Drama Year 9 – 10

Throughout this unit students will study a range of physical skills associated with the dramatical style and form. These include; lifts, floor work, mime, mask work, chorus work and more. Students will be required to devise a scene on a theme of their choice that highlights the skills taught.   

During this unit students will study and analyse the script “The Exam” by Andy Hamilton and through classroom practical explorations will gain and in-depth idea of the playwrights’ intentions in order to perform the characters as intended. Students should through their practical exploration gain a deeper understanding of a range of dramatic techniques that will enable them to do this.   

Using Edgar Allan Poe’s Story “The Tell Tale Heart,” students will develop a range of abstract skills that in order to reinterpret the story in their own devised version. Students will be introduced to lighting and sound elements in this unit and will have to take on a creative role in the realisation of their performance as a whole.   

Student will study a script and will create a classroom performance of the script. Using skills covered throughout the year students will be required to take leadership of their performance, incorporating design features such as; lighting, sound, costume and set design. The script for this unit changes from year to year, previous texts have included; FAST and The curious incident of the dog in the night-time. 

Students learn about the Theatre of the Oppressed, through devised pieces which explore his many forms of theatre such as; Invisible Theatre, Forum Theatre and Image Theatre. Pupils devise a contentless scene that explores people’s perceptions and perspectives of events.  

Students begin to develop their understanding of Brechtian Theatre and look at the Epic Theatre techniques of Brecht and how they can be used in order to help challenge social and political views through the medium of drama.  

Students study the theme of the culture of American fear. Using the Columbine massacre as a stimulus, student explore and research how the media has had a big effect on the fear in America. Students then devise a group mimed task that aims to highlight their findings. Pupils choose to use the ideas of Brecht, Stanislavski Artaud or Grotowski in their final piece 

During this unit students concentrate on the Youth Theatre script DNA by Dennis Kelley. Pupils explore what I meant by Youth Theatre and how to correctly communicate the themes and ideas of this to an audience.   

• develop students’ understanding of drama through practical and theoretical study 
• enable students to understand the role of actor, director and designer in creating a piece of theatre 
• develop students’ acting skills, both individually and in groups 
• enable students to develop their skills in devising original drama 
• help students to communicate feelings and ideas to an audience 
• foster understanding of the performance process and enable students to evaluate the various stages of that process 
• encourage enjoyment of drama. 

• extended extracts from published plays 
• stimuli (short titles, poems, pictures, songs, historical events, stories) for devising dramatic pieces 
• students’ own choice of dramatic repertoire 
• dramatic material of their own devising 

Students will work in groups of between two and six performers to devise and perform an original piece of drama based on a stimuli. The piece should last approximately 15 minutes.  Students have to use a range of staging techniques, e.g. lights, sound, set and costume. 

In groups students will perform a one act play or an extract from a script.  Students will study the extract to enable them to understand both the text and the practical aspects of production, e.g. lights, sound, set and costume. 

Students will perform a monologue from a play and one original one woman play.