Theatre - Play Project Jessica Wilbert

Target student group: middle school to high school drama students. [Can be adapted for younger ages in terms of plays chosen or assigned, length of scenes to memorize, and complexity of research & presentation.] Unit will be taught over three weeks. Enduring Understandings students will understand that: Plays of differing genres and styles reflect upon the writer, the time period, and place written, and the cultural and societal elements present during creation. Core acting techniques can be applied to any scene or play of nearly any style; differences in acting styles or directorial choices may reflect the varying genres and styles of different plays or playwrights. Staging techniques and simple technical elements together with acting techniques come together to create an engaging scene for informal performance. Essential Questions: What universal themes do you see across different genres and time periods in dramatic works? How do our choices and techniques as actors change or stay the same, depending on what type of play we are performing? What makes a scene engaging for the audience? What tools do we use as actors or directors to make a scene come to life?

MA Standards Theatre Ed: 2.11 Read plays from a variety of genres and styles; compare and contrast the structure of plays to the structures of other forms of literature. 2.12 Demonstrate an understanding of the playwright as a collaborating artist who works with the director, actors, designers, and technicians. 3.7 Select a scene from original or scripted material, conduct research on the historical period, genre, playwright, and other relevant information, determine casting, staging, and technical requirements, and articulate the rationale for all artistic choices. 3.8 Stage informal presentations for a variety of audiences. 5.13 Use group-generated criteria to assess their own work and the work of others. 5.15 Demonstrate the ability to receive and act upon coaching, feedback, and constructive criticism.

Students will research several plays, playwrights, or genres they are interested in, and bring in titles or authors for discussion. Teacher may assist in recommending play choices. Students select and read an approved play of their choice. Students begin research into the play, playwright, style of play, and time period. Students bring to class a preliminary scene choice selected from their play that they would like to cast, direct, and stage. Students will prepare a 10 minute multi-media presentation on their play. Presentation: This is designed to educate the class about the students play, playwright, genre, time period, context of play (e.g. what was happening

in culture/society at the time). This should be a multi-media presentation - urge students to be creative in the way they present. Students must use at least three of the following (or they may suggest something else not on the below list): Perform/dramatic reading of a short clip from your play/piece Discussion/Powerpoint Sound or music clip Visual aid Video Movement Other technical theatre element Other performance art convey something about your play/playwright/genre through your own creative performance

Students begin to rehearse their selected scenes. Students will memorize the first three, then six, then eight, then ten lines of their plays each day and informally present to the class. Students will complete character and scene worksheets on motivations, beat breakdowns, etc. Students will detail any simple props, technical elements, or costumes needed for their scene. Students will prepare an informal class presentation of the scene in their own words. Students will workshop their scenes in class with the instructor and other students. Students will look at rubrics for evaluating scene performances and generate some of their own additions to the rubric. Students then perform a first go of their scenes. Class and instructor take notes for feedback, and the class gives each other feedback in a 360 degree circle format. Students will then continue rehearsals incorporating feedback. Students perform final scenes for class. Students will score their fellow students according to a rubric, as well as complete a self-evaluation, all

of which will be taken into account for their final assessment of the project.