Curriculum Overview

 

Key Stage 3 Key Stage 4 Sixth Form

Term 1: Lizzie Borden - introduction to devising

Students will explore the true story of Lizzie Borden and devise their own piece based on an aspect of the story. They will be encouraged to use a variety of techniques as they would at GCSE.

Ongoing formative assessment.

devise/devising
creating an original piece of drama, usually unscripted ( initially )

stimulus/i
a starting point

effect
how something looks or makes you feel

physical theatre
using movement and actions to communicate meaning

mood
the overall feeling or atmosphere that a play or performance creates for the audience

structure
how a play is put together; order of scenes eg linear/non linear

rehearse/rehearsal
to practise a scene/s; the period of time when the actors rehearse

scene
a section of text

blocking
positioning the actors on stage

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:
Empathising with other characters. Exploring different issues and experiences. Building confidence and communication skills.

Create a supportive community:
Students work in a collaborative way, developing teamwork skills, confidence and communication skills as well as sharing and celebrating their work.

Term 2: Developing characters

Students will look at Teechers by Godber as a starting point for developing their own characters.

Performance

puppet
a movable model of a person or animal that is typically moved either by strings controlled from above or by a hand inside it

animation
giving life to a puppet

fabric
the material used

narration
A person tells the story as it is performed

backdrop
a large piece of cloth, often painted with scenery, that is hung at the back of the stage to create the setting for a performance

revolve
a stage with a section that rotates ( moves in a circular motion )

flies
pulley system for lifting and lowering set and actors

trucks
wheels used to move scenery

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:
Empathy. Tolerance. Diversity.

Create a supportive community:
Students work in a collaborative way, developing teamwork skills, confidence and communication skills as well as sharing and celebrating their work.

Term 3: Bertolt Brecht and Protest

Students will explore the work of Brecht.

Ongoing formative assessment.

Structure
The arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex.

Epic Theatre
a theatrical movement, primarily associated with Bertolt Brecht; aims to get the audience to think about the action on stage rather than necessarily engaging in a deep way with the characters

Brecht/Brechtian
a twentieth century practitioner; in the style of Brecht

Verfremdungseffekt
alienation effect; alienating the audience so they can be objective about the characters and action

narration
A person tells the story as it is performed

placards
signs used to convey place/person/time/event

Spass
fun; humour

stereotype/stereotypical
a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:
Students explore the ethical/moral issues around the story and different characters' points of view. Students will have to consider language, register and setting.

Create a supportive community:
Students work in a collaborative way, developing teamwork skills, confidence and communication skills as well as sharing and celebrating their work

Term 4: Stanislavski and Naturalism

Students will be introduced to the work of Constantin Stanislavski. They will experiment with elements of his system and use them when rehearsing a short play, 'Grounded'.

Students will take part in a short scripted performance in groups.

Direction
The management or guidance of someone or something.

naturalism
style of theatre where truth is key

The System
Stanislavski's system for actors to help them get into role; feature specific techniques such as faith and a sense of belief and units and objectives

imagination
the ability of the mind to be creative

emotion memory
where the actor thinks of a situation they have been in and taps into the emotion in order to convey a role truthfully

units and objectives
the text is divided into units and then each unit is given an 'I want' statement to show what the character wants

characterisation
becoming a character both physically and vocally

blocking
working out where the actors are positioned on stage

rehearse/rehearsal
practising a piece to improve it

director
the person with the creative vision of a play

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:
Develops non-verbal communication skills and the ability to empathise and create characters from a different background.

Create a supportive community:
Students work in a collaborative way, developing teamwork skills, confidence and communication skills as well as sharing and celebrating their work.

Term 5: Shakespeare in Performance

This scheme challenges and stretches Year 9 students’ understanding of Shakespeare’s language which can seem daunting. It helps students overcome the lack of confidence by experiencing Shakespeare’s language through a variety of means. Its main aim is to have fun and to experiment with ways of performing language.

Prose
Written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure; continuous text.

Rhythm
He measured flow of words and phrases in verse or prose as determined by the relation of long and short or stressed and unstressed syllables.

Tragedy
A play dealing with tragic events and having an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the main character.

Shakespeare/Shakespearean
influential playwright/in the style or time of Shakespeare

comedy
a play which often features fun, irony, wordplay and sometimes disguise; happy ending

Elizabethan
in the period of Elizabeth 1st

context
background - be it historical/cultural/political/personal

aside
short speech directed to the audience which other characters cannot hear

soliloquy
long speech directed out to the audience that other characters cannot hear

verse
written in rhyme

sound collage
sounds creating a mood or atmosphere

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:
Students experience a different period in theatre history and explore how to speak the language of Shakespeare. Depending on the play studied, students will explore the moral and social issues ( 'The Tempest', 'Macbeth', 'Romeo and Juliet').

Create a supportive community:
Students work in a collaborative way, developing teamwork skills, confidence and communication skills as well as sharing and celebrating their work.

Term 6: Blood Brothers

Students will explore design aspects of 'Blood Brothers' and have the opportunity to perform and direct extracts of the play.

They will receive a final grade based on the work over the course of the final weeks.

accent
how a person speaks that relates to their class or the region/country they come from

characterisation
a description of the distinctive nature or features of someone

rehearsal
the time when actors practise a play

  • Spiritual
  • Moral
  • Social
  • Cultural

Develop the individual:
Exploration of a different aspect of theatre.

Create a supportive community:
Students work in a collaborative way, developing teamwork skills, confidence and communication skills as well as sharing and celebrating their work.