Key Stage 4
Year 10
Intent
The Drama curriculum in Year 10 involves an in-depth study of our set text Blood Brothers, in order to understand the play’s themes and characters. Working with increased complexity, students will explore different practitioners and use this knowledge to inform their own devising work. They will work collaboratively, conduct research and create a piece of original theatre that will be performed to an audience, before undertaking careful analysis and evaluation of their performance. They will also develop their skills of analysis and evaluation when looking at the work of other theatre makers.
Learning Journey
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Introduce students to the plot, characters, themes and structure.
- Closely read and enact parts of the play to decode meaning.
- Understand historical/social and political influences of the time.
- Begin to explore the key themes of the play. Childhood and the role of women.
- Set design
- Costume design
Enriched Knowledge
- Nature vs Nurture
- Key features of naturalism as a performance style
Key Vocabulary
- Playwright
- Cyclical plot
- Genre – Musical Theatre
- Naturalism
- Act and scene
- Narrator
- Foreboding
- Vocal skills (tone, pitch, pace, volume, accent, clarity, intonation, phrasing, timing, use of pause, emphasis.)
- Physical skills (gesture, posture, body language, facial expression, eye contact gait, interaction, use of performance space, movement, demeanour, energy, physical contact.)
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Continue to explore the key themes of the play. Money and wealth, relationships.
- In depth study of the main characters in the play.
- Re-enactment of key scenes from the play to support understanding.
- Lighting design
- Sound design
Enriched Knowledge
- Class disparity.
- Key features of the abstract/stylised as a performance style.
- Use of puppets
- The impact of the social and political climate of the time
Key Vocabulary
- Context
- Themes
- Form
- Stage directions
- Delivery of lines
- Pace of action
- Mood and atmosphere
- Characterisation
- Lighting design (Fresnel, lantern, up light, downlight, front lit, back lit, fade, cross fade, blackout.)
- Sound design (sound effect, ambient sound, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, volume, direction of sound)
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Create a piece of devised performance from a chosen stimulus.
- Explain their initial responses to a range of stimuli that are presented to them.
- Explore their ideas, themes and settings for the devised piece in response to the stimulus presented.
- Understand and outline their own dramatic aim and intention for their performance work.
Enriched Knowledge
- Group work
- Conducting research to develop and support their ideas
- Creating a coherent plot line and developed characters, which can be sustained in performance.
- Work of practitioners, Stanislavski and Brecht.
Key Vocabulary
- Stimulus
- Devising
- Audience
- Intention
- Performance style
- Vocal skills (tone, pitch, pace, volume, accent, clarity, intonation, phrasing, timing, use of pause, emphasis.)
- Physical skills (gesture, posture, body language, facial expression, gait, eye contact, interaction, use of performance space, movement, demeanour, energy, physical contact)
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Collaborate with their group to develop their work.
- Respond to feedback to improve and develop their work.
- Use their research to inform and develop their performance work.
Enriched Knowledge
- Analyse and evaluate their work in progress to be able to make changes.
- Reflect on what is working well and not so well in performance, and how to address this in rehearsals.
- Work of practitioners Frantic Assembly, Paper Birds and Artaud.
Key Vocabulary
- Collaborate
- Develop
- Reflect
- Analyse
- Evaluate
- Rehearse
- Stage positioning
- Vocal skills (tone, pitch, pace, volume, accent, clarity, intonation, phrasing, timing, use of pause, emphasis.)
- Physical skills (gesture, posture, body language, facial expression, gait, eye contact, interaction, use of performance space, movement, demeanour, energy, physical contact)
- Stage configuration (Thrust, End on, Traverse, In The Round)
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Perform their devised work to an audience.
- Analyse and evaluate how successful the performance was against their original aim and intention for the piece.
- Discuss what went well in the performance and why.
- Discuss how the work could be developed by improving any parts that may not have gone as well as planned.
Enriched Knowledge
- Analyse and evaluate their final piece of performance work.
- Reflect on what went well and what did not work so well and the reasons for this.
- Discuss how this could be changed/improved in future projects.
Key Vocabulary
- Reflect
- Analyse
- Evaluate
- Vocal skills (tone, pitch, pace, volume, accent, clarity, intonation, phrasing, timing, use of pause, emphasis.)
- Physical skills (gesture, posture, body language, facial expression, eye contact, gait, interaction, use of performance space, movement, demeanour, energy, physical contact)
- Performance
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Know the different roles and responsibilities of people working in the theatre.
- Discuss and describe the work of theatre makers.
- Understand the importance of the audience in the theatre making process.
- Read scripts and discuss their performance possibilities.
Enriched Knowledge
- Analyse and evaluate the work of theatre makers, commenting on what works well and what doesn’t in their opinion with supporting comments.
- Understand that theatre is made to educate, inform and entertain.
Key Vocabulary
- Script
- Stage directions
- Playwright
- Director
- Stage Manager
- Theatre Manager
- Technician
- Designers (lighting, sound, set, costume and puppet)
- Set design (flats, back drop, cyclorama, trucks, fly-ins, levels, revolving stage)
- Costume design (material, fit condition, colour, style, hair and make-up)
Year 11
Intent
On completion of Year 11 our students will be competent, skilled theatre makers who have a secure understanding of how to create, perform, analyse and evaluate theatre, with an appreciation of all that goes in to developing a production.
Learning Journey
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Analyse and evaluate the work of live theatre makers.
- Understand productions in terms of how meaning is created and communicated on stage.
Enriched Knowledge
- Understand how the play studied has been interpreted in the production seen, and what messages the company might be trying to communicate
- Describe the skills demonstrated by the performers and explain how successfully meaning was communicated to the audience.
- Describe the design skills demonstrated in the production and explain how successfully meaning was communicated to the audience through design.
Key Vocabulary
- Conventions
- Stage configuration
- Technician
- Lighting design (direction, colour, intensity, special effects, gobo)
- Sound design (direction, amplification, music, live and recorded sound effects)
- Costume design (colour, fit, condition, material, hair and make-up)
- Set design (scale, shape, colour, texture, flats, fly-in, trucks, backdrop, cyclorama, projection, multimedia, smoke machine)
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Demonstrate their ability to apply theatrical skill to realise artistic intentions in live performance
- Study and present two key extracts from the same play (monologue, duologue, group performance)
Enriched Knowledge
- Character motivation and interaction
- The creation of mood and atmosphere
- The development of pace and rhythm
- The practical demands of the text
Key Vocabulary
- Genre
- Structure
- Character
- Form
- Style
- Language
- Sub-text
- Dramatic climax
- Stage directions
- Monologue and duologue
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Demonstrate their ability to apply theatrical skill to realise artistic intentions in live performance
- Study and present two key extracts from the same play (monologue, duologue, group performance)
Enriched Knowledge
- Character motivation and interaction
- The creation of mood and atmosphere
- The development of pace and rhythm
- The practical demands of the text
Key Vocabulary
- Genre
- Structure
- Character
- Form
- Style
- Language
- Sub-text
- Dramatic climax
- Stage directions
Core Knowledge and Skills
- Revise the plot, characters, themes and structure.
- Re-enact parts of the play to recall and explore meaning further.
- Revise and recall historical/social and political influences of the time.
- Re-visit set design, costume design lighting design, sound design.
Enriched Knowledge
- Nature vs Nurture
- Class disparity
- Thatcher’s government and the impact on the working class
- Understand the role of women in the 1960’s – 1980’s and comparisons to today
Key Vocabulary
- Playwright
- Cyclical plot
- Genre – Musical Theatre
- Naturalism
- Narrator
- Foreboding
- Vocal skills (tone, pitch, pace, volume, accent, clarity, intonation, phrasing, timing, use of pause, emphasis.)
- Physical skills (gesture, posture, body language, facial expression, eye contact gait, interaction, use of performance space, movement, demeanour, energy, physical contact.)
Drama News
- Young Creative Awards
Year 10 Success! (02/07/2020) - Young Creative Awards
Update (26/02/2020) - KS3 Drama
Year 8! What A Nightmare! (11/02/2020) - Young Creative Awards
Fingers crossed!! (11/02/2020) - Exam Preparation Going Well
Year 9 and 10 Devising Drama (11/02/2020)