, cast, script, cast, set and

costume design.
 Production or assembly: Construction of the scenery, costumes,
characterizations and other elements of the stage, lighting and
sound design tests and other audiovisual media, general
rehearsals, promotion and advertising.
 Post-production: Premiere and tour, definition of the product life
cycle, promotion and communication.
Conclusion
Practicing performing arts as a profession is a very useful tool for raising
social and human awareness. Website consulted: es.wikipedia.org

Theatrical act is, by nature, a collective manifestation, which is why we

find that since ancient times, numerous human groups gathered to
dance and perform rituals in honor of their gods, to worship them and
receive their blessings in return.

These first theatrical manifestations of primitive peoples around the

world are living proof of the social nature of this artistic discipline.

Therefore, the presence of the public is vital, since the work of the actors
would have no reason to exist if it is not shown to an audience.

The connection that is generated between actors, actresses and

spectators, in that space of scenic representation, is unparalleled, since
each show is unique and unrepeatable.

As participants in the theatrical event, we experience sensations that

move and shake our soul, our spirit. Whether as actors or as an
audience, an exchange of sensations takes place whose essence is deep
within our lives.

The more we cultivate the art of seeing and making theatre, the
greater the possibilities of getting closer to the essence of that
life, because in the end: Life is a Theatre and Theatre is Life!

Great goals are not achieved with talent or money; they are
achieved with Passion, Patience and Perseverance.

Anonymous