Saturday
March 14th is Opening Night for Arsenic and old Lace at the
Thomaston Opera House Thomaston CT. This play is a classic and as a film it was
actor Cary Grant’s most favorite of his film career. I play the part of Martha
Brewster in this clever farce about two elderly sisters famous in their Brooklyn
neighborhood for their acts of charity and what happens to the lonely old men
who come to their house looking for a room. There is also the brother who
thinks he is Teddy Roosevelt and another brother who has escaped from a mental institution.
The third brother who is a theater critic is in for many surprises. There are laughs, ahas, and emotional moments. Speaking is like this play or any play for it must use the PIE principal. That is to persuade, inform and entertain. As a speaker new to the art, an emerging speaker or a Professional Speaker one must adhere to some of the same principles that are used in theater. From the pre-speech or theater, body and vocal warm-ups to the concluding round of applause, each one of us is in charge of what we send out to our audience.
In Greek terms we would look to Ethos, Logos and Pathos. When writing your speech all three aspects must be included. Ethos is using credibility or ethical persuasion to convince the audience of who you are as a speaker or who you are portraying as an actor. Logos is logical and appeals to the intellect and reason. As speakers this is backed with research studies and statistics, in theater it uses numbers and facts. Pathos is a way of appealing to the audience through emotions. Love, hate, guilt and anger all appeal to emotions whether through a speech or acting on stage. Your speech needs to be sprinkled with a steady stream of humor and stories if you want to get paid!
So come see Arsenic and Old Lace to receive hundreds of ideas through staging, voice adaptation, movement and timing. This play written by Joseph Kesselring and performed on Broadway from 1939 to 1944 and then made into movies is more than an evening’s entertainment. It is directed by the creative Lucia Dressel and will be your conversation starter for weeks to come.
Come early and enjoy the organist on an original silent movie organ. Isn’t it amazing how we have evolved since Aristotle created Ethos, Logos and Pathos? Speaking of evolving, I need to go over the script before tonight’s rehearsal!
The third brother who is a theater critic is in for many surprises. There are laughs, ahas, and emotional moments. Speaking is like this play or any play for it must use the PIE principal. That is to persuade, inform and entertain. As a speaker new to the art, an emerging speaker or a Professional Speaker one must adhere to some of the same principles that are used in theater. From the pre-speech or theater, body and vocal warm-ups to the concluding round of applause, each one of us is in charge of what we send out to our audience.
In Greek terms we would look to Ethos, Logos and Pathos. When writing your speech all three aspects must be included. Ethos is using credibility or ethical persuasion to convince the audience of who you are as a speaker or who you are portraying as an actor. Logos is logical and appeals to the intellect and reason. As speakers this is backed with research studies and statistics, in theater it uses numbers and facts. Pathos is a way of appealing to the audience through emotions. Love, hate, guilt and anger all appeal to emotions whether through a speech or acting on stage. Your speech needs to be sprinkled with a steady stream of humor and stories if you want to get paid!
So come see Arsenic and Old Lace to receive hundreds of ideas through staging, voice adaptation, movement and timing. This play written by Joseph Kesselring and performed on Broadway from 1939 to 1944 and then made into movies is more than an evening’s entertainment. It is directed by the creative Lucia Dressel and will be your conversation starter for weeks to come.
Come early and enjoy the organist on an original silent movie organ. Isn’t it amazing how we have evolved since Aristotle created Ethos, Logos and Pathos? Speaking of evolving, I need to go over the script before tonight’s rehearsal!
I am: Carolyn Finch
Communication LifeStyle Expert
Comference, Convention and Community-Inspirational Speaker
Communication LifeStyle Expert
Comference, Convention and Community-Inspirational Speaker
Good article, Carolyn.
ReplyDelete