The unit aims to understand the intricacies of a playful, physical acting style using techniques such as comic timing, clowning around and slapstick humour. Students will meet the characters of Commedia dell'arte and explore a variety of typical scenarios.
Ongoing formative assessment.
Effect
The impact of something on someone or something else.
Caricature
A picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.
Comic Drop
When an actor looks to camera/audience.
Fixed Point
Fixed point in drama is when you keep your eye on the object and the imaginary object never becomes bigger or smaller.
Comic Suspension
Shorter glance, smaller than fixed point; often with a facial expression to enhance.
Projection
Voice projection is the strength of speaking or singing whereby the voice is used loudly and clearly. It is a technique employed to command respect and attention, as when a teacher talks to a class, or simply to be heard clearly, as used by an actor in a
Gesture
The definition of a gesture is an expressive movement of the body, or something that is said or done to show a feeling.
Posture
A position of a person's body. This can convey mood or personality.
Character
A person represented in a drama, story, etc.
Develop the individual:
Develops non-verbal communication as well as verbal skills. Explores different theatrical style/culture (Commedia del'arte).
Create a supportive community:
Students work collaboratively and share/celebrate their practical work.
Students explore the roles of the actor and director while considering the themes and characters in the play 'Noughts and Crosses'. They will perform extracts of the play in groups.
Scripted assessment in groups.
Melodrama
A sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions
Plot
The outline of a play
Gesture
Physical movement performed by the hands
Theme Music
A theme music is the material, usually a recognisable melody that appears throughout a play in different ways, versions and parts
Exaggeration
Over the top acting without words
Devising
Creating a piece of drama
Performing
Present a form of entertainment to an audience
Stock Characters
A stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype
Emotional Gestures
The act of moving the limbs or body as an expression of thought or emphasis
Script
A piece of text with specific conventions that actors use to learn lines for a piece of drama
Develop the individual:
Students explore a different style of theatre giving them a better critical understanding of how theatre has developed. Explore issues of right and wrong.
Create a supportive community:
Students work collaboratively and share / celebrate their practical work.
Drawing on the exaggerated gestures and expressions from the Victorian era, students will use a variety of techniques to understand the style and genre of Melodrama and perform it using 'stock characters'. Students are required to use exaggerated movements and voices to create their characters. They will explore emotions, feelings and character motivation, and demonstrate their ability to understand the effects their actions have on an audience.
Ongoing formative assessment.
Characterisation
The role of somebody else, created by an actor
Facial Expressions
A facial expression helps to convey how a character might be feeling
Explorative Strategies
Explorative strategies are used in drama to explore a theme or text
Drama Mediums
Drama mediums refers to the different ways in which dramatic meaning is communicated to an audience
Stimulus
Something that gives you a starting point for ideas e.g. a picture
Role on the wall
The outline of a body is drawn on a large sheet of paper, words or phrases describing the character are then written directly on to the drawing or stuck on with post-its
Empathise
To be able to put yourself in someone's shoes and experience their feelings
Mind Map
A diagram of ideas
Forum Theatre
A technique pioneered by Brazilian radical Augusto Boal. A play or scene, usually indicating some kind of oppression, is shown twice.
Media
A way of communicating information e.g. play, film
Element
Part of something.
Develop the individual:
Moral and ethical issues explored.
Create a supportive community:
Students work collaboratively and share/celebrate their practical work.
This unit is intended to explore elements of world theatre, such as the work of Augusto Boal, Noh theatre and puppetry.
Students create their own puppet play in groups.
Story Telling
Giving information about something that has happened or has been imagined to happen.
Superheroes
Beings in human form who have extra ordinary powers and work for the good of other human beings.
Back story
The story behind an event - the past.
Villains
The archetypal 'bad guy' - a human or someone in human form working against other humans.
Plot
The story.
Narration
The telling of a story, a reader.
Imagination
Allowing your brain to think around a topic and make up possible scenarios/events.
Tension
Building emotion in the audience through story telling.
Theme
A key idea running through a story.
Timing
When things happen, people say things etc.
Develop the individual:
Consideration of right and wrong. Development of communication skills.
Create a supportive community:
Students work collaboratively and share/celebrate their practical work.
Using stimuli that link to the idea of identity, students will develop pieces that give them opportunities to devise original work, while considering their place in the world.
Ongoing formative assessment.
Destructive
Causing great and irreparable damage.
Consequence
What occurs as a result of certain actions.
Character
In role as somebody else (could be fictional person).
Hot-Seating
Where people take on the role of characters from a story and other people ask them questions. The characters have to answer the questions in as much detail as possible.
Thought Tracking
Helps inform an audience about a character. You see it in action when: a character speaks out loud about his/her inner thoughts at a particular moment in the drama. a character speaks out loud about his/her inner thoughts during a freeze frame/still-image
Devising
Plan or invent (a complex procedure, system, or mechanism) by careful thought.
Improvising
Create and perform (music, drama, or verse) spontaneously or without preparation.
Script
The written text of a play, film, or broadcast.
Staging
The method of presenting a play or other dramatic performance.
Impact
The result of the performance on the audience.
Develop the individual:
Students consider reasons crimes are committed and the moral/ethical issues facing the characters in the story.
Create a supportive community:
Students work collaboratively and share/celebrate their practical work. Shared exploration of difficult issues.
Students will be introduced to the musical 'Bugsy Malone' and explore accent, characterisation, staging and design elements of the show.
Students will perform a short section of the play.
Form
The form of a drama is the way that the story is told, the way the characters play their parts, and/or the way the themes are explored.
Structure
The structure is the parts that go in to making up a piece of drama.
Conventions
The normal requirements.
Lighting
How a stage is lit up and when.
Sound
The noises required for a performance, this can include background noise, speech and special effects.
Back drop
The back ground for the scene.
Staging
The method of presenting a play or other dramatic performance. "The quality of staging and design"
Develop the individual:
Communication skills, confidence, collaborative working. Exploration of a different time period and culture (1930s America).
Create a supportive community:
Students work collaboratively and share/celebrate their practical work.