Education

GD Players

Drama Class in School

Ms. Lamson teaches a one-quarter Theater Arts class at GD.  It is a great place to take risks, be silly, prepare monologues, and generally learn about the theatre.  Sign up, you are guaranteed to love it! 

Drama Guild at Groton-Dunstable Regional High School After School

All educational components of Drama at GD are currently extra-curricular, self-directed, and project based. Drama Guild hosts plays and provides workshops in the spirit of collaborative learning.  

Groton-Dunstable Drama Guild Expectations for Participation

Expectations for participation in Fall Play, Festival of One-Act Plays, Spring Play and Guild:

• • Respect: All actors, tech, stage crew and production crew involved in any play are expected to demonstrate respect to each other, adults assisting with the production, and audience members at all times.

• • Cooperation: Actors and crew are expected to cooperate with each other as we are all working towards the same goal. Remember it takes countless hours of preparation, rehearsal, technical creation, production, and costuming to produce plays at GD possible. 

• • Casting and Participation: 

• • One-Act Plays: Every actor who signs up by the posted deadline will be included in the Festival of One-Act Plays. Plays are student directed.  Respect a student director as you would any director.

• • There will be times when casting of fall and spring plays will necessitate cuts. This is in no way an indication of talent, but a product of the script, logistics in staging, or vision of the director. It is not appropriate to question a director’s casting decisions. However, it is appropriate to ask for a meeting with the director to request feedback on your audition and for suggestions on improving your acting skills. 

• • There are no small parts, only small actors. Every part is important and every part is a learning opportunity.Take each new part as an opportunity to expand your craft. When cuts are made there are still many opportunities to participate in each play including stage managing, production, costuming, set building, technical crew and stage crew. We encourage all actors and non-actors alike to participate in as many aspects of theatre as possible for a holistic experience. 

• • Taking Direction: Whether plays are directed by peers or professional directors, actors are expected to follow the direction of the director when on stage. 

• • Attendance & Tardiness: Come prepared and on time to all rehearsals. Attendance is expected. If you need to miss a rehearsal please contact the director personally and in advance.  Unexcused absences will result in dismissal from the play.   

  • Bullying: Drama Guild and its plays are a bully free zone. Bullying of others will result in dismissal. 

Note to all families: After school clubs do not have access to medical records or education plans. Please inform us of any important information, including need for epipens and inhalers, that we me need to know about to ensure your student’s safety. 

Club Fee: Students are required to pay a yearly club fee of $100 to participate that allows students to participate in any school club or play.  

Drama is Life-Long Learning:  “Effective communication, curiosity, and critical-thinking skills… are much more than just the traditional desirable outcomes of a liberal arts education.   They are essential competencies and habits of mind for life in the twenty-first century.” (Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap, 2010, page xxiii)

Drama is Project-Based Learning:  “While allowing for some degree of student ‘voice and choice,’ rigorous projects are carefully planned, managed, and assessed to help students learn key academic content, practice 21st century skills (such as collaboration, communication & critical thinking), and create high-quality, authentic products & presentations.” (Buck Institute for Education, 2012)

Drama Builds Entrepreneurship:  “The makers, ‘people who create, build, design, tinker, modify, hack, invent, or simply make something’ are on the rise and ‘are moving the economy.’”  (Yong Zhao, World Class Learners, 2012, page 209; McCue, 2011)

“Entrepreneurship is about growth, creativity and innovation.  Innovative entrepreneurs come in all shapes and forms and their impact is not limited to start-ups---they also innovate in the public, private, academic and non-profit sectors.  Entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action and is therefore a key competence for all, helping young people to be more creative and self-confident in whatever they undertake.”  (World Economic Forum, 2011, page 5)

“Common qualities shared by entrepreneurs: ‘inspiration, creativity, direct action, courage, and fortitude.”  (Yong Zhao, World Class Learners, 2012, page 81; Martin & Osberg, 2007)

Drama incorporates Survival Skills needed for the Twenty-first century:                  

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

• Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence

• Agility and Adaptability

• Initiative and Entrepreneurial Spirit

• Effective Oral and Written Communication

• Accessing and Analyzing Information

• Curiosity and Imagination

• Creativity and Innovation

• Information and Media Literacy

• Flexibility and Adaptability

• Social and Cross-Cultural Interaction

• Productivity and Accountability

• Leadership and Responsibility

• (Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement Gap, 2010 and Bernie Trilling & Charles Fadel, 21st Century Skills, 2009)

NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR THEATRE EDUCATION*

In grades 9-12, students view and construct dramatic works as metaphorical visions of life that embrace connotative meanings, juxtaposition, ambiguity, and varied interpretations. By creating, performing, analyzing, and critiquing dramatic performances, they develop a deeper understanding of personal issues and a broader worldview that includes global issues. Since theatre in all its forms reflects and affects life, students should learn about representative dramatic texts and performances and the place of that work and those events in history. Classroom work becomes more formalized with the advanced students participating in theatre, film, television, and electronic media productions.

Content Standard #1: Script writing through improvising, writing, and refining scripts based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history.

Content Standard #2: Acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining characters in improvisations and informal or formal productions.

Content Standard #3: Designing and producing by conceptualizing and realizing artistic interpretations for informal or formal productions. 

Content Standard #4: Directing by interpreting dramatic texts and organizing and conducting rehearsals for informal or formal productions.

Content Standard #5: Researching by evaluating and synthesizing cultural and historical information to support artistic choices.

Content Standard #6: Comparing and integrating art forms by analyzing traditional theatre, dance, music, visual arts, and new art forms.

Content Standard #7: Analyzing, critiquing, and constructing meanings from informal and formal theatre, film, television, and electronic media productions.

*The National Standards for Theatre Education were developed by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education in cooperation with the Educational Theatre Association and as part of the National Standards for Arts Education, a product of the Consortium of National Arts Education Associations.

“In our offices and our classrooms we have way too much compliance and way too little engagement.  The former might get you through the day, but only the latter will get you through the night.”  Daniel Pink