After a really busy year in Drama, we have been finishing up the year by having a play with some historical forms of theatre. In Grade 8 we studied Greek Theatre. The students created and wore masks and performed using presentational style acting. We presented scenes out on the oval to simulate the large, ancient Greek amphitheatres where the first formal performances were presented around 2500 years ago. In 9/10 Drama we experimented with another form of theatre that required large, presentational style acting – Elizabethan Theatre. After having a play with some Shakespearean insults (Shakespeare wrote the best insults!)  we workshopped the thumb biting scene from Romeo and Juliet as well as the scene where Capulet attempts to force Juliet to his will. In Playbuilding we decided to spend the last couple of lessons making up a Christmas play, our hashed together experiment included naughty reindeer at reindeer school, a sleepy Santa, naughty elf, missing Rudolph and a crafty Grinch. The students were challenged to make their play pre-school friendly with lots of gags, fast-paced action, dancing and audience involvement – such a shame that we ran out to time to present this fun little piece!

I have really enjoyed working with all of the drama students this year, 7-10. Next year we have a really big year ahead with our Prospect High School major production Aladdin Jr! Exciting times ahead, until then, happy and safe holidays from Drama!

Mrs Viney