PETA Summer Acting Workshop, Day 1

Lest I forget, I want to log in the lessons I learned in the PETA Summer Basic Acting Workshop I am currently enrolled in.

First, I am thankful that the instructor is Melvin Lee, whom I've had the privilege to work with many years ago in Tanghalang Pilipino's production of Himala the Musicale. He played the Priest, and Melvin can sing! What a voice! I also recall he led the best physical warm-ups for the company. Julia of PETA is his co-instructor.

Julia led us to isolation exercises, which I must list here so I don't forget. Head, neck, shoulders, arms, chest, hips, legs. Then the shake it all out with a shout exercise which we used to do in Teacher Ana Valdes-Lim's class.

Okay, we were made to find a partner, we did the Mirror Exercise, then the Sculpture & Clay. Then the... uh, let me call it, Add To The Scene, where one person improvises a pose and the next person adds to it, and the next and the next.

By the time I volunteered, it is no longer a frozen pose, but a movement, so all of us who were called to add to the improv should move. It was challenging and you need to keep thinking.

Then we were grouped and we were to make tableaus of something we were assigned (we chose from a random sheet of paper). We got: a basket that's about to break. Then the other teams are supposed to guess.

Okay, through these exercises we learned the elements of theatre which are: Line, Shape, Space, Movement, Texture, Sound, Rhythm and Color. All of which the Imagination is the limit.

Then some people stood up to do their monologues. They were lucky because their names got picked from sheets of folded paper. They were sorta uncomfortable to watch, but very brave! I resolve only to give positive feedback for whoever will do the scenes next. It's not easy to get up there and do a one-man scene!

Also, in my seat, I already thought of what monologue I'll do in case I get picked next. I'll post it here.

Thanks for listening.