Drama

Year 9 

Students are continuing to work hard in their Drama lessons as they commence work on their new topic, Elements of Production. This topic has incorporated all technical Theatre elements, and has allowed students to develop their understanding of Set, Sound, Lighting and Costume Design. 

Students have been creating a costume sketch for a character within ‘Alice in Wonderland', They have been asked to design two sketches and a final coloured render displayed fabric swatches and colour samples to show their creative designs of an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ character. This task creatively draws upon the play through designing both aesthetic and functional costumes for stage performances. Students will continue to develop their knowledge and skills in technical theatre as they apply their understanding to future topics later in the year. 

Year 10 

Students in Year 10 Drama have had an exciting start to Term 2 as they commenced their topic of study, 'Theatre and Performance Styles for Stage'. Students explored and developed their understanding of Physical Theatre, Realism Theatre, Epic Theatre, Comedy and Theatre of the Absurd as an onstage performance style. 

They have also explored the use of different voices and movements to transform themselves into dynamic characters throughout the performance style of Absurdism. Students have worked diligently to develop an absurdist scene and apply their knowledge of absurd theatre conventions to help develop a strong performance and theatre style understanding. 

In addition to performing their short absurdist scene, they have developed their logbooks to reflect a progressive understanding of theatre styles based on their knowledge development throughout the term. Students have also continued to work on developing a Comedic piece as a consolidation of topic understanding and group collaboration. 

Year 11

Year 11 Drama students have been studying an introductory unit to understanding the theatrical style of Epic Theatre, with a specific focus on theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht. 

Students have studied the importance of social, cultural and political contexts that Brecht worked to develop in productions, and the influences of dramatic conventions to help portray his theatre style. 

Students have compared Brecht’s Epic Theatre to Realism Theatre practitioner Stanislavski to help contrast the two theatre styles and how to condition actors through workshop activities to develop these techniques. Students will continue to apply their knowledge of both theatre practitioner methods and conventions to help write their Director’s Portfolio for their assignment this term.

Year 12

During Term 2, Year 12 have continued to work on their major project works for HSC Drama. Students are well on their way in the devising process to piece together their Group Projects, a 8-12 minute performance displaying innovative and engaging dramatic ideas for HSC markers. Additionally to this Group Performance, students have been working on their Individual Projects, a showcase of theatrical understanding in a project of their choice. 

There is a range of individual projects, including Performance, Costume Design and Video Drama’s that will be developed for Drama HSC this year. Students are all working diligently to continue developing their ideas in a way that best showcases their onstage performance skills as well as group work in devising their performance pieces. They will also continue to work towards their HSC writing before HSC exam trials early next term.