Drama 6 Syllabus

Course Overview- Drama 6 is an introduction to theatre arts and fundamental acting skills through performance. Students learn movement, vocal control and characterization skills. Students will participate in various activities such as improvisation, impromptu speaking, acting in scripted plays, scenes and monologues, team-building activities and drama games. Through these activities students will learn physical and vocal presentation skills. This course further intends to establish, develop or deepen student confidence, improve team/group-based skills, foster critical thinking, to promote tolerance of others, to experience new perspectives by discovering or honing the skill of empathy, and to cultivate an appreciation for drama, theatre and the arts in general.

This course is broken down into two main units: Improvisation and scripted performance. The major project in the semester will be student-directed and performed group scenes, which will come in the 2nd quarter.

 

Grading Philosophy- Students do not need to be proficient in acting to succeed in this class. Each and every assignment will take into consideration level of effort, personal improvement and overall attitude. Effort can be shown by accepting the challenge of trying things that may be outside a student’s comfort zone, memorizing lines, being on-task during time allocated for student-rehearsal, overall attitude toward fellow group members, listening skills (listening is often effort-based) and a multitude of other ways. A general breakdown of how each student is graded:

 

 

 

 

50% Performance-based assignments

30% PEB (Participation/Behavior/Effort) Score

10% Quizzes- Theatre vocabulary, parts of a stage, types of theatres are all potential areas of content

10% Audience Development- Being a respectful, thoughtful, critical audience member who is able to give useful feedback to performers.

 

Extra Credit- Extra credit can be earned by:

Experiencing live theatre by attending any production from middle school-level to Broadway. Bring in the program or playbill for 5-10 points extra credit. Other opportunities for extra credit exist in the form of monologues and research projects. Details available upon request.

 

 

A Note on Overall Attitude- Drama is a different type of class. Students are asked to participate in ways that may challenge their inhibitions. They are placed in vulnerable situations and asked to trust that the rest of the class will be encouraging. That any criticism will be constructive in nature. Nothing shuts down enthusiasm and interest faster than being made to feel foolish in the attempt. There is no greater wrong that a drama student can commit than to be unappreciative of the effort of the performer. You don’t have to like what you see, but you must respect the courage of any person who takes the stage and puts themselves at risk, because at some point you will be in that same position. On stage and alone, hoping that what you do there is somehow accepted and valued.

Failure to respect the performer is toxic to the actor and the larger group in general and can have long-lasting effects, far beyond the confines of this class. It will not be tolerated in any  way. It is necessary, therefore, to attempt to quantify each student’s aptitude in that skill as part of their final grade in the class. Looked at in a larger sense and from a distance we can see that it’s easy to name the “skill” we’ve been discussing. It’s called empathy, and facilitating it may be the most important thing we can do in an effort to educate the “whole child.”

 

Technical Theatre and Safety- Because there is no theatre without lights, costume, sound fx, make-up and such students will also learn basic theatre tech to be able to create a desired theatrical mood or tone. Students will not be allowed to operate some equipment, of course, due to physical limitations, age restriction and inexperience. An area of emphasis is the moving of set pieces and props on and off the stage when changing from one scene to the next. For their own safety and for the safety of those around them under no circumstances should any student attempt to move any set piece by themselves without direct permission from the instructor. The same is true with any electrical equipment. Students should NEVER attempt to address any stage rigging equipment. SAFETY IS ALWAYS THE #1 PRIORITY. Jackson’s track record with safety includes one significant injury in the past 22 years (broken foot) and we are not going to make it two.