What Every Student Should Know and Be Able to Do in Drama

 

1. Students should be able to create imaginative characters with voice and body movement,facial expression, and emotional control. They should practice exercises that strengthen theses skills weekly.

2. Students should learn to be a good audience:

  • knowledgeable about dramatic forms including plays, skits, mimes, improvisations, television, films, and other electronic media
  • responding appropriately to formal and informal performances--having ample opportunities during the school year to observe live and electronic performances


3. Students should learn the skills of acting through performing in formal and informal productions and studying the basic premises of acting:

  • holding the mirror up to nature (being real, not fake)
  • the "magic if": What would I do if I were in this situation?
  • the given circumstances: Who am I? Where am I? What do I want? What's in my way? What do I do to get what I want?
  • stage movement: cheating (so audience can see), balancing the stage picture, and motivating movement


4. Students should learn the skills of directing through leadership opportunities in developing formal and informal productions.

5. Students should learn the skills of technical theatre (costuming, make-up, sound, lighting, set and prop construction, and publicity) through opportunities in creating formal and informal productions.

6. Students should learn the skills of playwriting through developing original scripts and adapting curriculum into theatrical forms.
 
7. Students should learn about the theatre of other cultures and historical periods and how it reflects the culture and history is affected by the culture and history.

8. Students should develop and use criteria for judging and evaluating informal and formaltheatre--both their own and live, filmed, or televised productions.

9. Students should experience the stress, the discipline, the hard work, and the joy of liveperformance--often and in many ways.

10. Students should share their work with each other--within the class and for school-wide audiences.