The development of creativity is an essential 21st Century skill. Drama provides an opportunity for students to develop critical and creative thinking, to experiment with ideas, and to create atmosphere by manipulating tension, space, place, mood, symbol and stagecraft. In this unit, students will explore the concepts of dreams and nightmares through the manipulation of the elements of drama and the application of contemporary performance conventions such as physical theatre, mediatised drama, shadow work and soundscapes, to explore otherworldliness. Drawing on dramatic styles such as Gothic Theatre, Surrealism and Non-Realism, students will privilege the element of mood to create atmosphere and explore the concept of a character crossing over from reality to another world. Focusing on narrative and transformation, students use soundscapes, movement, audience placement, theatre and film technology, together with experimentation with symbols, to shape and create dramatic action and meaning for audience effect.
Design project: creating and making demonstration
Presenting and performing a student devised drama
Individual practical demonstration of a concept for dramatic action, accompanied by a one paragraph written justification
Group performance of student devised drama
Ms Charlene McMenamin
cmcmenamin@mfac.edu.au
