Drama
What is
Drama
?
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”
-Albert Einstein
A drama can be described as a piece of writing with the intention of it being performed in front of an audience. The purpose of the drama is entertainment for the audience. However, the reason we study Drama in Penyrheol is not only to learn how to perform, it is also to learn about what meaning others have made of life, to know what it takes to produce a performance, and to gain some understanding of ourselves and others.
Drama in Years 7 and 8 has an important role to play in your personal, social and emotional development. By engaging in the Year 7 and 8 curriculum, the department will have helped to develop an open-minded and experimental learner, unafraid to take risks and to be creative; confident to explore what it means to be human.
The word ‘drama’ is actually taken from the Greek word ’drao’ which means ‘I do’ or action. You will learn the skills of how to create a piece of theatre, perform in front of an audience and evaluate as an actor, director and designer. You will learn these things by doing them in active, creative and exciting lessons!
The Drama curriculum is heavily linked to the Curriculum for Wales ‘What Matters’ Statements in Expressive Arts.
Each scheme of work demands that you:
- Explore & Create
- Perform & Respond
- Reflect & Evaluate
Through Drama we can understand more about the lives and experiences of others.
Why is
Drama
important?
Drama is really important because it allows you to enjoy yourself, be creative and develop positive energy and social skills. Drama lessons will help you to become an ethical and informed citizen who understands the importance of mutual respect and listening to and appreciating others’ ideas and beliefs. In addition to this, Drama at Penyrheol will encourage and support you to build your own personal values, find, evaluate and use evidence in forming views, have positive relationships with others and become responsible young citizens in society.
You will need to consider the impact of your actions when making choices and acting. You demonstrate this
through presentation of performances and how to be a respectful audience or class member but also in how you participate in every lesson with each other often in groups, understanding the way in which you should work as a team. You will always receive valuable feedback on how you rehearse and create together. Opinion and debate is encouraged in this lesson and you will learn how to accept and use constructive criticism.
The ambition in Drama lessons is to develop skills for later life and be able to ‘hold your own’ in social situations. Along with gaining vital transferable skills for any job or career (communication, leadership, teamwork, problem solving, confidence). Drama encourages you to gain confidence in your own abilities, work with others and speak! This is vital in life!
Our vision
It is the vision of the Drama department to nurture and explore the creativity within all our pupils. While doing so, they will develop their interpersonal and communication skills as well as enhancing their understanding of the human condition, drama skills, playwrights, contexts and theatre.
Pupils will be encouraged to think and act creatively, develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that can be applied in all areas of learning and life.
In Drama lessons, pupils are encouraged to take responsible roles and make choices – to participate in and guide their own learning.
Through Drama lessons our pupils can understand more about their lives and experiences and those of others.
In every lesson our pupils will have the experience and opportunity to:
- Explore & Create
- Perform & Respond
- Reflect & Evaluate
Our ambition is to create pupils who…
- are confident and content to express ideas, thoughts and opinions
- think creatively
- possess highly developed communication skills
- operate as a successful team member and actively participate and contribute
- demonstrate empathy
- work collaboratively and with concentration
- understand the world and those who live in it
Successful learners in Drama are those who are willing to put in the work necessary to learn new skills; practice to improve those skills; and (going forward) make connections between skills.
Big questions in
Drama
What is Drama?
How do we create meaning and communicate messages in performances?
How do I perform a script for an audience?
How do I take the words from the page to the stage?
How can we use Drama to reflect on the past and understand our cultural identity?
When, where and how did theatre begin?
How can we use Drama to understand the lives and experiences of others?
What will your journey in
Drama
look like?
Lessons are structured to ensure that you will become an ambitious and capable learner who is able to build upon skills and knowledge gained in each topic taught previously. New skills will be gradually introduced and you will be able to connect and apply this learning in different contexts. Revisiting these skills regularly will give you the opportunity to develop, improve and progress.
Most topics in Key Stage 3 are studied for either a half or full term to offer a range of styles and genres for you to experience.
Currently Drama is time-tabled for one lesson a week in Year 7 & 8.
Key areas of study are:
- Audience Awareness
- Characterisation
- Dramatic Styles and Forms
- Exploring Texts
- Devising from stimulus
- Historical/Social/Cultural Context
- Directing and Designing
Year 7-9
| Year 7 | Year 8 | |
|---|---|---|
| Autumn 1 | Introduction to Drama What is Drama? How are performances created and communicated? An Introduction to Performance Skills, Acting Tools & Improvisation | Physical Theatre What is the aim of Physical Theatre? What are the techniques? How can Physical Theatre help polish our performance skills? |
| Autumn 2 | Performing from a script How do I perform a script for an audience? How do I take the words from the page to the stage? | Melodrama How does our understanding of Physical Theatre support our work when studying Melodrama? What are the key elements of Melodrama? How has Melodrama influenced theatre & performance? |
| Spring 1 | The Welsh Not How can we use Drama to reflect on the past and understand our cultural identity? Developing understanding of devising skills by introducing an historical event as a stimulus | Theatre in Education What is the purpose of theatre in education? What makes T.i.E different from other theatre styles? |
| Spring 2 | ‘Carnival’ – Greek Theatre When, where and how did theatre begin? An introduction to the history/origins of Theatre Links to AOLE – shared topic | Theatre in Education What is the purpose of theatre in education? What makes T.i.E different from other theatre styles? |
| Summer 1 | Aesop’s Fables & Greek Myths How do we create meaning and communicate messages thorough performance? Extending understanding of how to devise drama in response to a different stimulus. | Understanding Shakespeare Why is studying Shakespeare relevant today? How has the work of Shakespeare influenced theatre and performance? What do we need to understand and know about Shakespeare’s plays? |
| Summer 2 | World War II Evacuees How can we use Drama to understand the lives and experiences of others? Developing Characterisation – adopting & sustaining a role from another era. | Performing Shakespeare How do you begin to read a Shakespearean text? Why does Shakespeare use both prose and verse? How do you approach character development in a Shakespeare play? |
In year 7 you will learn all about...
In the Autumn term, you will explore a tool-kit of practical techniques that you will be able to apply in the lessons that follow, these are chosen to build skills and knowledge. The focus is on character creation and basic drama skills. You will learn how to work creatively with others and how to shape and rehearse a performance to ensure that is engaging for an audience. You will also gain skills in how to evaluate your own work and that of others. By the end of the year, you should be able to present a range of characters in performance, be able to present a clear story in a piece of performance group work, create short, rehearsed improvisations, behave appropriately as performers and as a member of an audience and undertake research and evaluate critically what you find.
In year 8 you will learn all about...
Throughout this year, skills are built on through experience and maturity from Year 7. You will have more freedom to choose characters, texts and demonstrate performance choices and you are introduced to a range of contrasting theatre forms, styles and genres and yes, this includes Shakespeare! Within year 8, topics have been chosen to allow you to build on what you were taught in Year 7, perform more skilfully and create interesting work that include social, historical and cultural contexts. You will also evaluate live performances and have the opportunity to experience and watch examples of theatre.
In year 9 you will learn all about...
As there are no lessons in Year 9, there are practical units and coursework style tasks, which offer the experience of drama as a process and performing from both a script and devising. This is necessary to ensure progressions and possible transition to GCSE Drama as an option choice.
What will the study of
Drama
encourage you to think about / do?
You are expected to think and operate as an actor, director and/or designer.
This encourages you to operate and act creatively, developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are useful in all areas of learning. In lessons you are encouraged to take responsibility and make choices for your own learning and become an enterprising and creative contributor.
There is a real and definite link between dramatic performance and political and social issues. What are these? I hear you ask. They can be described as the important topics and debates that affect people and how we live e.g. Human Rights, Poverty, Education etc. Artistic expression has historically been the first indicator of people’s dissatisfaction with the way certain issues were, or were not dealt with.
Expressive Arts often reflect the political, religious, or social views of the artist and so Drama lessons will enable you to form your own thoughts, beliefs and onions and teach you how to express them effectively.
Creative thinkers and makers provide their communities with joy, interaction, and inspiration, but they also push communities to engage thoughtfully and make steps toward social progress.
You will mostly work practically in lessons, generally in group or pair tasks. The work you devise is shared with the class, with feedback from the teacher and your peers. Practical lessons are usually structured in the same way, they re-cap previous work, introduce new material, show examples/model, allow practical exploration in rehearsal, performance and evaluation.
All learners in the class are expected to take part and contribute to tasks in the lesson. You are encouraged to work as a team.
What opportunities for learning does the
Drama
curriculum provide?
Through Drama, you have opportunities to be creative and to experience inspiration and enjoyment. Exploring artistic skills and knowledge allows you to become curious and creative individuals. You will create characters and improvise scenes of original work that show you empathy and understating with a variety of people throughout the history and across the globe.
Creating drama involves a variety of activities and skills like responding to stimuli that could be a picture a song or a quote for example, devising scenes and shaping them, rehearsing scripts. You will learn skills such as how to take the dialogue in a script off the page and to the stage in an engaging performance.
The ability to reflect on your learning is deepened as your knowledge and understanding of how and why drama is made grows. You will learn about the history of theatre and how and why developments were influence by culture and society. You will become knowledgeable about culture, community, society and the world, now and in the past.
You are encouraged to identify your strengths and also how you can improve your work when you respond to the feedback of others, you will be able to set targets and strategies to to ensure that you become a pro-active learner who is able to reach their potential by listening carefully and taking on board advice.
Drama lessons will foster skills that enable you to become a healthy and confident individual who forms positive relationships based upon trust and mutual respect face and overcomes challenges with the skills and knowledge to manage everyday life as independently as you can.
What skills will you learn in your study of
Drama
?
You are a citizen of Wales and the world and you need to know how to express your opinions and points of view and to respect those of others. You need to know how thrive and contribute as a valued member of society. You need to appreciate social and cultural diversity and how this has changed throughout history.
There is a common misconception about Drama. Some people think that the only worthwhile reason to be studying Drama is to become an actor or director. They are incorrect!
What people forget is that practical subjects like Drama allow you to develop hugely valuable and transferrable skills which you will continue to use throughout your life, in and out of work.
As a learner you will:
- Develop teamwork and performance skills. No subject teaches you how to work well in a team quite like Drama. In Drama you are nearly always working with a group of people of varying sizes. You will work with creative people, enthusiastic people, fun people, and, you may also work with lazy people, disorganised people and bossy people (you may well be one of these characters yourself). Drama will allow you to develop your patience, ability to compromise and communication skills.
- You will learn discipline. Once you’ve mastered the art of keeping a straight face throughout the entirety of a ridiculously funny production you’re basically the master of discipline! This skill makes you more aware of your body language and more able to adapt your behaviour for various situations. It’s not so much about acting as being aware of your body language and how to adapt to distracting, uncomfortable or sensitive situations.
- You will be able to speak confidently and effectively either expressing your own ideas and participating in debate and discussions and in role. This is a really important one because Drama gives you the opportunity to push yourself to perform. You will be able to grow in confidence, develop your performance skills and overcome the fear of making mistakes in a fun, creative and supportive environment.
- You will be able to improvise, rehearse and perform play scripts in order to engage the audience. In Drama you will be asked to improvise on a number of occasions. It may not feel like it at the time but this will hold you in good stead when it comes to taking initiative and adapting in your personal life and in the workplace.
- You will become a creative citizen able to thrive in a dynamic world. Drama stimulates you to be constantly creative. Of course, nothing can actually teach creativity but it is a muscle that needs regular exercise and stretching! Drama will force you to regularly come up with exciting and convincing ideas, to a deadline and this ability will stay with you.
- Empathy is a really important life skill. When you act in Drama you put yourself in to another person’s shoes and try to identify with them and their situation. This will really test your empathy, especially when portraying a character who is experiencing things you cannot personally relate to. This is an invaluable skill that will open your mind and improve the way you interact with people.
- As a learner you will also have developed knowledge of a range of genres and performance styles and have the understanding to enable you to apply your skills and appreciation for performance. You will have a good understanding of how theatre can effectively combine with other art forms. Analysing Drama productions allows you to develop your critical thinking skills. This is useful for a number of jobs. Also, it allows you to think more critically about the film, television and theatre that we all consume on a daily basis.
How can you deepen your knowledge and understanding of
Drama
?
Get involved!
We will hopefully visit the theatre during Years 7 and 8. You will also have access to digital recordings of Live Theatre and observe the work of your peers. However, you may also choose to visit some of our local theatre in your own time. You could perhaps go to see the fabulous pantomime at The Grand Theatre in Swansea or the Ffwrness in Llanelli. You might choose to visit The Dylan Thomas Theatre or The Taliesin Arts Centre in Swansea to watch a play. There are also several exciting productions at the new Swansea Arena.
There are many plays in our LRC that you are invited to borrow and some in the Drama cupboard too that we are happy for you to read.
Everyone is welcome and encouraged to be part of the cast or crew of the Penyrheol annual school production that is produced with the Music department. Do not feel you need to be the best actor, dancer or singer to join the company. We would love to have you tread the boards with us!
There is also Year 9 Drama Club after school to make up for the absence of time-tabled lessons. This group usually enjoys touring our Cluster Primaries with their performances. Who knows… you may even decide to take up performance as a hobby and join one of the thriving Theatre Arts companies for young people in the area. There are several to choose from – Musicality, Stage Coach, CATS and many more!
How does your study of
Drama
support your study in other subjects?
It’s long been understood that studying Drama helps learners improve in a wide range of areas, such as self-confidence, self-esteem, self-expression, communication, collaboration, interpersonal skills, aesthetic awareness and, last but not least, imagination.
Drama is a subject that naturally connects with many other subjects in the following ways:
Self-Confidence
Taking risks in class and performing for an audience teaches you to trust your ideas and abilities. This will have positive effect in all your other subjects too. For example, when it comes to delivering a speech in English lessons.
Cooperation & Collaboration
Work in Drama lessons combines the creative ideas and abilities of all pupils. This cooperative process includes discussing, negotiating, rehearsing, and performing. Again, these are skills appropriate across the curriculum.
Concentration Skills
Drama enhances verbal and nonverbal expression of ideas. It improves your voice projection, articulation and fluency with language and persuasive speech. Listening and observation skills develop by playing drama games, being an audience, rehearsing, and performing. Playing, practising, and performing will develop a sustained focus of mind, body, and voice, which also helps in other subjects like Music and P.E, and, again, life in general.
Problem solving
You will learn how to communicate the who, what, where, and why to the audience. Improvisation fosters quick-thinking solutions which leads to greater adaptability in life. In Maths or Science there are many problems that you may need to find a solution to.
Memory
Rehearsing and performing words, movements, and cues strengthens this skill like a muscle. Remembering facts and statistics is always a skill needed in History and Geography and new vocabulary needs to be memorised in Welsh or MFL.
Social Awareness
Legends, myths, poems, stories, plays and other texts used in Drama teach you about social issues and conflicts from cultures – past and present – all over the world. Issue such as these are always debated in R.E.
How can
Drama
support you in the future?
It is our intention that you should not just understand the impact major theatre practitioners and performers have made on the arts and society as a whole, but have the potential to be the theatre practitioners and performers of the future.
The skills you use and develop in your Drama studies make you of interest to a wide range of employers, inside and outside of the industry. Compared to other subjects, Drama prepares you with the essential communication, social interaction and presentational skills required in nearly every job role.
So, the possibilities of Drama’s influence on your future career paths are vast & various…
- Actor
- Advertising
- Arts Administrator
- Barrister
- Broadcaster
- Community arts worker
- Councillor
- Drama therapist
- Entertainer
- Journalist
- Policing
- Politician
- Social Worker
- Speech Therapy
- Solicitor
- Teacher
- Theatre director
- Theatre stage manager/technician/set designer
- Writer
- Youth Worker