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The Ancient Greek Theatre is the birth of the modern theatre. We can look at the production of theatre in that time and see similarities to how we present theatre today. But where do we start? And how do we make theatre history more than the collection of data? It’s hard for students to conceptualize an era that happened so long ago as populated with real people. This lesson plan encourages discussion, application, and reflection on the Ancient Greeks. Be sure to check out the Ancient Greek Theatre handout as an accompaniment to this lesson. A powerpoint link is also included that is ready to use in your classroom!

Students will demonstrate how to use vocal aspects in character creation. The lesson teaches students how to create a specific character voice,considering volume, rate and pitch.

In this lesson, students have an opportunity to practice vocal expression by reciting nursery rhymes with three different vocal varieties. They will receive instant feedback from their peers and teacher.

The voice is a powerful instrument. Beyond being the vehicle with which an actor delivers their dialogue, the voice can suggest emotion, subtext, character personality, location, and more. There are a variety of vocal tools an actor can use to communicate effectively with an audience. This lesson covers tone.

To practice planning and performing transitions between scenes in a smooth and well-prepared manner, with increasingly shorter time frames and other challenges.

Students will work in small groups to devise a one-minute long theatrical piece from a prompt. They will create a performance, create a prompt script, assign Stage Manager and Technical Operator roles, rehearse the piece, and perform it for the rest of the class. Depending on your time allowance, this lesson could be completed in one class using only items found in the classroom; or this lesson can be spread over four classes (one class to assign and plan, one class to rehearse, one class as a technical/dress rehearsal, and one class as a performance and discussion/reflection class).

Students hand in all the elements of this project referring back to the included Final Project Assignment Sheet. An assignment sheet is provided to make sure they have everything in the correct order. They must connect this assignment sheet to their packet of submitted materials.

Students will be given the expectations for the individual final project, starting with a playwriting assignment.

In this lesson, students will finish watching Sweeney Todd (if you need additional time) and complete a devising activity based on the film.

In this lesson, students will work in groups to select a song, analyze its lyrics, and plan movements and gestures for a lip-sync performance. Use this lesson at the end of the year, after a major assessment, or following a year-end/semester-end production.

Students will read a handout and discuss what it takes to write a two character scene. They will then apply their knowledge through exercises done in class. Finally, they will write and hand in a two character, one location scene which will be assessed.

This handout is designed as an accompaniment to The Ancient Greeks lesson plan. The two-page handout includes visuals and a description of who the ancient greeks were, including democracy/slavery, the role of women, war/culture, competition, and the Gods.

This lesson diagrams the main roles in a theatre. Students complete a graphic organizer describing each of these roles and allows students to decide which job appeals to them the most. Includes a slide show.

This unit will explore a couple of the Business roles: (1) Marketing and (2) Front of House. As a reminder: Artistic jobs create ideas. The production jobs implement those ideas. And the business jobs provide the framework that allow those ideas to be shared.

The objective of this lesson is to introduce the concept of “hard skills” (specific abilities or knowledge needed to do a specific job) versus “soft skills” (personal attributes and personality traits; transferable skills that can be used in any aspect of a student’s life).

In this lesson plan, students will take on the role of a producer. They have had their show approved, but, before they get started, they must create a budget to track the money coming and going. Budgeting is a job that must be completed by the producer for every show. What’s involved? What does a budget look like?

Students will identify and understand the roles and responsibilities in a theatre company: artistic, production, and business.

Students will identify and understand the roles and responsibilities in a theatre company: artistic, production, and business.

The objective of the lesson is for students to create and perform a spoken word poetry piece. Spoken word is poetry that is meant to be performed for an audience, rather than just read on a page. It allows students the opportunity to share their thoughts, and provides a platform for them to do so. It also builds on important performance skills taught in the drama classroom, including memorization and rehearsal, vocal projection, enunciation, tone, gestures and facial expressions, and confidence.

In this exercise, students will learn about the concept of status and how it affects character interactions. Using the good old system of “Rock, papers, scissors”, they’ll determine who moves up and down the status ladder.