Starter quiz
- Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 'Actors, a __________ and a stage crew are involved in preparing a play for a performance.'
- conductor
- director ✓
- teacher
- mentor
-
- Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 'The title of a play is the __________ of a play.'
- name ✓
- ending
- plot
-
- What is a scene?
- the proper name for the whole of a play
- the words the characters say in a play
- a short chunk or section of a play, like a chapter in a book ✓
- something a character has seen in the play
-
- Which of these is the best definition of dialogue?
- the actions a character does
- the words a character says ✓
- the facial expressions an actor uses
- a dance some actors do
-
- Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 'Stage directions are like __________ for actors to follow for how to speak or move in that part of the play.'
- rules
- words
- instructions ✓
-
- Put these steps for preparing a play for a performance in the correct order.
- 1⇔reading the script
- 2⇔responding to and discussing the script
- 3⇔rehearsing the script
- 4⇔getting feedback about what could be improved
- 5⇔performing the play
Exit quiz
- Which of these would be a suitable stage direction?
- the Iron Man
- (firmly) ✓
- I will
- challenge you
-
- Which of these is a setting description from a play script?
- Scene 2: Hogarth’s Discovery
- Setting: Early morning on a farm near the hill. Hogarth, a boy, spots something. ✓
- Hogarth: (excited)
- Who's that?
-
- True or false? Setting descriptions are only useful for creating a setting in a story.
- 'false' ✓
- Which of these are people who work as part of a stage crew?
- people who build a set ✓
- people who act and say the lines as the characters
- people who design costumes ✓
- people who create sound effects ✓
- people who sell the tickets
-
- Who gets the final say on how a scene should look: the director, the actors or the stage crew?
- the director ✓
- the actors
- the stage crew
-
- Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 'When a director first reads a script, they should look at the __________ of each scene to help create a vision for how each scene should look.'
- actors' lines
- stage directions
- music choices
- setting descriptions ✓
-
Worksheet
Loading worksheet ...
Presentation
Loading presentation ...
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Play scripts are written with certain conventions that help make a script organised, clear and easy to follow.
- Performance techniques are tools that actors use to connect with the audience.
- These techniques can be learnt, practised and developed.
- Deciding where to stand and how to move is an important part of the rehearsal process for the director and actors.
- Plays can have large or small casts - the number of actors who play the different characters in a play.
Common misconception
Pupils may think it is **always** easier to perform a play with a small number of characters.
The difficulty of a play is not just down to the number of characters in it. Often, the most difficult plays are the ones with the most troubling or complicated themes - central messages that the playwright wants the audience to think deeply about.
Keywords
Play script conventions - rules that are followed by playwrights to write play scripts that are clear and easy to follow
Performance techniques - the ways an actor uses their body, voice and facial expressions to bring a character to life in a play
Setting description - a brief description of where and when the action takes place at the beginning of a scene in a play
+