Backwards in High Heels Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide

DISCUSSION
3. Ask your students to plot out a beginning, middle, and an end to this story.
These parts should correspond somehow with the music. They should use
mainly body language in the telling and if the music has words, instruct
them that they may sing along. Additional dialogue should not be used, the
idea being that if your students trust their imaginations fully and effectively
use non-verbal communication to create the world of the story (the way a
professional performer does), the audience will see and follow the story as
well.
4. When the basic outline of the story is mapped out, ask your students to
consider the trajectory of their stories. In much the same way as a musical,
ask your students to decide where a moment of random and impromptu a
dance would best move the story forward. Dance is this instance may be
thought of as a basic expression of any emotion utilizing the body. This
“dance break” can be as loose as mosh pit style movement, or it may be a
stylized and choreographed set of movements. The strongest choice that
can be made in terms of type of movement is that which fulfi lls and propels
the story they have created. The story is the skeleton and the movement is
the muscle that propels the skeleton.
5. Now ask your students to create a script of their story they will use to
realize their performance. Since the ‘dialogue’ of this scene is the song
lyrics (if present), the scene might be plotted out using the lyrics to indicate
specifi c pieces of action.
Example 1 (Using Its Too Darn Hot from Kiss Me Kate, written by Cole
Porter)
Lyric: “It’s too darn hot.”
Action: Jack, Jill, and Debbie fan their faces with their hands and pretend
to swoon in the heat.
Etc.
Example 2 (Using “Dream of a Witches Sabbath”, the 5th Movement of
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz)
1 minute 43 seconds – At crescendo
Action: Alex and Sam jump onto the stage, running from Amy, who is the
Monster, startling her and causing her to fall down.
1 minute 53 seconds – Clarinet featured
Action: Alex and Sam consider the situation, and wonder if the Monster is
really a monster at all…they begin to explore.
Etc.
Scripting the scene in this way will allow the students to think more
concretely about how to most effectively communicate their story to the
audience.
Backwards in High Heels
Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 25