This is the Advanced level. Everyone who has already experienced 
        stage work and performing, in one way or another, may be eligible to enter 
        this level. However, I would like to be very clear from the beginning that it 
        is one thing to “think” that this is the level for you, and it is quite another 
        thing to be “prepared” to take this level of work. Acting is like Math: if you
        don’t know the basics, you can’t do the sums with one or more unknown 
        quantities even if you’ve got the “gift” or the “talent” for it. In other words,
        making the “right decision” will be based upon your performance in the 
        audition and/or your work in the previous Etude level. 
                 Most acting students, and graduated actors as well, will say that 
        Scene study is the most fun of work.  And I agree. But isn't it true that 
        no matter what you're working on-- as long as you're getting satisfactory 
        results-- you are experiencing real fun, anyway?  This is why I see no 
        difference between either levels of the program.  What matters most are the 
        results you're looking for and that you are prepared for live stage. Because 
        once you step on it, there are no excuses - the audience will be the judge.
       This Scene Level  will take the students into the unlimited depths of 
        exploring stage performance. The main idea is to fully concentrate on the 
        development of the given Character and its placement among the rest of 
        the Characters in the Scene or Play. Moreover, students will be encouraged 
        to focus on the physiological hunt for the most correct incarnation of the 
        Image and its physical behavior. They will discover the differences between 
        a “dramatic Image” and a regular personality.  There will be a series of 
        tasks on how to change opinions more than once over the same given 
        character, and how to “read” the character's image from many different 
        points of view, learning to agree with each one of them. We will discover 
        the various forms of presentation and the difference each kind makes. 
      The Students will learn that behind each successful development lies 
        a hidden technical “trick” or “rule” that creates the illusion of “Being 
        Real”.  Even more, the students will enter into the “Action/Improv’ form” 
        of the Eastern European Theatre which, according to modern updates of 
        the World’s Theatre, has proved successful as a system of training and 
        a way of presenting stage shows of all kinds. 
                 In the end, the Scene level will clarify the dilemma of the everlasting
        issue - is the Actor showing himself  “in the Character of…” or is He “being
        the Character from…” as an Actor?  Simply put, I believe the actor does not
        need to show anything - the people will recognize the “One"  whose stage 
        mission complies with their needs and leaves the “Unforgettable” in their 
        hearts and minds. 

     … By the way, let me interrupt these formalities for a moment 
            and tell you a very short story that my Mom once told me.

                          ... After a bare-naked man 
                           jumped into a cactus garden 
                           the people were shocked, and 
                           with their mouths dropped to floor
                           they asked him:
                                -  Why did you do this…?!
                           He smiled at them and answered:
                                -  It seemed the most sensible thing 
                                  to do at the moment.

             Thank you for listening. 
         And now, back to our subject.

                                 The Scene Level  also has Three Cycles
 

             The First Cycle

         1.  Open discussion on theatrical styles and forms; students’ familiarity with
             plays and their preferences.
                 - Personally, what do you like and why?
                 - Professionally, what do you like and why?
                 - Where and how do you see yourself in these plays?

        2.  Selection of Scenes proposed by the students and the Art Director.
                 - A reading of the Scenes
                 - Learning how to select a Scene from a play as an actor
                 - Main indicators that lead the actor to make the “right choice” in 
                   Scene selection

        3.  Student presentations summarizing the play from which their Scene was 
            selected. 
                 - Open discussion of the play and analysis of the author’s main idea
                 - A character’s locale in the play and his/her purpose in it 

        4.  Discovering a Character. 
                 - Lecture and practice on the different ways to search for Image 
                 - Clarification of the theatrical terms “Imagination", “Soul” ,
                  “Inside Image”, “Atmosphere”, “Hue of Action”, “Physiological 
                    Gesture” and “Word's Image”  through discussion and practical 
                    exercises

        5.  Free style drawing of the Character.
                - Finding and bringing to class the piece of music that the Character 
                  would listen to.
                - Drawing actual sketches of the Image of the Character while 
                  listening to the music (pencil and paper - no color )
                - Open discussion about the drawn Images
                - Adding Color into the sketches.

        6.  Free style writing assignment - a story about the Character expressing 
             one's imagination beyond the given story of the play.
                - Where does the Character come from and what is his/her story before
                  the time of his life in the play?
                - What happens to the Character after the story in the play?

        7.  Comparison and consolidation of the individual stories.
                - Attempting to match and organize each story into one whole work
                - What are the differences and similarities of other colleagues’ stories?
                - Do the individual stories lead to the same point so that each 
                  Character could actually “meet”  in the play as originally written? 
                  If not, why and how has this discrepancy occurred?

        8.  Compilation of the Ideas and Opinions of all the students for their 
             Characters in the chosen Scenes. 
 

             The Second Cycle 

         1.  Bringing the Scenes on stage.
               - Creating the Atmosphere
               - Creation of speechless Etudes in order to put the Character into the 
                 Atmosphere while, in addition, shutting off the actor's mind 
               - Physical action between the Characters of the given Scene (no use of 
                 words)

         2.  Reading the Scenes in still positions. 
               - Experiential exercise of imagination: reading the Scene aloud with 
                 closed eyes, mentally walking through the physical path of the Scene
               - Experiencing the “color” of the actors’ voices via recorded tapes of 
                 their readings

         3.  Rules, Ideas and creations for the Scenes, taking the first steps to make 
             them come “alive” on stage. 
               - Selection of props and costumes; creating the stage sets for each Scene

         4.  The actor's costume and the uses of the requisite. 
               - “Developing”  the costume throughout the Scene
               - The props as an “advantage” not an “obstacle”
 

            The Third Cycle 

          1.  Rehearsals of the approved Scenes as scheduled for Final Production 
              on stage.
               - Two Scenes per practice for the first week of this cycle
               - One Scene per practice during the second week
               - All  Scenes presented together during the third week
               - Dress Rehearsal with full tech support during the fourth week, just 
                 before the Final show

          2.  The Final Production and… The “Next day  Good-bye!”

 

                                                               This Program was created by the Artistic Director
              .                                                                                   Dimiter  D.  Marinov

                                                                                                         Edited by
                                                                                              Jennifer “Estelle” Griffith