This term I have had the 2nd quietest class of drama students in my ten years at my current school. Granted, its a small class. Thirteen Year 9 girls and about half the class didn’t choose drama as their 1st preference elective. But that’s not the issue. They are fabulous students who are more than willing to contribute to the best of their ability to activities. It’s just that they are so quiet!

As you can imagine, class discussion becomes an issue when half the class would rather be silent and listen to other ideas. Okey-dokey, how about some drama games and improvisation starters to get the ball rolling? Now that’s cool until we see the same six students contribute to every game. Once groups go off and brainstorm ideas for their comedy improvisations, small-group discussion seems even harder than whole-class teacher-lead discussion.

We are nearing the end of this term-length course. The focus of content has been comedy, specifically satire, slapstick and farce. I would argue the fact this has been a comedy drama course has made my job as teacher even harder. It’s difficult for even the most confident of drama students to successfully pull off comedy, much less a quiet student.

At times, this silence and quietness is unnerving. I find myself cracking lame jokes to keep the students entertained (not a good strategy). The start of most lessons begins with thirteen girls sitting on the floor in front of my desk waiting for me to take the roll without a sound to be heard. Do they think this is silent reading in English class, I ask myself? Because silent reading would be louder.

The quietness of this drama class has made me question my skills as a drama teacher. I set an activity. They accept it. In silence! Are they engaged? Do they find this task interesting? Do they understand it? Should I scaffold the task better? Are they bored?

While some of my colleagues out their in drama teacher land may be reading this post and thinking how lucky I am to have a quiet drama class, trust me, this has been more of a challenge than the noisiest and most unsettled of drama classes in my past.

We never stop learning in teaching. I’d love to hear other colleagues’ experiences and tips on how best to tackle the quiet drama class…

I then tried a little inquiry-based learning. While watching the DVD over a few lessons, I set them off to research Godot’s plot, style and philosophy underpinning that style. “Nothing happens … twice” was one student’s response. Little did she know, this was also a famous critic’s response back in the 50s. A bit of careful research and they soon found the answers – absurdism and existentialism – now the only challenge was understanding what they meant and entailed? Not an easy task for a group of 15/16 year-olds! Just thought I’d share their initial responses to Waiting for Godot, limited to one word, only:

• difficult
• confusing
• dry
• different
• repetitive (x2)
• insignificant
• thought-provoking
• baffling
• intriguing (x2)
• slow (x2)
• interesting
• odd

We then read several critics’ responses to Godot’s first English-language translation in London in 1953 and the students’ soon discovered everyone had a different response to Godot (and still does!) and perhaps this is part of its beauty, mystery and charm and one of the reasons why this play has stood the test of time in the modern theatre.

A few weeks ago we realised their short solo performance, the last task in this whirlwind term-length unit, would not make it onto their school report. We simply ran out of time undertaking other tasks. Not phased by this situation, I soldiered on in anticipation of many in the class not taking the task seriously. After all, they are teenagers motivated by semester reports, right? Wrong!

Fully aware the task was not making it on their report before we began, these students decided their first attempt at the all-important solo-performance in a drama class at high school was worth the effort.

No problems. Can you assess us anyway? We need the feedback.

After I picked myself up off the ground, for the next three lessons I watched my 14/15 year-old students in Year 9 work like a disciplined Year 12 Drama class the day before exams! I couldn’t believe it. At the end of the day, it was minor stuff: a two-minute solo performance in class. But I was amazed how seriously they undertook their preparation. This was what I call the open-ended solo performance: one that comes entirely from the student’s imagination or partially from observation of people in the world around them. So off my students went, researching their solo character, writing short scripts, learning how to block themselves in the space, grabbing a prop or two, adding costume and learning the lines.

The final performances were very warm and fuzzy. Here was a culture of respect and appreciation. Students were encouraging others in the class to perform next, clapping at the start and end of each solo, watching in absolute silence during performances and then being keen to get a grade from me on a sticky note that would never count towards their official assessment in Drama. Some students appeared more interested in this grade than the previous grades that did count!

So why did a group of Year 9 Drama students take this solo performance task so seriously? How keen is keen, I asked myself? Very keen, is the answer. These students were off the radar. While some who teach senior Drama cherish the maturity and sophistication of the older students, in recent years, I don’t have a “favourite” year level for teaching Drama, anymore. This is just one example of the gold to be found in any Drama class at any year level on any day of the week. It’s out there. You just have to keep searching until you find it.

• 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster
• 2005 Hurricane Katrina
• 1986 Challenger and 2003 Columbia space shuttle disasters
• 2008 Mumbai terror attacks

So this year, I thought I would go a little historical. See below. In case you may be thinking students would find this topic a bit boring, think again! They loved it.

The Black Death

Setting

England, 1348-50.

Performance Style

Non-naturalism, with aspects of epic theatre.

Prescribed Theatrical Conventions (VCAA)

• transformation of character
• transformation of place
• transformation of object
• disjointed time sequences

Additional Prescribed Theatrical Conventions

• fragmentary costume/s
• direct audience address
• use of placard/s
• fragmentary scenery
• use of song/s
• character/s reflecting social roles
• message/s for the audience

Prescribed Dramatic Elements

• language
• contrast
• symbol
• sound

Background

In the summer of 1348, The Black Death made its way into southern England without notice. A form of the bubonic plague spread by small rodents and their fleas, it spread like wildfire, killing those infected within a week.

One of the most devastating pandemics in history, The Black Death caused loss of life on a massive scale, culling an estimated one-half of England’s population in just over two years. It tore at the very fabric of English society, devastating large cities and obliterating almost the entire population of regional towns and smaller communities.

While those living in Medieval England quickly became familiar with The Black Death’s symptoms, few knew its causes. Christians died without burial rites, large areas of overcrowded cities were wiped out and the nation’s economy suffered due to labour shortages. Such was The Black Death’s impact; it would be hundreds of years before England would return to her former self.

Plot

Your performance must focus on The Black Death in England, 1348-50 and include scenes documenting the following:

• life in Medieval England
• causes of the disease
• symptoms of the disease
• The Black Death’s effect on society
• economic impact of The Black Death
• diseases affecting the modern world and lessons for the future

Divided into Greek, Shakespeare, older classics, modern era and newer classics, the list (numbered in no particular order of priority) includes wonderful plays like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, A Streetcar Named Desire, King Lear, The Playboy of the Western World, A Raisin in the Sun, Equus, Waiting for Godot and Lysistrata.

A list such as this will no doubt create debate. What’s your favourite play? Can you think of any plays that should be on the list, but aren’t?

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

Companies currently represented include The Royal Shakespeare Company (The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It), the Royal Court, Almeida Theatre, the Young Vic and the English Touring Theatre. Productions are available as complete downloads (SD, HD) or as streaming media (VOD – video on demand) for reasonable prices (8.99 pounds).

Unfortunately, there are only about 10 shows currently available for download. At the moment this is a bit limiting, but the concept is indeed a great one and this sort of venture should be supported by drama and theatre teachers, as video footage outside of quick YouTube clips is uncommon for productions from well-renowned companies such as these.

All downloads on Digital Theatre are legal with the various copyright holders receiving appropriate royalties.

After spending a few hundred dollars five years ago purchasing old films of the Marx Bros, The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Charlie Chaplin, Monty Python and the like on DVD, yesterday YouTube and an interactive whiteboard used as a projector became a far better option. Of course, other people had ripped and uploaded to YouTube all the funny scenes I had intended to show from the various movies.

But the best part of the lesson was a group of 14 year-olds fully embracing black and white video, and even silent video in the case of some Charlie Chaplin, while laughing hysterically. Even after deconstructing the routines and analysing where the slapstick or satire was evident, the students still enjoyed the experience beyond my expectations when it became academic.

I showed my class the very famous Abbott and Costello routine Who’s on First? as an example of stand-up with excellent comic timing (they are simply standing in front of a curtain when delivering the script), the train scene in The Marx Bros film Go West where they chop up the carriages as firewood for the engine, a number of cream pie fights from The Three Stooges and the cabin scene from The Marx Bros film A Night At The Opera where about 20 people all roll out of the door at the end. Not to mention the globe scene from Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator – in fact this was their favourite comic scene of about a dozen showed that lesson and that alone made my day as a Drama teacher.

YouTube, like Google, is bread and butter Internet use in the classroom these days, but I’d still like to hear Drama teachers share with everyone some of your innovative uses of YouTube in the drama classroom or even simple use of it that turned into great experiences. Comment below.

Update:

• Justin Bieber – slapstick evident, goofiness of Bieber (due to his youth?) now evident, Bieber started to look like a teenager trying so hard to be a ‘man’, mannerisms and gestures were all exaggerated
• Britney Spears – in parody, Britney’s blonde wig in performance is now deliberately off centre, her lipstick smudged over her cheeks, gestures and arm movements over the top, head jiggling around bobbing left to right while speaking, hair flicking now very obvious (subtle in previous version of performance), voice emphasising key words

Update:

• Jamie Oliver – automatically twice as loud in this performance, the cutting knife in previous version of performance is now a toy sword(!) – love the oversized prop used in order to parody the celebrity, Jamie’s excitement over his own cooking is almost out of control, arm gestures many times bigger now
• David Attenborough – Attenborough’s uncontrollable enthusiasm for the whale shark in his TV documentary now has the class in quiet fits of laughter, voice and gestures in particular are overblown, extra loud, yet focused – hilarious performance – an accurate parody of the celebrity

Update:

• Oprah Winfrey – this student decided to satirise Oprah in this performance partly by exaggerating her costume/outift – cushions were placed down Oprah’s jumper/sweater and she now possessed a very large booty, so Oprah’s body shape changed wildly from version 1 performance two days ago to today. Oprah’s voice was VERY loud, her gestures big and her excitement with her audience WAY over the top! Very, very funny.
• Lindsay Lohan – this celebrity’s troubled nature now evident through her gestures and movements, topic of conversation was court case after court case, Lohan’s apparent IQ also clear through dialogue, gestures over the top
• Michael Jackson – now being parodied, performer emphasised Jackson’s voice (high pitched squeals) and facial expressions (freaky stares to audience when talking about young children), the ‘performer’ in Jackson was evident for the first time

Update:

• Miley Cyrus – the self-centred public perception of this celeberity now evident, her teenage ego out of control, confident beyond her years – shown through dialogue and exaggerated gestures and movements
• Eddie McGuire – (Australian TV personality and football club president) now being parodied, the performer exaggerates the celebrity’s hand movements at a media press conference and through voice, certain words are emphasised for effect
• Britney Spears – in parody Britney arrives on stage with a toy baby over her shoulder(!), character costume on the skanky side in order to over-emphasise the public’s perception of this celebrity in recent years, Britney accidentally kicks her baby offstage – again deliberate

Update:

• Christina Aguilera – satirised via exaggerated facial expressions, over the top emotions, lots of hair flicking, but little comedy – the audience is the indicator – very few laughs – perhaps because the audience couldn’t recognise aspects of this performance as uniquely belonging to Christina Aguilera
• Steve Irwin – More could have been done with Steve Irwin being parodied – as with the Oprah Winfrey and Jamie Oliver character performances earlier, Steve Irwin’s  enthusiasm is the perfect avenue in which to explore the satire – but no evidence of over-exaggeration fighting with crocodiles, no excitement about how much he loved his job etc

Ran out of time. A few performances left to be performed next lesson. These students have only had five lessons in their comedy course and two of these have been performance classes, so this is a great beginning for them. This was also their first time in high school that a solo character performance was introduced in one of their Drama courses. Their understanding of the complexities and challenges involved in pulling off comedy successfully are only just being explored…

Year 9 Drama. Cohort: 14 year-old girls x 15 students. Comedy course exploring satire, parody, slapstick, farce.

Doing Part 1 of a two-part task exploring satire, but the notion of satire and parody not introduced yet.

Students have chosen a well-known celebrity to accurately mimic in their first performance. Aim: realistic imitation (Part 2 coming up in a few lessons time where aim will be to exaggerate the first performance).

Task origin: Centre Stage text by Matthew Clausen.

Students currently doing final rehearsal around classroom very quietly. They are taking task very seriously, which is both scary and a good thing – a very good thing

13 students remembered costume. 2 brought nothing or part-costume. Typical for Year 9, so no concerns there.

Background: first time a solo performance has been introduced in their Drama studies at school, so plenty of nerves evident! 2-minutes only – keeping it easy to start off with.

Will update as it happens.

Update: Characters:

• Justin Bieber – the ego of the man (boy!) very evident in performance!
• Paris Hilton – accent, long blonde wig(!), lots of hair flicking, ego evident here, too
• Jamie Oliver – nailed his accent (spot on – research evident), cooking class, hands moving everywhere just like Jamie

Class (audience) silent during performances, as requested. Right atmosphere in the room absolutely vital.

Update:

• David Attenborough – accent (of course!) plus the whisper, brief focus loss, hand gestures, very enthralling, drew the audience in
• Oprah Winfrey – performer interacted with the class well as TV show audience, class really felt a part of the performance, HUGE facial expressions, Oprah very excited (about almost everything), research into Oprah’s gestures clearly evident
• Lindsay Lohan – lots of “whatever”, “like…” and “you know….”, recent theft allegations topic of performance
• Michael Jackson – “the” glove, interview-based performance, empathy felt by audience, research evident in student-written script, the importance of getting the subtleties of MJ’s mannerisms and facial expressions became crystal clear
• Raphael Nadal – post match press conference, Spanish accent very good and clearly well-researched, tennis costume complete with oversized headband, very accurate mannerisms and hand movements, tone of voice etc all good

Update:

• Eddie McGuire- local TV personality and football club President – student had line-learning difficulties and chose to perform without script although given option to use it – lesson in focus and how to retrieve lost lines as an actor
• Britney Spears – blonde wig, not enough of Brtiney evident in performance, instead I saw a student in a wig – mannerisms and gestures needed work
• Christina Aguilera – seating position, dialogue, hand gestures all well-researched – Aguilera’s facial expressions needed to be more obvious in order for character to be more convincing – also, emotional side of character needed work – tough call for a 14 year-old, though
• Steve Irwin – focus issues, not deep enough into character, eyes drifting into audience, merely going through lines – all part of the learning process so nothing to worry about

Update:

• Keisha (singer)  – on the tour bus, very well-researched actions & gestures, accurate dialogue and great accent – sounded, looked and behaved like the singer, herself
• Julia Gillard – Australian Prime Minister  -  press conference, more facial expressions needed, too much of the actor evident in performance and not enough character, hand gestures spot on
• Barack Obama – nerves, nerves, nerves – all part of learning to be an actor/Drama student

A lesson in-between coming up to work on Part 2 of the task. This will involve exaggerating all the four expressive skills of voice, movement, facial expressions and gestures in order to satirise or parody the celebrity character. All of these characters have “room to move” in order for the actor to enhance them – either through movement and physical actions and/or verbally (accent, tone etc). Looking forward to Friday’s lesson for the 2nd set of performances – same script, performed differently. These ought to be hilarious. Will live blog again then – Friday 18 february 11.45am AEDT (UTC + 11).