Le théâtre en anglais en 2ndes 8 et 9

(actualisé le )

Les élèves de seconde européenne découvrent le théâtre en anglais à travers différentes activités menées dans le cadre de ce projet.
En mars 2016, ils sont montés sur les planches dans le cadre d’un atelier théâtre en anglais animé par deux comédiens de la compagnie Fools and Feathers. Cet atelier leur a permis de pratiquer leur anglais dans un cadre original, et de découvrir un peu mieux le métier d’acteur avant de se rendre à l’Alhambra pour voir une adaptation de The Hound of the Baskervilles par une troupe britannique. Ils vont vous donner leurs impressions dans les articles qui suivent.

Les 2ndes 8-9 euros sur scène

Drama Workshop with Sophie Brech and Louis Fortier

The Drama Workshop took place in the high school theatre on Monday 14th, in the afternoon. Sophie Brech and Louis Fortier, a British actress and a Canadian actor, were the leaders of this event.

What we did :
First, Sophie showed us some exercises to warm up. We were in circle on stage and we played a little game to “transfer” energy to each other. This exercise was pretty amusing and it allowed us to relax.
After that, Louis and she explained what the workshop was about : we would wear masks and costumes… They showed us those masks which were pretty strange and unique, the facial features were extremely exaggerated, particularly noses and wrinkles.
So, this exercise was divided into two parts and we were divided into two groups. When one group was one stage, the other one was spectator. We first tried the masks shortly without other accessories and after that we had real characters to play. They dressed us up with unusual clothes like large trousers or berets. We were unrecognizable. Then they asked us to change our names and voices. We had to say our “new” name every time Louis snapped his fingers and pointed at us. Then we said our favorite meal after our name.
What we think :
Positive aspects
We both really enjoyed this event because it was really playful and it was pretty unusual to do this kind of stuff at school. The masks were amusing and the clothes, as we said earlier were unusual, all that made a very funny atmosphere. Moreover, the voices we had to take often increased the effect created by the masks.
We also think that it was good for our oral skills, we learned to speak loud and clearly in public, even if it was quite complicated sometimes with our strange voices. Maybe it helped some students to be more self-confident.
Negative aspects
However, it was a bit long and repetitive. There were a lot of times when we just stood on the stage without doing anything but wearing the clothes and the masks. This could also be intimidating for some people.
Another thing which could be improved, in our opinion, is the freedom given to the students who couldn’t do anything by themselves. Louis was ruling everything about the voices we had to take and even sometimes with the meal chosen or things like that. But this is understandable because we are not even amateur actors so we needed someone to lead us.

To conclude, we will say that it was a very interesting event and we learned lot of things about what being an actor looks like. This experience was new to us.
Baptiste and Guillaume

Drama Workshop with Sophie Brech and Louis Fortier

On March 14th 2016, our European class had a theatre activity with two actors, Sophie Brech and Louis Fortier for three hours. Before starting the activity, we thought that we would take part in a theatre play. But the task was actually totally different.
First, we all went on stage where Sophie helped us to be more confident and to play together with little games. We exchanged our energy. For example, she told us to repeat confidently after her “I’m the boss !”. After that, we started to work with masks and costumes. The actors helped us to create new characters with different names, different ways of acting…
For us, it was weird, but sometimes hilarious to see our classmates wearing masks and acting like old or foreign people. I (Chiara) was playing a Sri Lankan old woman. I took an unexpected voice and talked in Tamil. We had never done something like that before. It was surprising but we liked it because it was funny and we learnt many things about an actor’s job. That might help us in everyday life.
Sophie and Louis told us that the most important thing in theatre is to receive what people give you and to be generous by giving your attention and your energy to people. We learnt that an actor on stage has to make eye-contact, actors can’t only be focused on their own characters. We will also remember that our body language tells a lot about us.
To conclude, we would like to thank Sophie and Louis for this great afternoon !
Solèna and Chiara

Drama workshop

On Monday, two actors, Sophie Brech and Louis Fortier came to our high school to do a theatre workshop. At the beginning, we did warm up exercises. It was funny, easy and original. After, we started working with masks and costumes. The masks were in wood and represented different personalities. First, we had to find a name for the character we were going to play and then we had to find a gesture which represented the personality of the character. It was quite difficult to speak with another voice and with a mask. For example, there were people who spoke with little voices, a grandmother’s or grandfather’s voice or spoke with a foreign accent. However, it was funny to see people with another character even though I didn’t like it when it was my turn to be on stage.. Then, we had to say our favorite food and find a gesture to describe the food we had chosen. I didn’t expect this (especially the fact that we were going to wear masks) but finally, it was quite interesting even if I don’t like theatre. I learnt that just by wearing a costume, a mask and by changing my voice, I can create a character with a real personality. I don’t think that it is going to help me in my future life, but it was really interesting.
Delphine

Drama workshop

Before starting, we expected the workshop to be boring and to not be interesting.
We first did a quick warming-up to be able to speak loud on stage and to be energetic. After, we used some masks to act like an imaginary character, it was cool because it permitted us to change our personalities. We were trying to change our voices (deeper, higher). Then, we wore some costumes. Justin became Nikolas, a Russian drinker and Charlélie became Patrick Bernard, a homeless man who is fond of saucisson.
During the warming-up, we were a bit shy at the beginning because it was a new exercise for us, but at the end we became more self-confident.
Wearing masks is a very funny and interesting experience, we switched our personalities ; it permitted us to laugh a little : we couldn’t recognize each other !
The easiest exercise was the last one because we were more confident ; it was also the funniest one. The most challenging exercise was to change our voices with the masks.
The most surprising thing was the energy of the actors.
We learnt many things and we really enjoyed the techniques they used to teach acting.
Justin – Charlélie

Drama Workshop with Sophie and Louis

On Tuesday the 14th of March, we had a drama workshop with two actors, Louis and Sophie.
We just expected a usual theatre lesson but it was totally different. At the beginning, all of us were sleepy ; however, Louis and Sophie gave us their energy.
We did a little warming up exercise in order to wake us up a little bit. Then we all tried masks and changed our voices to create characters. After that, half of the class went on the stage and tried out costumes with their masks : they were completely different people. They chose new names, a gesture, and a favourite meal or food. We really had fun watching them and we couldn’t even recognize all of them. Right after that we went on the stage and did the same thing.
The actors really insisted on our voices and encouraged us to speak all the languages we knew. That was quite hard but actually funny.
This workshop was very interesting because we could become completely different people for a moment like real actors.
Nathalie and Marion

Drama workshop with Sophie Brech and Louis Fortier – March 14th

This Monday 14th of March we did a workshop with two actors from Canada and from Great Britain. First, they talked about themselves and their work. After that we went on stage to warm-up our bodies, our voices and to increase our energy. At the beginning we were a little shy and lazy but the more time passed, the more energetic we were.
Then, they showed us masks made of wood and designed by people from all over the world. These masks were very beautiful and expressed many personalities and characters.
In two different groups we began to choose our masks for the rest of the work. At the beginning we didn’t know which kind of characters we would become with our masks : it was very exciting ! With the help of the two actors we began to create our characters with new names, new voices and new body language. I think the most difficult exercise was to change our voices even if it’s very important to change our identities. Louis told us to be sincere in order to express a new character without ready-made ideas. After that we had to choose our favorite food and say it after our name accompanied with a body gesture. This part was the funniest because the new characters were very well pictured. For example, some people used their origins to speak a different language with a different attitude that made the character very real and lively.
To finish, we generally liked this drama workshop because it enabled us to discover the personalities of our classmates and especially to learn more about the job of an actor and how to act on stage to become another character. On top of that the actors were very nice and energetic.
Thanks to them,
Clément and Paul

The drama workshop in 2°8 and 2°9

A FEW EMAILS TO SOPHIE AND LOUIS

Hello guys,
My friend and I really enjoyed your workshop and we found it very interesting.
Before starting , we expected to listen to you and learn things about theatre and we would never have imagined to take part that much in it !
The warming up gave us a lot of energy and was very funny to do. Working with the masks was a discovery for us. It was nice to feel like we were other people, to invent personalities. We found it funny to see friends with masks creating characters who were most of the time very well played ! According to us, the mask exercise was the most challenging one. We learnt that an actor always has to be very energetic and believe in himself to « force » the public to believe him in return. This workshop taught us that we always have to believe in ourselves and not to fear being ridiculous.
Thank you so much again,
Jean and Sacha (the guys who were always talking).

Hi, this is the pianist and the producer,
Before starting, we both thought it would be a bit boring ; but during the warming-up we started to appreciate the exercises. While we were doing the zip zap exercise we enjoyed being all together and started to be less and less shy. It was very interesting to see that wearing a mask was not only wearing a fancy dress but a complete change of personality.
The most challenging exercise was to concentrate for a long time in our characters and to be able to create a little story with others, but it was still very interesting and fun. Wearing a mask was a good idea because we could play without fearing people’s judgment.
We will remember that being an actor isn’t an easy job at all, but it seems to be an amazing one.
We just wanted to thank you for giving us your energy and your precious time. We will remember you and your advice.
Kind regards,
ET VOILA !!!
Nicolas and Adrien.