Drama

In Year 9 students receive discreet Drama lessons in addition to some Drama skills being delivered within the Literacy for Life curriculum. Drama lessons are delivered on rotation with Music with groups receiving a one-hour lesson per week for half a term.

Autumn Term: Practitioners

Students study significant drama practitioners in history by exploring the techniques and styles of devising, rehearsal and performance. Students explore three different practitioners of contrasting styles to begin to show the breadth of performance styles possible and how they have influenced contemporary performance.

Students explore Stanislavski and his naturalistic performance style, Brecht’s “Epic Theatre”, and Boal’s “Theatre of the Oppressed” before creating a final assessed piece which focuses on their choice of practitioner that they have studied.

Spring Term: Othello

Students will be exploring this text in English and in Drama, will build upon their knowledge of the play by exploring how it can be performed to an audience. Students will explore key moments in the play through explorative strategies and rehearsal. They will learn about how Shakespeare plays can be interpreted and performed in a variety of ways, i.e., National Theatre and Frantic Assembly’s adaptation, and will create certain moments from the play in differing styles. They will learn and use performance techniques, such as Stage Combat, to bring moments to life. This scheme culminates in students presenting a key moment from the play in a chosen style for assessment.

Summer Term: Storytelling

Students will explore the tradition of storytelling and how this has evolved over time. They explore a variety of styles and forms such as fables, autobiographical, Urban Myths and Gothic. As part of this exploration, students will use a variety of techniques, such as narration and direct address, as well as the need to adapt voice and physicality to communicate abstract or grotesque characters to an audience.