Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” -Sanford Meisner

In Drama 10 you will work to develop dramatic technique in an analytical way.  Instead of working face to face with other students and an instructor, you will be exploring the art of acting on your own, primarily through intellectual work with your text.  The focus in this course is on examining a character by examining the text of their play.  This approach was developed by Uta Hagen, and is very accessible for students who already excel in English class.  As you work through, you will have the ability to work at your own pace, but you will not be alone.  This course was created by an actor and includes many videos to demonstrate the processes and skills you will be developing throughout the course.  As you explore the text material and the videos, you will be supported by a professional actor as well as the teacher of the course. 

Big Ideas in Drama 10 (BC Curriculum)

• Drama communicates ideas, emotions, and perspectives through movement, sound, imagery, and language.
• Active participation in drama creates personal and cultural connections and reveals insights into human experience.
• Drama offers dynamic ways of exploring one’s identity and sense of belonging.
• Growth as an artist is dependent on risk taking, perseverance, resilience, and reflection.
• Drama develops creativity and collaboration by encouraging innovative solutions to challenges.

The Learning Standards which includes Curricular Competencies and Content can be found at this site. 

Course Structure

This course is made up of eight modules, each of which has lessons, activities, quizzes and assignments for you to complete.  There are five major assignments in the course, which you will work on over several units.  These are Setting a Goal for Drama 10 and reflecting on it, your personal Warm Up Video your Object Exercises videos, your development of an Actor’s Workbook, and your presentation of a thoroughly prepared Monologue.  While you are learning the dramatic skills introduced in the course, you will be applying them to one of your projects.  In this way, you immediately get to practice the technique that has just been introduced.

The quizzes are not supervised, but they are timed.  They generally focus on your recognition and knowledge of the vocabulary used in theatre, as well as your ability to identify specific techniques introduced in this course.  If you take notes, you will be better prepared for the quizzes, and are less likely to run out of time completing them.

Assignments are expected to be typed in a word-processing program and/or video taped for submission on-line.  There may be the odd activity where it makes sense to do it on paper and pen.  In those cases, be sure to use a dark ink, as you will need to scan the document and save it as a PDF for uploading as well. 

What You Need to Get Started

You will need access to a device to record video with audio, as you will be recording your progress throughout the course.  These videos will be a key component of some of your projects in this course.  The actor working with you will provide critique and commentary that will be inform your teacher’s assessment of your work. 

Being Successful in Drama 10

Jump in and prepare to actively explore the ideas in the course.  Don’t worry that the video might not be good enough, or that the activity seems strange.  Just start exploring and recording.  The goal is that you will develop new skills and enhance any you already have.  It is about growth, not perfection.

If you need help, don’t hesitate to contact your teacher or the actor mentor supporting this course.

Grades 

Clicking on the Grades button will show you the assignments in this course.  As you work through the course, it will show you your marks at any point in time.  Your final mark will be based on the following weighting:

Assignments – 65%

Discussions – 10%

Quizzes – 25%