Drama

Students begin Year 7 Drama by learning team building skills, trust and expectations which allows them to access the rest of their learning. The Year 7 curriculum follows a timeline of the history of Western theatre, beginning with Greek theatre, Medieval Mystery and Morality Plays, Commedia Del’Arte, Shakespearean drama, and ending with Melodrama. Through teaching knowledge of each era, students learn and demonstrate the skills associated with each period of theatrical history e.g. Greek theatre - mask and chorus work, Commedia - further mask work, comedy and improvisation. Concepts are revisited and developed e.g. mask work in Greek theatre and Commedia, stock characters in Commedia and Melodrama, All lessons are practical with some written evaluative tasks. By the end of Year 7 students can perform in groups and pairs, sustaining a role in performance; they understand the origins and development of theatre. We allow them to demonstrate a range of theatrical skills such as mask, improvisation, chorus, narration, rudimentary creation of character and to evaluate their own and others’ work. They can create their own theatre and have the opportunity watch each others’ work respectfully and supportively comment.

Year 8 builds on the skills and knowledge acquired in Year 7. Year 8 begins with a scheme on creating character, building on previous knowledge and skill. It introduces the selection of vocal and physical skills, moving on to work on The Curious Incident of the Dog, which introduces students to physical theatre and the work of Frantic Assembly. In order to prepare students for GCSE and A Level, students apply their knowledge and application of physical theatre and creation of character in a piece of devised work. At the end of year 8, students work on a substantial piece of script, focusing on character creation, sustaining a role, physical interpretation. Each scheme is assessed on one of the three strands: evaluating, creating and performing with the devising and scripted work assessed on all three.

By the end of Year 8 students can select the appropriate physical and vocal skills for a character, express a text through physical theatre, eventually combining both script and physical theatre. In preparation for GCSE work, they can devise their own work from a stimulus and through that, identify aspects of genre and style, and practitioner work. Students can also begin to analyse scripts in preparation for study in Year 9.

Year 9 continues to build on previous years but also begins to prepare students for the more rigorous nature of GCSE. Students begin with an introduction to Stanislavski and Naturalism, learning about staging configurations and rehearsal process through a script on homeless teenagers. This is followed by contrasting work on Brecht and political theatre with exploration of Too Much Punch for Judy, building on chorus, narration, physical theatre and character from previous schemes. A recent addition to the scheme, post Covid is a scheme on Foley Sound, introducing aspects of technical theatre applied to script. A study of the gang culture in Romeo and Juliet introduces stage fighting, further character work and exploration of Shakespeare’s language in performance. The year ends with a devising scheme based on the Murder of Stephen Lawrence which aims to prepare students for GCSE Component 2 and also address issues of racism, justice and violence.

By the end of Year 9 students can understand and identify the key stylistic devices in Naturalism and Epic theatre and demonstrate this through sustained performance in both styles. Throught the study of Brecht, they will understand and demonstrate how comedy is used to create political satire. They continue to devise their own work but using a wider range of dramatic devices. To support literacy, they will be able to perform Shakespeare with meaning and expression. In year 9 students will also be able to understand the role of production elements such as sound and lighting.

Students begin the course by learning about careers in theatre, staging, genre, style, structure and dramatic form. They will also gain some experience of lighting, sound and set and costume design which they will then apply to their study of their set text. This is followed by the study of their set text and it’s context, the practical performance of which is also used as a mock practical exam (Comp 3 - Scripted). By the end of Year 10 students will have completed their Devising practical (comp 3) and the accompanying Devising Log. The Devising scheme allows students to choose a stimulus from a selection of 5 offered by the department. Students also attend the theatre and begin analysing live theatre for section C of the written exam,

In year 11, students revisit their set text and develop their exam responses to the play in time for the mock exam. They continue with their study and analysis of live theatre depending on theatre trips. They finish the course with their final practical exam Comp 3 - scripted in which they perform two extracts from a play. The structure of the GCSE course is the same at A Level so GCSE prepares students for the course at A Level.

Students study a range of theatrical practitioners in workshops before they begin the study of both set texts (one taught by each teacher). Set texts are chosen for the cohort based on numbers and ability and are supported with a wider reading list to encourage research, reviews and contextual understanding.Questions on set texts are similar to GCSE but require a greater level of sophistication and more contextual understanding. Study of live performance is ongoing depending on theatre trips. At the end of Year 12 students begin their first practical (comp 3) through the study and performance of their first two extracts from plays. These are selected with the intention of giving students a broad and varied experience of plays through time, genre and style. In Year 13, set texts are revisited in preparation for the mock exams while students also prepare extract 3 of comp 3 for examination. They also apply a practitioner to this performance and analyse their own work in a Reflective Report. They finish the course with their Devised practical (Comp 2) which also requires the application of a practitioner and a Working Notebook of the process. Students draw on their experience of GCSE throughout the course.

Our A Level curriculum supports students with wider watching, reading and resources to develop their interest in theatre.