DRAMA DEPARTMENT
Aims:Drama lessons offer an opportunity for students to discover the nature of drama as an art form and to discover that they too are creative beings who can use that art form. The drama department aims to provide all students with a safe context in which to explore issues and emotions. It offers them the ability to analyse and interact in ways which benefit them in all areas of school and beyond, such as confidence building, empathising with others’ needs, learning to be tolerant of people’s differences, public speaking, understanding a whole range of emotions and how these can be expressed and put into context. Drama lessons and clubs allow children to explore attitudes towards bullying, racism and intolerance within a safe environment, thereby promoting inclusion and the benefits of a multi-cultural society. The drama department aims to create an atmosphere where everyone feels confident to show their work, as all are encouraged to be fully supportive of others so that those sharing their work feel confident and at ease in the knowledge that their audience have had instilled in them the responsibility to watch and listen with total concentration. Every student is encouraged to constructively evaluate their own and each other’s work. Thus, through drama, students are able to grow in confidence and understanding about the world in which they live and the needs of others.
We aim to enable each girl to be:
- imaginative and original when creating drama
- confident, focused and expressive when sharing their work with others whether in class or in a performance
- sympathetic, considerate and appreciative towards the works of others when watching drama in class or in a theatre
- perceptive and analytical in their appreciation of how others create stimulating and effective drama
All lessons are taught by Deborah Sparkes, BA Hons. Drama, Bristol University (2:1) and Postgraduate Diploma in Acting, (Distinction and scholarship) Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
Miss Rosie Drew – Private Speech and Drama Lessons.
Accommodation & ResourcesDrama lessons are held in the Drama Studio; a large flexible playing space with lighting grid, blackout facilities, a mirror covered wall at one end providing opportunities for students to assess their progress in dance and mime and easily adaptable rostra which students can rearrange themselves to experiment with levels and conveying a sense of varying scene and location. Performances such as GCSE Drama Unit Three and the Year Eight Drama Competition also take place here as it provides an intimate atmosphere with the added advantage of flexibility regarding audience position. Consequently, students are able to experiment with audience in the round, thrust, arena or traverse staging.
Performances such as the Christmas musical and Towers Performing Arts Evening are held in the Gym where there is a proscenium arch stage and rostra as large numbers of parents need to be accommodated. This space gives students the opportunity to experience performing in a larger auditorium with the added necessity for greater voice projection.
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Towers Convent School
