© boardworks ltd 2003 1 of 17 drama: scripted this icon indicates that detailed teacher’s notes...

© Boardworks Ltd 20031 of 17

Drama: Scripted

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Drama: scripted

Here we will be working with scripts...

creating them...

performing them...

and evaluating interpretations.


Act 2, scene 2

(Outside Juliet’s house. Romeo enters.)

ROMEO: He jests at scars that never felt a wound.

(Juliet appears on her balcony.)

But soft what light through yonder window breaks?

It is the East, and Juliet is the sun.

A script consists of the lines and instructions needed for an actor to perform a part. They are set out in a similar way.

Capitals for names

The setting is given

Entrances and exits are shown

Stage directions are in brackets

The actor's lines start at the same place

What is a script?


Write these lines out as a script(remember, you don’t need speech marks in a script).

Creating a script

The scene is outside the school gates. Joe is talking to Chris. “I waited for you last night, but you didn’t turn up. What happened?” Chris replies, “I tried to come but my dad made me stay at home and do my homework.” Just then Sally turns up and asks, “What was the film like?” Joe says, “I don’t know. I didn’t see it.”


You should have created something like this:

Scene 1

(Outside the school gates. Joe and Chris are talking.)

JOE: I waited for you last night, but you didn’t turn up. What happened?

CHRIS: I tried to come but my dad made me stay at home and do my homework.

(Sally enters.)

SALLY: What was the film like?

JOE: I don’t know. I didn’t see it.

Discuss the changes that have taken place.

Creating a script


Creating a script

Scene 1

(Outside the school gates. Joe and Chris are talking.)

JOE: I waited for you last night, but you didn’t turn up. What happened?

CHRIS: (apologetically) I tried to come but my dad made me stay at home and do my homework.

(Sally enters. She drops her bag on the floor.)

SALLY: What was the film like?

JOE: (sulkily) I don’t know. I didn’t see it.

You can also help the actors by saying how the words should be spoken and by giving any extra actions.

Use present tense

Put directions at start


The story in a script is told entirely through the words and actions of the characters.

Essential parts of the narrative must be put into the words of a character.

Telling a story

Why are you

cross?

You haven’t phoned me for

2 days!


Oliver is in the care of a stranger – Mr Brownlow. Mr Brownlow has just noticed Oliver’s likeness to a picture on his wall and tells Mrs Bedwin.

“I hope you are not angry with me, sir?” said Oliver, raising his eyes beseechingly.“No, no”, replied the old gentleman. “Gracious God, what’s this? Bedwin, look, look there!”As he spoke, he pointed hastily to the picture above Oliver’s head, and then to the boy’s face. There was its living copy. The eyes, the head, the mouth; every feature was the same.

Try reading your script out loud.

Have a go transforming this extract from Oliver Twist into a script.

Creating a script


Activity

Just like any other story, a script must hold the attention of an audience. There must be problems, tensions and a climax to the plot.

On the next slide you will see the outline of a famous play. Do you recognize the play? Decide what order the events occur in.


Activity


Writing a script

Working in small groups, write your own short piece of scripted drama.

Here are some possible titles to work from:

Mistaken identity

Nightmare journey

Famous for 15 minutes

Hints have two or three

characters include a problem and

a climax keep it short.


Performing your script

Now have a go at performing your script.

Here are some tips:appoint a director, whose word is finalkeep props and costumes to a minimumavoid anything (like a silly voice) that will make you laughconsider movements, gestures and actionsrehearse, rehearse, rehearse!


Comparing interpretations of a scene

(Enter three witches)WITCH 1: When shall we three meet again?In thunder, lightning, or in rain?WITCH 2: When the hurly-burly’s done,When the battle’s lost and won.WITCH 3: That will be ere the set of sun.WITCH 1: Where the place?WITCH 2: Upon the heath.WITCH 3: There to meet with Macbeth.WITCH 1: I come, Grey-MalkinWITCH 2: Padock calls!WITCH 3: Anon!ALL: Fair is foul, and foul is fairHover through the fog and filthy air.

From Macbeth by William Shakespeare

It is interesting to see different versions of the same script.



In groups of four (three performers and a director) think carefully about how to interpret this scene.

Think carefully about the atmosphere you want to create.

Consider how to use voice and movement to add to the atmosphere.



Once the performances are ready, you should evaluate the different interpretations.

Consider the writer’s intentions. Did Shakespeare want to make us feel uncomfortable or to interest us?

What sort of scene has the director created and how? Is it threatening, strange, traditional or modern?

How do the actors perform? Do they interact with the audience? How do they use voice and movement?


Reviewing a play

The Mirror Player’s production of The Crucible by Arthur Miller was a tour de force for the amateur dramatic group. Directed by Sue Strong, it revealed the hypocrisy of 17th-century Salem.John Proctor, played convincingly by Dave Hughes, fights to bring reason into a town breaking down under the cries of witchcraft. It is his personal struggle that we follow.Strong manages to recreate the harsh simplicity of the time with simple scenery and powerful lighting. Hughes and his fellow actors explore the complicated relationships within the town.

Try writing up your evaluation in the form of a review.

Here is an example of the start of a review.


To sum up

Working with scripts can be great fun:

remember that they should be set out in a particular way they can include details about movements and how the words should be spokenin order to hold the attention of an audience a script needs a climax to the plotscripts can be interpreted in different ways – it’s up to the director!

© boardworks ltd 2003 1 of 17 drama: scripted this icon indicates that detailed teacher’s notes...

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