Lysistrata- Greek Drama Comedy Play Help (1 Viewer)

[ShadowLighte]

Hey guys, so I'm doing the comedy play Lysistrata with a group of three other girls and we're doing the beginning scene where the girls gather and are told of Lysistrata's plan.

We don't need to remember the lines- thank god. So we're going to be using palm cards. The play has to go for approx. 10 minutes though it's pretty short. We also are encouraged to dress up in costume and we need to wear masks. I am playing the role of Lysistrata so I'm going to have the most parts which I don't mind but I'm probably the worst person to choose for any oral presenting because I have social anxiety and rarely talk at all in class and yeah, it's really hard for me and I'm super scared. With hair, the three other girls are planning to curl their hair but I don't have anything to curl my hair with -I know, weird for a teenager to not have some kind straightening or curling iron- and they've suggested that I braid my hair but it wouldn't be up to par with the others and I'm the main. Should I wear a wig instead? With costuming, they've bought white material to wrap around us and we're going to use a gold ribbon as a belt. Our masks are going to be gold and white too so I guess it's a gold and white theme.

Do you have any suggestions? Because I'm scared, somehow I need to be able to project my voice and not be afraid to act and use hand gestures or anything rather than just read it. I don't know about props either. Right now we haven't incorporated any acting so yeah, I don't know, if you have a copy, it would be much appreciated if you could suggest what i could do to not stand and freeze up like a stick in the sand.

 

[Absolutezero]

Hey guys, so I'm doing the comedy play Lysistrata with a group of three other girls and we're doing the beginning scene where the girls gather and are told of Lysistrata's plan.

We don't need to remember the lines- thank god. So we're going to be using palm cards. The play has to go for approx. 10 minutes though it's pretty short. We also are encouraged to dress up in costume and we need to wear masks. I am playing the role of Lysistrata so I'm going to have the most parts which I don't mind but I'm probably the worst person to choose for any oral presenting because I have social anxiety and rarely talk at all in class and yeah, it's really hard for me and I'm super scared. With hair, the three other girls are planning to curl their hair but I don't have anything to curl my hair with -I know, weird for a teenager to not have some kind straightening or curling iron- and they've suggested that I braid my hair but it wouldn't be up to par with the others and I'm the main. Should I wear a wig instead? With costuming, they've bought white material to wrap around us and we're going to use a gold ribbon as a belt. Our masks are going to be gold and white too so I guess it's a gold and white theme.

Do you have any suggestions? Because I'm scared, somehow I need to be able to project my voice and not be afraid to act and use hand gestures or anything rather than just read it. I don't know about props either. Right now we haven't incorporated any acting so yeah, I don't know, if you have a copy, it would be much appreciated if you could suggest what i could do to not stand and freeze up like a stick in the sand.

Let's address a few key points first:

Don't worry about your hair. It's not important. Don't wear a wig. Just keep in comfortable and out of your face.

Costume sounds fine. Masks were common in Greek theatre, and costumes were usually pretty simple.

Props are probably unnecessary. Most things you can mime if you need to, and even more commonly, you don't need to enact it at all. Things like decoration for the set etc. are not needed.

Keep things simple


As for presenting:

It's all about confidence, whether you've got it or whether you fake it. Either work.

Remember to breathe.

Try and stay grounded, make sure your shoes are comfortable.

Practice. Practice. Practice. In your room. Outside. In front of a mirror. In front of family.

Forget about the audience for now. Focus on what you have to do and how you have to do it. Like you prepared.

Ensure you can say every word, and have the rhythm down. Greek theatre is all about feeling the lines.

Block it early. Figure out where you need to stand and move to for each key part of the text.

The audience are not against you. They are less critical than you think. They want to enjoy themselves.

Most of the time, it's impossible to tell if you've made a mistake.