Drama For Schools
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About Drama For Schools
The Drama for Schools initiative represents the Venue Theatre’s commitment to fostering a culture of appreciation of dramatic art amongst our young people. As part of the Drama for Schools the Venue Theatre will be offering a range of services to educational bodies responsible for Junior and Leaving Certificate Higher and Ordinary level students:
- Professional Theatrical Productions
- Film Screenings
- Poetry Recitations
- Workshops for English teachers
- Transition Year Drama Modules
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1. Professional Theatrical Productions
1.1. After-Show Discussions
1.2. Educational Packs
The Venue Theatre Dramatic Ensemble is the in-house theatre production company, composed of a highly trained, skilled and experienced creative team of actors, directors, designers and technicians based at the Venue Theatre.
As part of the Drama for Schools initiative, the ‘Ensemble will be staging Othello (the single-text Shakespearean option for examination in June 2008), and Macbeth (the single-text Shakespearean option for examination.)
- Othello by William Shakespeare will be staged in the Venue Theatre each day from Monday 12 – Saturday 17th November, 2007.
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare will be staged in the Venue Theatre each day from Monday 26th February – Saturday 3rd March.
The performances will take place at either 11.00 AM, 2.00 PM or 8.00 PM, depending on demand. If you school is interested in having the company perform on your premises, we may be able to accommodate you also.
The ticket price per student will be €12. This price will include access to the After-show Discussion (see below), and the provision of an Educational Pack (see below).
Each year a Shakespearean play is one of the single-text options for Leaving Certificate higher-level and ordinary- level students. As the study of a Shakespearean text is mandatory for higher level students, the study of the proscribed text is worth between 5.5 and 16.6 % of their overall English result. (For higher-level students who choose to answer the single-text question on the proscribed Shakespearean text, their answer is worth 16.6 % of their overall English grade. Alternatively, students may answer the the comparative text question on the play, worth 5.5 % per cent of their overall mark.)
The same figures apply for students taking the Ordinary level paper, although the study of a Shakespearean text is optional.
On a further note, either of these productions may be of interest to your transition year students, as, while Othello or Macbeth is not on the syllabus for when they will be sitting the Leaving Cert., exposure to live theatre is a crucial element of appreciating and understanding the dramatic process. According to the State Examinations Commission:
“Awareness of stagecraft is always commendable and is rewarded where appropriately used in answering. Well prepared candidates will bring their experience of performed drama to their answering.”
It is our firm belief that one afternoon spent immersed in the electrifying atmosphere of live theatre, where the characters are no longer simply words that may or may not take flight in the students imagination, but rather are tangible human characters, portrayed by professional, trained actors under professional direction, is a crucial ingredient to the successful study and appreciation of any play.
1.1. After-Show Discussions
. When the show finishes, the students will have a short break for refreshments and will be invited to convene in the theatre for the after show discussion with the actors, designers and director of the play. It is important to stress the artists will be expressed their opinions, rather than providing an academically fool-proof set of answers.
1.2. Educational Packs
Each student attending the performances will also receive an Educational Pack with a wide-range of information that will enhance their further study of the play, including:
- Biography of the playwright
- Historical information about the play
- A history of the play.
- Chronology of film adaptations of the play.
- Discussion on the contemporary relevance of the play.
- Discussion of how the play was presented in Shakespeare’s day.
- Discussion of the Venue Theatre Dramatic Ensemble’s interpretation of the play.
- Synopsis of the play on a scene-by-scene basis
- Discussion of the uses of imagery in the play
- Discussion of the principle themes of the play.
- Previous exam questions on the play, with suggest approaches to tackling them
- Direction to further useful resources.
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A range of options for the study of cinema classics and contemporary film, both original films and adaptations from novels or plays, are available to Leaving and Junior Certificate teachers and students.
Although many of the films on syllabus are available on DVD, they are often specialized, and therefore difficult to find. The Venue Theatre has a state-of-the-art DVD projection system, and will be offering a range of screenings based on student requirements.
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3. Classroom Drama’ Interactivity Workshops for Teachers
‘“…the traditional methodology [of teaching drama], the line by
line reading of a play, [in which] the student is a relatively passive member of the audience is somewhat in decline…Opportunities should be created whereby students can try to create interpretative presentations of parts (or all) of the drama text for themselves.”
Department of Education and Science
The department recommends that teachers enhance the
traditional teaching methodology with techniques such as
hot-seating, still/freeze-frame, teacher-in-role/class-in-role and
semiotic perspectives.
The “Classroom Drama” Interactivity Workshops for Teachers” will
be facilitated by a fully qualified drama teacher conversant, and
will
be designed to give English teachers additional competence in
these techniques for creating dramatically reveling situations in
the class room.
In addition, the collective experience of seeing a film with your
class mates can leave an indelible impression on students, and
provoke discussion and debate that will help students to think more creatively.
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4. Poetry Recitations and Discussion
The poetry element of Leaving Certificate English is worth 17.5 per cent of students’ mark. For Junior Certificate English students, questions on poetry account for a similar percentage of their overall grade.
Poetry comes alive when read aloud; it engages all the senses, rather than simply the part of us that infers meaning from those words. It is crucial to encourage English students to develop subjective opinion about the poetry stipulated for examination, in order that they may develop the interpretative reflexes crucial to answering questions on poetry.
Original thought when answering questions on poetry is highly thought of – but original thought requires nurturing, and even bravery. One approach to nurturing students with a love and greater understanding of the poems that are studying is to provide them with the opportunity to see, hear, and feel the poems read aloud by a professional poet. The Drama for Schools initiative will be offering students this opportunity.
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5. Transition Year Drama Modules
A key concern of the Venue Theatre is to provide young people with the opportunity to participate in a series of dedicated stage-craft workshops facilitated by and accredited Youth Drama leader.
As part of the Drama for Schools initiative, we are providing post-primary transition year coordinators with the opportunity of involving their students in such a scheme.
These modules are flexible, and will be devised in conjunction with your school. For example, we would be able to provide a series of ten workshops for a limited number of students, on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. After this, the students would have an opportunity of shadowing the cast and crew of a professional in-house production at the Venue, thereby absorbing a flavor of what professional theatrical production is all about.
We understand that the requirements for each school will vary, and are therefore open to dialog with transition year coordinators who may wish to include a module in drama and drama related skills for their transitions year students.