Stage 1 Drama

In Drama, students develop their creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills. They refine their literacy, numeracy, ethical understanding, and intercultural understanding, and develop self-belief and self-confidence. 

Students learn as artists and as creative entrepreneurs through their exploration of shared human experience, which is at the heart of the study of Drama. Students learn to engage meaningfully with others through the creation of original relationships between presenter, audience, idea, and story. They learn that shared narratives underpin our understanding of everything we think and do in the world around us, and that our cultural narratives are created collaboratively. Drama is active and participatory, involving the process of imagining, developing, and creating original narratives, viewpoints, and artistic products. Students adopt roles from the dramatic fields of theatre and/or screen. They apply the dramatic process to create outcomes and take informed artistic risks to present the unique voices of individuals, communities, and cultures. Through focused, practical, and collaborative learning opportunities, students refine their skills and increase their confidence as communicators by creating live, multimodal, oral, and written products. 

Content

Stage 1 Drama may be taken as a 10-credit subject or a 20-credit subject.

For both a 10-credit subject and a 20-credit subject, teachers develop a teaching and learning program based on the following three areas of dramatic study:

• Company and Performance

• Understanding and Responding to Drama

• Drama and Technology

Company and Performance 

In the Company and Performance area of study, students draw links between theory and current dramatic arts industry practice to envision and form their own dramatic company. The company may involve the class as a whole or comprise several smaller companies from within the class. Students may choose to name their company and develop a rationale, vision statement, or mission statement of their shared dramatic intent. Students explore what they want to say as artists and develop ideas for creative expression. They grow as cultural leaders by considering how their dramatic company may provide original and/or alternative artistic perspectives, viewpoints, and stories. They design opportunities for these to be presented using entrepreneurial thinking and processes. Through investigation and experimentation, students identify the impact and significance of their ideas and potential products for audiences, and apply the dramatic process to create meaningful outcomes. Individual students adopt a role or roles, and collaborate to conceive, create, and present a realised dramatic product or products.

Understanding and Responding to Drama

In the Understanding and Responding to Drama area of study, students view and engage with drama. Students are encouraged to deepen their knowledge and understanding of contemporary dramatic practice, conventions, and traditions using live, online, and other resources. Students study at least one dramatic text and at least one dramatic style. The shared study of texts and styles should be led by the teacher and involve a combination of practical, experimental, and theoretical learning opportunities. Through their learning, students explore and experiment with their own actual or hypothetical dramatic outcomes. 

Drama and Technology

In the Drama and Technology area of study, students research and analyse how technology is being used by dramatic artists, and how it has the potential to be applied creatively to enhance dramatic meaning and expression of ideas in theatre and/or screen products. Use of technology in drama can be accessed through online sources or live sources, where available. Technology plays an ever-increasing role in contemporary dramatic practice, and relationships between dramatic artists, audiences, and technologies are in a constant state of reinvention. Students research and analyse contemporary drama that includes innovative technology. They explore possibilities and provide creative ideas as cultural leaders for the application of innovative technology in a hypothetical (or actual) dramatic product.

Assessment:

Assessment Type 1:   Performance

Assessment Type 2:   Responding to Drama

Assessment Type 3:   Creative Synthesis

For a 10-credit subject, students provide evidence of their learning through three assessments. For a 20-credit subject, students provide evidence of their learning through five assessments. Each assessment type should have a weighting of between 20% and 50%.