Year 9 students take the stage

The Year 9 students taking Drama as an option in the second trimester began with an improvisation unit, learning a range of Theatresports games and then in teams performing two games of their choice for their classmates. They were then very busy learning and developing their roles for their Major Production. In addition to exploring  acting techniques, including the use of stage business and how to create and communicate a persona, they learnt about lighting, sound, costume and set as they prepared to perform two one act plays for friends and whanau in the Drama Room.

Ms Lisa Mohekey-Johnston – Teacher in charge of Year 9 Drama.

Year 10 students step up

If you’ve ever enjoyed the controlled mayhem of a Theatresports competition, you’ll understand what the year 10 students focused on in term one; they are working together, learning some more complex games, practising them, and saying ‘Yes’ to others’ ideas. Soon each group will perform their chosen Theatresports game for their classmates. It sounds straightforward right? In fact thinking on your feet, accepting and making offers and creating entertaining scenes is a very challenging but important life skill.

They quickly moved on to their production unit in which they worked in small groups to create, develop and perform a variety of One-Act plays to their friends and whanau during a  performance evening.

Ms Lisa Mohekey-Johnston – Teacher in charge of Year 10 Drama.

Year 11 Major Production 

The Year 11 Drama students have been creating, developing and refining their roles for two one act plays. We held dress rehearsals for two year 9 classes who provided feedback and feed forward to further help the students prepare for the assessment. On production night, these plays were performed to a packed audience.

The class is currently working towards their “Enter the Ensemble’ performance. The whole class is performing in one ensemble play ‘The 9 worst breakups of all time’ by Ian McWethy. This performance requires consistent collaboration, cooperation, self-management, active participation, accountability and high levels of maturity. The performance evening will be near the end of Term 4.

Ms Lisa Mohekey-Johnston – Teacher in charge of Year 11 Drama.

Year 12 Commedia dell`arte

The Level 2 Drama students have been thrown out of their comfort zones as they prepare for their Commedia performance evening in week 7. Commedia dell`arte, masked comedy, was an early form of professional theatre which originated in Italy and remains popular around the world today. This acting style is a mostly improvised and non-realistic comic theatre form. 

The students are studying this historical genre for their exams as well as performing in several short plays, typical of this theatre form. The characters in Commedia are stock characters who represent fixed social types such as foolish old men, devious servants, talented women, or military officers full of false bravado.

Ms Lisa Mohekey-Johnston – Teacher in charge of Level 2 Drama.