read-throughs, rewrites, and etiquette

Due tomorrow: TYPED second draft, either printed out or emailed to me at dblumenfeld@chandlerprep.org.

Thanks to everyone who brought in their mask making supplies! We are going to have some amazing looking masks. We will start with the papier mache base layer on Friday, so bring in your sloppy shirts/smocks/aprons to avoid the dreaded gluey uniform problem.

Today was dedicated to read-throughs in small groups and, for some sections, in front of the class. Audience members were asked to observe proper etiquette as well as to watch for who the tragic hero was, and what their tragic flaw was.

Some students may be familiar with audience etiquette as regards live performances like classical concerts, recitals, and formal plays. Etiquette between performers is just as important.

Etiquette means "proper or socially accepted behavior." The earliest known usage is from 1750, from French étiquette "prescribed behavior," from O.Fr. estiquette "label, ticket." The sense development in French is from small cards written or printed with instructions for how to behave properly at court (cf. It. etichetta, Sp. etiqueta), and/or from behavior instructions written on a soldier's billet for lodgings (the main sense of the O.Fr. word).

This information is from the Online Etymology Dictionary at: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=etiquette

So audience etiquette just means how you should behave as an audience member. When you are an audience member during a school performance by your classmates, even in rehearsal, you need to exercise special care and consideration. Here are some guidelines:

1. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. If something would distract you while you were performing, don't do it while someone else is performing.

2. Give focus. Your attention helps the actors keep their minds on performance.

3. The performers can see and hear you just as well as you can see and hear them.

4. When asked to give feedback, keep it positive and relevant. If you're evaluating the tragic hero and you comment about a student's performance, you're off-topic. If you're making a suggestion for improvement, do it gently and give options - don't just tell someone they did something badly.

Performance dates are tentatively set for December 2nd and 3rd at 4 pm in the Annex at the North Campus. More on that later.