Theatre - Drama Curriculum Guide

Description

Middle School Drama is a trimester elective course meeting every other day for 40-minute sessions, open to grades 5-8. The curriculum is organized into two units reflecting the artistic processes of creating, performing, responding, and connecting. In Unit 1, students learn fundamental acting and theatrical production skills by developing original characters, writing scenes, and producing a play festival. In Unit 2, students examine world theatre traditions, study Commedia Dell'Arte stock characters, and perform improvised comedy scenes. Throughout the year, students build confidence, collaboration skills, and creative expression in a safe and supportive environment.

Big Ideas

• Theatre is a product of many skilled artists collaborating to create unity and harmony on stage.
• Character creation requires a writer's dialogue and action combined with an actor's physical, vocal, and emotional choices.
• Rehearsal and reflection are necessary for actors and skilled artists to improve their craft.
• Theatrical spaces reveal the values of their audiences and evolve constantly over time.
• Stock characters create opportunities for comedy through exaggerated physical and vocal choices.

Essential Questions

• How does a play become a play, and who contributes to that process?
• What are the fundamental tools that actors and writers have to create characters?
• Why do performers rehearse, and what is the value of reflection in the rehearsal process?
• How do theatres themselves reflect a culture and evolve over time?
• How do improvisors work together to create comedy when their characters are in conflict?