Learning to fight, and improvise, while on stage

National Players troupe comes to St. Mary’s Ryken

Friday, May 9, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by REID SILVERMAN James Cook, a sophomore at St. Mary’s Ryken High School, and senior Carly Hodges practice stage combat Tuesday during an acting workshop taught by Olney Theater’s National Players. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

The National Players, a troupe of actors from the Olney Theater in Montgomery County, hosted three workshops for the high school students Tuesday afternoon.

While the school has four theater clubs – stage guild, drama club, improv and Shakespeare – and good participation, there is always room for improvement, teacher Gloria Dempsey said. She said that having professionals come in to supplement what they learn from teachers will help their acting skills.

About 45 of the 60 students involved in St. Mary’s Ryken theater clubs participated in the workshops this week.

The National Players are considered America’s longest running classical touring company, in operation since 1949. In addition to performing two shows a year – one Shakespearean and one dramatic classic, the troupe of young professional actors conducts workshops with students in theater-related areas such as acting, stage combat, scene analysis and improvisation.

St. Mary’s Ryken students participated in three such workshops – stage combat, acting and improvisation and Shakespeare.

In the Shakespeare workshop, the players talked about the journey of an actor who must bring the bard’s words to life. The students interpreted different scenes, adding their own flare to personalize Shakespeare’s language, characters and situations. ‘‘Shakespeare is considered the best author of all time and that is very intimidating,” Scott Zenreich said. It takes practice and confidence to speak his writings on stage.

‘‘People don’t speak in poetry all the time,” Zenreich said. Most of his writing is in iambic pentameter, meaning every other syllable is stressed when spoken. Shakespeare’s standard is 10 syllables per line, although that does vary slightly sometimes to account for different situations. ‘‘A lot of scientists said that’s how humans think, in 10 syllables,” Zenreich said.

Junior Liz Jean of California said she will draw on some of the tips and techniques the troupe offered. ‘‘I’ve been in a couple of plays,” including the upcoming production of Shakespeare’s ‘‘Othello.”

In an improvisation workshop the players led students through exercises meant to warm up their bodies, voice and imagination. Shedding all embarrassment, the students practiced improv skits such as the machine, where each person joins in with a repetitive motion and associated sound to form a human machine, or ‘‘word at a time,” where students in a circle take turns adding one word to a story line.

Students also got a chance to learn hand-to-hand combat, including slapping, hair pulling and punching done theater style. The troupe taught basic safety elements and precautions used in stage fighting.

Using a line from the movie ‘‘Star Wars” (‘‘I love you,” followed by ‘‘I know”), the students partnered to create a short fight scene. Except for the smiles that followed, the scenes appeared real and emotional, Dempsey said, while cringing at the sight of one of the healthier punches on stage.

Stage combat is about illusion and making the fight look as real as possible without actually hurting another actor.

Zenreich, one of the nine players who hosted the workshops, said he enjoyed teaching theater to aspiring actors.

‘‘It’s a completely rewarding part of our job,” he said.

The school hired the National Players through money raised in past theatrical productions. Dempsey said the school has also been able to recently purchase a new stage light, fog machine, stage makeup and other items.