A performance where the dramatic script is read aloud rather than memorized; costumes and simple settings may or may not be used; focus and limited movement feature strongly; although the play has been rehearsed the actors are familiar with their lines but there is no attempt to pretend that they are not reading.
See also chamber theatre
Last Monday’s tips about straw phonation would be a good starting point.
Here are some more ideas:
Use non-verbal cues to get the students’ attention when they are working in groups – for example, establish a routine of clapping a short rhythmic pattern (which the students then clap back to you) when you want their attention. Vary the patterns from lesson to lesson to reinforce rhythmic concepts as well.
Avoid aggressive and / or habitual throat clearing - it can cause vocal fatigue.
Focus your speaking voice forward - straw phonation helps establish this.
Drink water before you feel thirsty.
When you need to talk over loud background noise, use the vocal technique of twang to increase your projection without placing stress on your throat. We will look at twang next Monday.
Let us know if you have voice care tips to share!
The concept of mass audience began in the early days of cinema, radio and television. It is the notion of something being communicated to an enormous number of people from all walks of live with diverse values, beliefs and attitudes and the impact or influence it has on them.
It is commonly acknowledged that the theory of mass audience is in decline, our lives are more media-rich (we have more choices) and we are increasingly interacting with media on a one-to-one basis.
Excerpt from Media Key Terms and Concepts
The Valley of the Kings. Photo by Robin Pascoe.
Has its origins in coronation rituals in the early Dynastic Period (3100 - 2686 BC) with key elements of enactment and dialogue. In the Old Kingdom (2686 - 2181 BC) ritual drama explored mysteries of creation, life and death and the con flight between good and evil.
On ascending the throne, every King of Egypt became Horus, on of Osiris and Isis, and the story was enacted during annual festivals. By the time of the Middle Kingdom (2133 - 1786 BC) there is evidence of a civilisation of frequent holidays, ceremonies, parades, amusements, music and celebrations. Osiris plays continued into the Christian era.
The Valley of the Kings. Photo by Robin Pascoe
Later Egyptian drama reflected the conquerors from Greece and Rome.
Some extant fragments of Egyptian drama include:
The Triumph of Horus
The Memphite Drama
The Abydos Passion Play
Books of the Dead
Excerpt from Drama Key Terms and Concepts
The exercises below can be done either with a straw in the air (hold straw parallel to the ground – or in a bottle of water.
Maintain soft, slightly puffy cheeks throughout.
Don’t force your air - let it be a consistent and comfortable air–flow from a sense of low abdominal release.
When blowing into a water bottle keep the bubbles consistent.
Blow air gently through the straw.
Add sound to the airflow. This will feel like an ‘oo’ sound going into the straw on the breath flow.
Make a low sustained note in the straw.
Blow 5 note scales into the straw. Start from a comfortably low key.
Try descending 8 note scales – starting from a little higher in your vocal range.
Try sirens - start in the middle of your range and then expand upwards and downwards in pitch. If you sense a ‘gap’ in the line of sound, go back over that part of the siren gently until the siren moves more smoothly.
Try a section of a song in the straw – remember you cannot use words – just the melody on the ‘oo’ sound.
A television genre that follows a conventional structure and narrative. Television dramas are designed to be both entertaining and riveting. One of the central features is emotional or physical conflict.
There are many types of television dramas including crime, hospital, court room, military and supernatural.
Television dramas are episodic and most often serialised. This means that within each episode there is a story with a beginning middle and end, but each week the characters and their relationships are developed and sub-plots may be carried over a number of episodes.
These sub-plots and relationships encourage the audience to watch the program the following week.
Television dramas use theme music and a standard opening sequence and usually end with a preview of the following week’s episode.
See also television genre
Excerpt From: Media Key Terms and Concepts.
Developed on the streets of Paris in the late 18th century, popular and bourgeois theatre companies set up on the Boulevard du Temple, performing crime stories and melodramas.
Fireworks, clowning and pantomime added to the boulevard repertoire, which developed into the commercial theatre of Paris.
Has also come to mean light commercial theatre.
See also French theatre.
Excerpt From: Drama Key Terms and Concepts.
Learning Drama. Teaching Drama.
Learning Drama Teaching Drama is written in a straightforward and informative style.
The first section focuses on the key concepts in current Australian Arts curriculum – in particular the Australian Curriculum: The Arts (ACARA, 2014) and the Western Australian Arts Curriculum (SCSA 2015). Concepts are explained in bitesize chunks – enough to get you started on understanding what the curriculum expects. For example, Learning Drama Teaching Drama looks at the building blocks of Making and Responding as fundamental curriculum organisers, the Elements of Drama, the role of Drama in our lives. Drama forms in the curriculum are explained
The strategies section outlines important tools for bringing the required curriculum content to action in classrooms. For example, distinctive pedagogies of Drama are outlined; planning and age and developmentally sound approaches explored; shaping Drama lessons; approaches to teaching skills and concepts; and assessing drama.
Snapshots of classroom practice are included throughout to help teachers see the concepts and strategies in action in classrooms.
To support our new Concepts and Strategies series we will be publishing regular blog posts to encourage teachers and to assist in planning activities and lessons.
Sign up to our email list to be updated when we launch the blog and the first Concepts and Strategies books soon.
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