Finding the Magic of the Drama Stage in Bursa
Tarsus American College’s Turkish Drama Club participated in a drama workshop in Bursa with twelve students and the club advisors, Mr. Önder Şit and Mr. Mikail Incir. The two-day, twelve-hour training, unlike the previous ones, were specifically aimed to develop staging capacity and skills.
The workshop on Thursday, 18.01.2018, started at 10.30 with a game and was facilitated by the instructor, Sinan Isik. The group went on with further activities by doing some warm-ups aimed at team-building. Afterwards, an improvisation activity was performed to explore the "dramatic tension" component of dramatic editing. The "chairs game" was invigorating after some hard work. Then, the group learned more about the "history of drama”, which was encapsulated in a one hour presentation. Talking about epic theater, the play "Keşanlı Ali Destanı" to be staged at TAC, was discussed and various tips were shared to improve the performance. Basic sentiments and their delivery onstage, as well as the fact that a drama part is a duty were discussed. The training continued with the “components of the dramatic editing” and stage-based activities which addressed all of these components. The group games contributed to the “unified team” spirit. The first day ended with another round of fun "chairs game".
The second day began with a dynamic, exciting game for physical movement: "The landlord and the tenant". The second day of the training was based on the transfer of written text to the stage. The first activity was "human sculpture", which was about common stereotypes. This was followed by improvisation exercises on different topics and the skits were staged. The focus was on adding a layer of depth to the roles and remarkable performances were seen. (Subtext, story of events and empowering the role.)
The students were then given the theme and starting point for, “In the Open-Sea /Slawomir Mrozek” – the play which they would stage in the afternoon – and they were asked to improvise. The student improvisations were reflective of group harmony. Feedback was presented in order to improve the staging of the written text. Suggestions about career groups and social status were given for the characters, and the play was performed. The day ended with a review of the training.