Assignment 1: Given Circumstances (Part 1)

This assignment will be due by 11:59 pm on Wednesday, May 25th.

Given circumstances are the background details of your character.  Things like your characters age, gender, ethnicity, family status (are you an only child, or how many siblings do you have, do you come from a single parent background, etc...)  Given circumstances, in short, are the factual pieces of information that help create a 3 dimensional and dynamic character.  Without utilizing given circumstances, you will be left with a flat, boring, uninteresting character (or worse, you will have a caricature instead of a character.)
Some examples of given circumstances include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity/Heritage
• Socioeconomic status (Rich?  Poor?  Upper-middle class, lower middle-class, etc.)
• Marriage/Romantic status (are you single, married, divorced, too young to get married but have a significant other, etc.)
• Academic standing:  particularly useful in this show!  Are you a 4.0 student through and through?  Do you struggle and get mostly B's and C's?  Or are you on the brink of repeating your Junior year due to the 6 F's on your report card?  Also, what extracurricular activities are you a part of?  Are you going to college?  If so, where?  Harvard?  Yale?  Peducah Community College?)
• Family: What is your family dynamic?  Are both parents together in your home?  Do you have siblings?  If so, how many?  Where in the sibling 'line' are you?  Are you the oldest?  Youngest?  Middle kid?  Or are you the only child?  Do you have an extended family?  Aunts? Uncles? Cousins?

Given circumstances come in 3 main categories: direct, indirect, and intuited.

Direct given circumstances are pieces of information that are taken directly from the script.  When citing your direct given circumstances, you can usually refer directly to a page in the script where the piece of information is clearly and undeniably stated:

• Example: On page 24 your character flat out states "I am 16 years old!" - This is a clear and direct piece of evidence stating your character's age.
• Example: On page 12 when your character's mom or dad says "Next year when you go to Yale..." - This is a clear and direct piece of evidence stating that your character is graduating from high school and going to college, specifically YALE.
• Example: On page 17 your character's boyfriend says "We're breaking up..." - This is a clear and direct piece of evidence stating that your character was in a relationship (on page 16) and is now single on page 17.

Indirect given circumstances (also known as inferred given circumstances) are pieces of information about your character that are alluded to or hinted at, but are not directly stated.  You can still cite a page, but you'll have to do a little bit of calculations and deduction to come to a solid conclusion:

• Example: On page 32 your character receives a new beach-house in the Maldives from his/her parents for his/her 16th birthday.  While the script doesn't flat out state that your character's parents make over  5 million dollars a year, you can easily deduce that your character (and his/her parents) are quite wealthy.
• Example: Part 1: On page 76 the script your character turns green with nausea when offered a bite of a hamburger. Part 2: On page 79 your character is heard screaming "Meat is murder!"  Judging from these two pieces of evidence, you could deduce that your character is vegetarian or vegan.
• Example: From page 21 to page 76, your character recites the entire first act of Hamlet from memory. You could easily conclude several things: Your character is well read, your character is a Shakespeare geek or your character is an aspiring Shakespearean actor.
• Example: On page 87, your character says "Hey boss, I have to pick up some over-time this week.  I gotta take my car back into the shop..." You can deduce several items about your character: 1) She/he is old enough to drive. 2) Drives. 3) Has a full-time job that pays hourly. 4) Your character's car isn't top-of-the-line and needs a lot of repair work (they have to take their car back into the shop.)

We'll get into intuited (or created) given circumstances next week.  Right now we'll just concentrate on direct and indirect given circumstances.

• Your assignment (due by next Wednesday at 11:59 pm) is to investigate the script/libretto and find 10 pieces of direct given circumstances and 5 pieces of indirect given circumstances (for a total of 15 pieces of given circumstances).
• Please write up your given circumstances IN THE COMMENTS for this blog (yes, so everyone can benefit from seeing your work).
• If you are playing multiple characters, then yes, you will be asked to find the given circumstances for EACH. (Yes, even if you're playing a character who only appears on stage for half of a page.  Obviously for these characters, finding 10/5 pieces of given circumstances will be difficult.  Grab/find what you can!  If you can only 4/3 pieces of given circumstances that are based in FACT, then that will suffice.)

DOs of Given Circumstances:

1. DO keep it simple.  Stick with the clear facts that the script provides.  Put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and go digging for clues and evidence.
2. DO refer to yourself as the character in the first-person "I am 16 years old." "I am a vegetarian Shakespeare geek with a new beach-house in the Maldives."
3. DO refer clearly to evidence and cite page numbers.
4. DO be as specific as the script will allow.  If the script states that you make $7,740,000 a year, then say so.  If the script says you're 16 years old, then say so.  Avoid statements like "I'm a rich teenager" which is vague and unclear.
5. DO stick to the script/facts.  (We'll get into creative/intuited given circumstances next time, which will give us more freedom to take pieces of evidence and create new ideas.  For now, imagine you are a private investigator.  Just the facts... just the facts.)
6. DO fully read the script (and not just YOUR parts).  MUCH of the given circumstances of your character can be gleaned from what OTHER characters say about you.

DON'Ts of Given Circumstances:

1. DO NOT fall into the trap of being too clever and creative at this stage.  We are relying on just the facts that the script/libretto gives us.
2. DO NOT fall into the trap of making value judgments about your character.  (For those of you looking ahead to college, this is a BIG DEAL.)  In other words, don't mistake statements like "I'm a spoiled brat." or "I'm a really nice guy." or "I'm kooky and funny." as given circumstances or evidence.  These statements are value judgments of the character and it has no place in the character building process.  While these statements could be generally agreed upon, they are based in opinion.  Avoid opinion, and look for the facts.
3. DO NOT limit yourself.  If you find more than 5 pieces of information that are important, share them.
4. DO NOT involve yourself in the creation/investigation of other actors' given circumstances.  You all are very helpful and selfless people, and we love you for it.  But the creation of a character is meant to be very personal work.  Concentrate on the investigation of your own character.  It causes tension and creates a muddy landscape when other actors starting telling other actors what they should and should not do/think/say/feel about their own character work.  Don't do it!

If you have questions about this assignment, go ahead and leave them in the comments.  If you have a question/concern about anything else, please please please do not leave them in the comments.  Email myself, Mr. Alford, Mrs. Johnson, or Ms. Parsons.

GO WILDCATS!