Shilkoff 1

Melissa Shilkoff
Mr. White P5
English12 CP
November 16, 2015
A Blue Patch of Sky
In order to successfully direct the emotionally demanding The Diary of Anne
Frank, I will need to know the mental difficulties that my actors, and myself, may
encounter; as well as how to overcome them. For my senior project, I decided to direct
the play The Diary of Anne Frank. Since I am certifying in Theatre, Musical Theatre, and
Vocal Music, this is the perfect project for me. Although I am aware that it is not a
musical, I have found a way to incorporate music in the play. I plan to have music that
Anne may have listened to play before the show starts and maybe during intermission
too.
Psychology in Theatre
Considering the fact that this show can be very emotionally demanding, I have
decided to research psychology in theatre, how to overcome stage fright, and
memorization skills. Learning how psychology and theatre intertwine with each other
wont only help actors, but it will be useful to directors as well.
Drama Therapy
Many psychologists or therapists specialize in helping actors; in fact, there is
a specific term for these kinds of therapists as well as the type of therapy they practice.
These therapists and psychologists are called drama therapists and they practice drama
therapy. In order to assist their patients who are involved in the performing arts, drama

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therapy is used in order to help the performers control their emotions and behaviors
(Fink). By accessing them, it makes it easier to help their patients overcome what may be
troubling them.
How the Theatre is a Safe Place
A sacred place is thought of as holy to a particular religion. Certain sacred
places include the Bahai Shrine of Bahullh, the Buddhism Mahabodhi Temple, the
Christianity Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Druid Stonehenge, the Hinduism
Varanasi, the Islam Kaaba, the Judaism Western Wall, and the Sikhism Golden Temple,
and the Performing Artist Theatre. As weird as that sounds, the theatre is thought of as a
sacred place. Although it is not part of any noted religion, it is thought of and treated with
as much care and love as a Temple or a Church. Drama therapists see the stage as
therapeutic and it shares many of the same qualities as the sacred place (Fink and
Pendzik).
Inhabiting the Mind, Mannerisms, and Reality of Fictional Character can be
Alienating
For actors who perform in plays where they are portraying real life people or
the play takes place during a terrifying tragic time, it is common for the actors to
transport themselves mentally to really understand what their character went through or
might have gone through. This is something someone might do if they performed in The
Diary of Anne Frank. Although some people think that fully inhabiting the mind,
mannerisms, and even the reality of a character, fictional or non-fictional can be
rewarding, it is actually very alienating to your mental stability (Ohikuare). By having a
character that is going through a difficult time or is living a difficult life take over your

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life, it can be detrimental to the rest of your life. Or at least have long-term effects. When
Heath Ledger took on the role of the Joker in the 2008 remake he had no idea what was
in store for him. Ledger has quoted by reporters saying that he slept an average of two
hours a night while playing the psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown
with zero empathy. His body was exhausted and because his mind was still going; he
couldnt stop thinking (Neumaieir). Many people believe that although he died of an
overdose, he started taking the medication because of what the Joker was doing to his
mental state.
Improving your Mental Health with Theatre
While theatre can be a stimulus for psychotic, schizophrenic, and depressed
patients, it can also help prevent mental illness (McLoughlin). There are two
explanations as to why this is true. The first is that by becoming someone else whos life
is completely different than yours it is easier to forget the obstacles that you as a human
being are going through. It doesnt even matter if the characters life is better or worse
than yours. The actor is still putting their reality on hold and un pausing the reality of
their character. When Justin Mikita (Jesse Tyler Fergusons husband) was thirteen years
old he was diagnosed with cancer (Vulpo). At that time he was in the cast of West Side
Story at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center and after each session of chemotherapy he
would still go to the theatre and perform (ARTS Promo Video). When someone has
cancer, or just sick in general, it can be very difficult for them to perform on a stage every
weekend for six weeks. Justin believes that it was he being in that show was what saved
his life because when he would go and perform, he wasnt sick. He was just a boy
performing on a stage; for just two hours a night he was able to forget that he was sick.

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Whether your an actor portraying someone who is going through the same thing as you
are or an audience member is watching something that happened to you or family
member happen to someone else. On November 6, 2014 a play entitled The Mental State
by Josh Adell opened at Campbell High School in Campbell Hall. It covered mental
illnesses and informed people how issues like that are always kept quiet. If we talk about
them yes, we might open ourselves to negative responses. If we dont, it could be just as
damaging. Keeping secrets as serious as depression or suicidal thoughts to us creates selfhate, triggers shame, and sometimes isolation. Its not always definite that a person might
get a negative response. Who knows, the person you open up to may be going through
that same issue. When people witnessed this play, they allowed themselves to share
stories from either their own lives or about family members who have suffered (Adell). If
more people go to see live theatre performances like this one, there might be a time when
people are not ashamed to talk about they are feeling inside.
How to Overcome Stage Fright
As surprising as it sounds, its actually very common for actors to suffer from
stage fright. It doesnt matter how experienced they are, how well trained, or even if they
are a professional on Broadway. Luckily, there are lots of suggestions, information, and
tested data that explain how it is possible to overcome stage fright. It is even possible to
find the answer as to why a person has stage fright in the first place.
Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking
Its very common for people who have a fear of stage fright choose to try
conquering their fear of public speaking. This is a very popular option because every

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community/junior college offers a class in public speaking. Its simple easy and lots of
people end up finding the class fun and enjoyable.
Mastering Performance Anxiety
Some people may think that there is just one form of performance anxiety.
The truth is, there are many forms and the most common phobia is stage fright
(Carbonell). Unfortunately, it may not always take over when youre physically on a
stage. It is true that stage fright is the fear of public speaking, but this is also relevant to
presenting in a class. Even if they are an actor, it is still entirely possible for them to be
afraid to present in a class. The reason for this is that it is entirely different from being on
a stage. When you are in a musical or a play you are not portraying yourself, you are
portraying a different character. Lots of people are not comfortable being themselves and
find it safe to pretend behind a mask.
The Science of Stage Fright
If someone suffers from stage fright, one question they might be asking
themselves is, Why is this happening? When the time comes to perform in front of an
audience, whether its presenting a report to the class, on the stage, or in front of a
camera, stage fright can take over. It is mainly triggered as an emotional and physical
response (Dvorsky). If it is possible to uncover what is the trigger of your stage fright
than it is entirely possible overcome it.
Memorization Skills
Then there are the lines. The Diary of Anne Frank contains many monologues;
some are even a few paragraphs! It can be particularly difficult to memorize a monologue
word for word; let alone six or seven that have maybe two to five paragraphs. Some

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people may already have methods of memorization and some people may not. For those
who do not, they may end up paraphrasing their lines; which most directors want to avoid
at all costs. There are also a strong amount of words that must be pronounced correctly.
Most of the words are pronounced very different than from how they look. If the director
is knowledgeable on the show and the show's history than they will hopefully already
know how to pronounce the words. They might even give their actors pronunciation
guides.
What Actors Can Teach Us About Memory and Learning
When someone is first starting out as an actor, one of the first things they
discover is that they must know all of their lines and cue lines for the performance(s).
They are not allowed to have their script onstage with them when they are performing in
front of an audience and its not like someone is going to be on book telling what their
next line is incase they forgot. It can be pretty terrifying and intimidating. The scripts
have to be reproduced perfectly without any improvising at all and in front of crowds and
crowds of people (Noice).
Memorization Techniques for Actors
Sometimes they may feel the pressure because theyre not sure if they have all
their lines/cue line memorized or not. They may think there is only one way to memorize
and that way may not end up working. The truth is there are many different ways to
memorize lines (Martin). One way is by writing down their lines. As tedious as it sounds,
it is actually sometimes worth taking time out of your day to write down all of your lines.
This doesnt work for everyone, but it does work for most people. You may not even
realize it works because people dont want to the time to write; especially if they are the

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lead and would have to write a million lines. Writing lines is a great way to memorize
because for some people its very easy to remember what they have written by the way
their hand moved or because they see the line being written.
Using Memory Effectively
Repetition is probably the most used technique in order to memorize lines.
What this entails is simply repeating the line over and over again and by doing this you
memorize the rhythm, cadence, and tone of voice (Paul). Memorizing all three things
adds to memorizing your lines and makes it easier to remember them on top of your cue
lines and lyrics. The rhythm of your walking and dancing is helpful as well in
remembering your blocking and choreography.
Memory and Mnemonic Devices
Another popular device that some people might have heard of, but may not
know how to do is a mnemonic device. Mnemonic devices are easy tools to use when
memorizing information so that it sinks into our minds and stays there with us a long time
(Psych Central). An actor can choose one or two ways of creating a mnemonic. They may
use an acronym, by taking each of the initial letters of the list members, create a
memorable phrase in which the words with the same acronym as the material. Singers
and musicians use a mnemonic to remember the notes for the base clef (FACE) and the
treble clef (EGBDF). The acronym for the base clef can either be the word FACE or
Fat Angry Cats Eat. The treble clefs acronym can be between two different phrases.
Every Good Boy Does Fine or Every Good Boy Deserves Fries. Even after it has been
years since the show had closed, actors may still be able to remember all their lines and
lyrics.

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In order to direct a successful production of The Diary of Anne Frank, I needed to
know how psychology relates to theatre, how to overcome stage fright, and memorization
skills. Considering that this was an emotionally demanding piece of literature for my
actors I wanted to be prepared in case there were any breakdowns because the show
touched them in a way that would be hard for them to come out of. Psychology in theatre
will help me handle breakdowns by my actors if any should occur. Overcoming stage
fright will teach me helpful ways to over come this well-known fear. Finally, the
memorization; his will be a huge advantage because as I said before, there are many
monologues and a lot of them are pretty lengthy as well as the pronunciations. Most of
my actors of my never even been cast in big roles before, so this might be a real
challenge for them.
A few weeks after auditions and callbacks were held and my senior project was
cast, I found out from Benny Martinez, who was cast as Mr. van Daan in my show, did
not have a senior project. I knew that he did costumes for High Street Arts Center a few
times so I asked him if he wanted to costumes for my show as his senior project. He said
that he would love to, but hes trying to certify in choir so I told him that he could teach
the Hebrew prayer songs to the cast and that way he can still certify in choir. After he got
the ok from Mrs. Abbe The Diary of Anne Frank became a joint senior project. I was
excited at first, but then I started to think about the complications teaming up with
someone. Luckily, there have been no issues so far. I am also still the director so I have
final say on everything; including the costumes. When you are directing a play, you are
the leader. The actors depend on you to find out what their blocking is, that the play is
moving in the right direction, and that they will not look awful up on that stage when it is

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show time. Being only eighteen years old, it can be very stressful to know that a whole
cast looks up to and relies on you that much. I suffer from severe anxiety and am
constantly having panic attack; needless to say, I was more than nervous about the
process. Especially when Ive heard stories of seniors before me and how their projects
had to be cancelled because of people not showing up to rehearsals, dropping the show,
the actors not knowing any of their lines, or losing the venue. Luckily, the place I was
renting is my home theatre and my family and I have known the people there for nine
years so I wasnt worried about losing the venue. I was however worried about my actors
not showing up to rehearsals, not knowing their lines, or worse; dropping out of my show.
It turned out I had a right to be because even before we had our first blocking rehearsal
my best friend who was portraying Peter van Daan had to drop out of my show. As soon
as he told me I started having a panic attack. A few weeks after another good friend of
mine who was portraying the role of Mr. Kraler had to drop too. I couldnt believe it. We
werent even in two months of rehearsals and already two people dropped out of my
show. The fact that they were boys made it even worse because it is so hard to find male
actors; especially male actors who good. So I rolled up my sleeves and called my male
actor friends that I felt were appropriate for this role. Twenty minutes before the first
blocking rehearsal I still didnt have anyone. I decided to call another one of my good
friends. Ryan Bermont was my savior! He said that he would love to do it, he got the ok
from his mom, and within an hour he showed up at my house ready to work.
Unfortunately, because I contacted all my male friends about Peter, I didnt have anyone
else to call about Kraler. I then thought of the boy I cast as one of my Dutch
Collaborators. He was basically my only and option and since he was already in the play

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I thought it was a perfect idea. Daniel McGreevy was extremely happy about becoming
my new Mr. Kraler and just like that, my main cast was complete once again. There have
been about four rehearsals so far; two out of that four I had found out that people couldnt
come until after I called them and asked them where they were. Since the cast is so small,
it makes it very difficult to block even if just one person is missing. At the third blocking
rehearsal, two of my actors couldnt be there and it was very difficult. For the first half I
would block and the second half I was going to work on character with the van Daan
family. One of my actors who didnt show up is portraying Mr. van Daan so my Mrs. van
Daan had to contact her parents and let them know that she had to be picked up earlier
than when it says on the schedule. I feel like this is something that is hard to avoid
because they are teenagers and they have a lot of other things on their mind, but that is
still not an excuse. I dont know what else I can do other than whenever I make a post on
the Facebook page, also mention that if they find out that they cant make to a rehearsal,
they must tell me right away that they will not be present so that I have time to rearrange
things around or cancel the rehearsal if need be.
I wanted to direct The Diary of Anne because its my favorite play and my
grandmother was a survivor of the holocaust. Unfortunately she died the year before I
was born so I never got to meet her and ask her about her experience, but I have felt
closer to her by directing this play. I believe that The Diary of Anne Frank is a show that
deserves to be told again and again. Not just because its an amazing show, but also
because its historical literature. It is shocking to me how there are people who have
never heard of the holocaust, dont have a clear understanding as to what happened in
that part of Europe, and that there is still anti-Semitism in the world. I am dedicating my

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senior project to Frances Shilkoff, those who survived the Holocaust, and the six million
lives that were lost.

Works Cited

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Adell, Josh. "A THEATRICAL TREATMENT ON MENTAL ILLNESS." EdTA. N.p., 15 Jan. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
ARTS Promo Video. Dir. Larry Shilkoff. YouTube. N.p., 18 Aug. 2012. Web.
19 Nov. 2015.
Carbonell, David. "Mastering Performance Anxiety and Stage Fright."
Mastering Performance Anxiety and Stage Fright. David Carbonell, Ph.D.
Anxiety Coach, 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
Cho, Mikael. "What Happens to Our Brains When We Have Stage Fright: The
Science of Public Speaking - The Buffer Blog." Buffer Social. N.p., 30
Apr. 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
Dvorsky, George. "The Neuroscience of Stage Fright - and How to Cope with
It." Io9. DAILY EXPLAINER, 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
Espisito, Janet. "Conquering Stage Fright | Anxiety and Depression
Association of America, ADAA." Conquering Stage Fright | Anxiety and
Depression Association of America, ADAA. Anxiety and Depression
Disorder of America, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
Fink, Siobhan O. "Approaches to Emotion in Psychotherapy and Theatre:
Implications for Drama Therapy." Approaches to Emotion in
Psychotherapy and Theatre: Implications for Drama Therapy. Elsevier Ltd,
3 May 2002. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
"Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem." Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem. N.p., n.d. Web. 16
Nov. 2015.

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Martin, Katie. "Memorization Techniques for Actors." Contrast Creative.
Communications in Focus, 31 July 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
McLoughlin, Beth. "Can Theatre Be Used to Treat Mental Illness? Beth
McLoughlin Aeon." Aeon Magazine. Beth McLoughlin, 5 Mar. 2015.
Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
Neumaieir, Joe. "Jack Nicholson Warned Heath Ledger on 'Joker' Role." NY
Daily News. N.p., 24 Jan. 2008. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Noice, Helga. "Elaborative memory strategies of professional actors." Applied
Cognitive Psychology 6.5 (1992): 417-427.
Ohikuare, Judith. "How Actors Create Emotions: A Problematic Psychology."
The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
Paul, Annie Murphy. "What Actors Can Teach Us About Memory and
Learning." Ideas What Actors Can Teach Us About Memory and Learning
Comments. TIME, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
Pendzik, Susana. "The Theatre Stage and the Sacred Space: A Comparison."
The Theatre Stage and the Sacred Space: A Comparison. Elsevier Science,
28 May 2002. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.
"Places in the Holy Land." Places in the Holy Land. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov.
2015.
Psych Central. "Memory and Mnemonic Devices." Psych Central. N.p., 3
Sept. 2010. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
"Search." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.
Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

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Vulpo, Mike. "Stand Up to Cancer: Jesse Tyler Ferguson Opens Up About
Husbands Past Diagnosis as Donations Pass $109 Million Mark."
EOnline. N.p., 7 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.