The SIS Drama Department provides students with hands-on experiences in the theories and techniques of drama within an environment that supports individuality and creativity. By providing an education in the means for students' self-expression through drama, they are given an opportunity to develop some of the social, emotional, creative, physical, and intellectual abilities necessary to become reasoning, responsible, contributing, and successful members of the global community. The program strives not only to increase students' knowledge, skills, and abilities vis a vis theater, but also to foster in them an appreciation of the performing arts and of their own unique abilities within the discipline.
Act I - Kindergarten through Grade 3
In the early years, students at SIS use games and improvisation to develop ensemble spirit, to learn about the basics of stage conventions, and to build confidence. Classes prepare short works to share with the Elementary School Community at assemblies during the year.
Act II - Grades 4 and 5
During the last two years of Elementary School, students build on the skills and techniques they've developed to prepare and present a full-scale performance, which is presented in the evening for the greater SIS community.
Act III - Middle School
Scene 1 - Grade 6
Grade 6 begins with improvisation to reinforce the sense of ensemble collaboration, the conventions of performance, and the understanding that theater is a form of story telling. The students then undertake the study and analysis of a full-length play - The Secret Garden - to begin to understand how to break down a script and build a character. After becoming familiar with script and character analysis, the students go back to the beginnings of Western Theater by examining a tragedy from ancient Greece. The last unit of Grade 6 moves to Shakespeare, where we explore how a society can help shape the nature of its theater.
Scene 2 - Grade 7
The year focuses on the symbiotic nature of the character and the actor. There are four acting challenges throughout the course of the year. The first is to develop a character based on a real person. For this, we use The Diary of Anne Frank and students learn as much as they can about her world and her family. The next assignment explores how to develop a character with almost no information. For this, each student selects and performs a monologue that has been written to stand alone (not from a play). The third acting challenge is based on improvising with a stock character. For this, students form troupes of Commedia dell'Arte actors and develop and perform original scenarios using the traditional characters. The year ends with students tackling characters from Theater of the Absurd in order to examine the nature of the society and beliefs that engendered it and how those factors shaped the actor's world.
Scene 3 - Grade 8
Grade 8 examines the nature of responsibility in the theater. The students begin the year by studying Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town. We discuss the nature of theater and the function of the designer using the play as a starting point. From there we move to a look at the responsibility of theater, per se, when it comes to message vs. entertainment. We use two plays about the nature of gossip and rumor to explore the issue. The third unit focuses on the responsibilities of the director and actors (to each other, to the playwright, and to the audience) by assigning student directors to rehearse and stage a selection of ten-minute one-act plays. Finally, the class is divided into film making "studios" to investigate the various responsibilities of a team in producing an original video.
Act IV - High School
High School Drama classes are electives, and students can select from three offerings depending on their areas of interest in the theater. One choice is Stagecraft - the class gives students opportunities to learn about design (scenery, costume, makeup, and lighting) and to have some designs used in productions throughout the year. Students also serve as crew for the five major shows of the school year. The second choice is Video Production - this course examines the nature of film making by focusing on mise en scene, continuity, text & subtext, and music & montage. The students face several film making challenges through the course of the program and screen some of their works for the High School at the end of the year. The final choice is Drama Production - this class selects, rehearses, and performs the two major shows at SIS during the school year. Semester one focuses on a straight play, while semester two uses a musical show.
Students
Here's what some of our students have to say about drama:
Also, you can view two very interesting, drama-inspired texts of two high school drama students:
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