Performance Critiques

 

Overview:
After each full round of improvisations and scenes a critical paper is due; check the schedule of classes for specific dates. These three papers are expected to be in standard, academic format: 800 words of typed, double spaced prose. Include a word count. Papers may be E-mailed; if so, double-spacing is unnecessary. There should be a thesis paragraph, supporting paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. While the two rounds will be quite different, the guidelines and options for criticism are similar, as described below.

Format:
The critiques of performance rounds can follow one of two formats:

1. Choose two performances from the current round, one that you thought was entirely effective and one you thought was less so. Discuss how they differed and what that meant for the audience. Be specific and illustrate your opinions with supporting examples from the two performances. Try to qualify as specifically as possible why one performance, in your judgement, had more honest acting than the other. Be sure to use course-specific terms when discussing the performances: goals, obstacles, tactics, sub-text, levels of characterization, etc.
2. Define your criteria for judgment and support it with specific examples from many (if not all) performances. Identify key concepts for analyzing acting. Choose which you would like to focus on for this paper. Be sure to identify those concepts in your introductory paragraph Develop your paper along your selected criteria. Define your criteria for judging performance as you develop your paper. Illustrate your opinions with specific examples from across the range of dramatic performances you watched. Be sure to include specific examples that were, in your opinion, successful in within the component you are discussing and examples that were not. For example, if you choose to focus part of your paper on levels of characterization (physical, psychological and moral) provide examples of individuals or partnerships where those levels were clear and believable, and instances where they were less so. Some observations, such as those on active listening, should be about partners, not just individual performers.

Grading:
The paper should be 800 words of standard academic prose. It is due the end of the next class period after the final day of performances. Remember, these writings substitute for a final exam; it is expected that course-specific terms are used in all papers to demonstrate your mastery of course topics. We will be looking for such specificity--that will earn you up to 30 points for each paper. Be opinionated but back opinions up. We won't be grading opinions but rather how you support them. Papers submitted up to a week after the due date and time (including e-mailed versions) will be docked 10 points.