How to Teach Drama
Have everyone share their names and personalities., Ask the class to greet each other while acting., Have your participants contribute to the course structure., Include a pantomime in every class., Conclude the session dramatically.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Have everyone share their names and personalities.
Whether you’re teaching professional child actors or first-time old-timers, you need to run an introductory exercise.
There are plenty of particularly fun ways to do this dramatically.Try a name and action exercise.
Have everybody state their name while performing an action that reflects their personality.
Then have everyone else – in unison – say their name out loud and perform the action as well. -
Step 2: Ask the class to greet each other while acting.
Have everyone pair off and face one another.
Choose some basic greetings for everyone to exchange, such as “Hello, how are you?” as well as a response, such as “Very well, thank you for asking.” Then direct your students to act this exchange out as different characters.Call out the type of characters you want your students to embody, and cycle through several different characterizations.
Simply say “Greet one another as ________.” Fill in the blank however you want.
Some great ideas include: …old, bitter enemies who have forgotten why you’re enemies. …internet lovers that have never met in person. …constipated business professionals. …neighbors about to argue about the property line.
Again.
Go rapid-fire through the exercise, allowing only enough time for the lines to be exchanged.
Point out afterwards that even one line of seemingly uninteresting dialogue can have immense dramatic effect. , A great discussion to have with your class early in your course is about what they’re hoping to gain from your time together.
This will be helpful with both experienced and brand new drama students.
Facilitate this discussion by asking questions and having your students each weigh in.To start the discussion, ask what everyone thinks “drama” and “acting” entail.
This alone will likely yield some interesting discussions.
Ask about everyone’s personal experience acting.
This will help you steer following sessions towards exercises appropriate for the levels of experience in that particular group.
Ask how participants incorporate acting into their day-to-day lives.
This will remind everyone about the degree to which drama is a part of our lived realities, even when we’re not consciously acting. , Students at any level will want to physically act in every class.
Pantomimes are vital exercises because so much of drama is non-verbal.
Lead team acting exercises with pantomime exercises that are role or location inspired.Separate the class into groups.
Give each group a different prompt, reminding them that speaking is not allowed – though allow them to speak amongst themselves for a few minutes to plan their group pantomime.
Remind each group to plan a specific task for each participant.
Ideas for role-based prompts include: playing a sport, building something, and working in an emergency room.
Ideas for location based prompts include: in the teacher’s lounge, in a deep sea trench, or at an abandoned amusement park.
Have the full class reconvene for a one or two minute silent performances by each group. , Have everyone take turns saying goodbye to the class.
Here’s the catch: each student must say something different, and they have to act it out with both voice and behavior as they say goodbye.
Remind everyone that the more dramatic the sign off, the better.To encourage your classmates, give it a go yourself first.
Say something simple like “I love drama!,” but raise your arms and absolutely belt out the phrase like an opera singer.
Throw in a curtsy to drive home the statement. -
Step 3: Have your participants contribute to the course structure.
-
Step 4: Include a pantomime in every class.
-
Step 5: Conclude the session dramatically.
Detailed Guide
Whether you’re teaching professional child actors or first-time old-timers, you need to run an introductory exercise.
There are plenty of particularly fun ways to do this dramatically.Try a name and action exercise.
Have everybody state their name while performing an action that reflects their personality.
Then have everyone else – in unison – say their name out loud and perform the action as well.
Have everyone pair off and face one another.
Choose some basic greetings for everyone to exchange, such as “Hello, how are you?” as well as a response, such as “Very well, thank you for asking.” Then direct your students to act this exchange out as different characters.Call out the type of characters you want your students to embody, and cycle through several different characterizations.
Simply say “Greet one another as ________.” Fill in the blank however you want.
Some great ideas include: …old, bitter enemies who have forgotten why you’re enemies. …internet lovers that have never met in person. …constipated business professionals. …neighbors about to argue about the property line.
Again.
Go rapid-fire through the exercise, allowing only enough time for the lines to be exchanged.
Point out afterwards that even one line of seemingly uninteresting dialogue can have immense dramatic effect. , A great discussion to have with your class early in your course is about what they’re hoping to gain from your time together.
This will be helpful with both experienced and brand new drama students.
Facilitate this discussion by asking questions and having your students each weigh in.To start the discussion, ask what everyone thinks “drama” and “acting” entail.
This alone will likely yield some interesting discussions.
Ask about everyone’s personal experience acting.
This will help you steer following sessions towards exercises appropriate for the levels of experience in that particular group.
Ask how participants incorporate acting into their day-to-day lives.
This will remind everyone about the degree to which drama is a part of our lived realities, even when we’re not consciously acting. , Students at any level will want to physically act in every class.
Pantomimes are vital exercises because so much of drama is non-verbal.
Lead team acting exercises with pantomime exercises that are role or location inspired.Separate the class into groups.
Give each group a different prompt, reminding them that speaking is not allowed – though allow them to speak amongst themselves for a few minutes to plan their group pantomime.
Remind each group to plan a specific task for each participant.
Ideas for role-based prompts include: playing a sport, building something, and working in an emergency room.
Ideas for location based prompts include: in the teacher’s lounge, in a deep sea trench, or at an abandoned amusement park.
Have the full class reconvene for a one or two minute silent performances by each group. , Have everyone take turns saying goodbye to the class.
Here’s the catch: each student must say something different, and they have to act it out with both voice and behavior as they say goodbye.
Remind everyone that the more dramatic the sign off, the better.To encourage your classmates, give it a go yourself first.
Say something simple like “I love drama!,” but raise your arms and absolutely belt out the phrase like an opera singer.
Throw in a curtsy to drive home the statement.
About the Author
Nathan Webb
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow DIY projects tutorials.
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