Drama

Department staff:

Mrs C Hight- Subject Leader

Mr I Wilson- Teacher of Drama and Music

Miss C Walker- Teacher of English and Drama

Mr M Jones- Teacher of English and Drama, Research School

 

Key Stage 3:

Overview of the course

Through a variety of creative and practical activities, students will be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to create, perform and evaluate within Drama. Students will acquire a broad range of subject knowledge and practical skills.  As part of their work, students will be taught how to create original characters, devise pieces, work effectively as a team and sensitively evaluate their own work and the work of others. They will also develop their written skills and learn to evaluate live theatre.

 

What will I learn?

Creating

·      I will stay focused throughout rehearsal and suggest some ideas to develop the work and roles

·      I will create a well developed character with a view point different from my own and shape work into a satisfactory dramatic structure.

 

 Performing

·    I will speak clearly and use movement and gesture to show a character.

·    I will stay in role on stage and provide reasonable support for others in performance.

·    I will convey ideas to an audience through my stage work.

·    I have good voice skills and can perform with confidence and originality.

 Evaluating

·      I will evaluate how ideas have been evaluated through the use of performance skills, drama techniques and justify their effect.

·      I will regularly use drama vocabulary when discussing the drama that I have seen.

·      I will identify strengths and weaknesses in both my work and that of others

 
What will I do?

·      Develop a wide range of practical skills required for creating an entertaining and moving piece of Drama;

·      Use physical and vocal skills to create characters that are different from themselves;

·      Develop effective team work skills

·      Create, perform and evaluate

·      Learn and use technical terms for physical and vocal acting skills.

·      Practically explore a range of; plays, acting styles and genres.

·      Develop evaluative skills
Topics

 Year 7

Black Box, Pantomime, Mask, Sentence to Performance, Darkwood Manor, Fairy-tale, Live Theatre evaluation.

 

Year 9

Improvisation, ‘Our Day Out’- Stanislavski, Mafia, Brecht, DV8, Conventions, Devising-written exam.

 

Key Stage 4:

GCSE Drama

Overview of the course

Drama is a creative and practical subject. Your course is divided into three components.

Devising Drama– You will create and devise a piece of drama in groups. You will get a mark for the performance and a mark for a written portfolio of evidence. 30%

Presenting and Performing Texts – You will study a play and take part in two performances from two extracts from the text. You can work as a performer or a designer.  30%

Drama: Performance and Response – This is a written exam. You will write about your experience of preparing and performing a script. You will then analyse and evaluate a live theatre performance.  40%

You will learn how to make successful theatre, practise acting skills and develop a range of theatre techniques. You will be marked in performances of scripts and your original group devised performances. At the end of the course you will sit an exam in which you will study ‘Blood Brothers’ and also write a reflective essay on a piece of live theatre you have seen.

Students will visit the theatre as part of the course.

Assessment details

30% Non-exam Assessment, 30% Non-exam Assessment –Visiting examiner live scripted performance, 40% Written Examination

 

Examination board: OCR Drama GCSE

Useful Subject Links:

OCR                                       http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse-drama-j316-from-2016/

National Drama                 http://www.nationaldrama.org.uk/

The Stage                            https://www.thestage.co.uk/

BBC Bitesize                       http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zbckjxs

National Theatre              http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/

York Theatre Royal           https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/

Pilot Theatre                      http://pilot-theatre.net/?idno=4

Kneehigh                             http://www.kneehigh.co.uk/