Drama
Subject Leader (Drama) - Mrs L Rhodes
At Moulsham, Drama is delivered by an experienced team of specialists. We feel very strongly about the power and immediacy of drama and theatre and its ability to engage young people, teach valuable life skills, and be an essential and integral part of our vision to Enjoy, Enrich and Achieve.
The members of the Drama team are the innovators, always striving to find new, engaging, practical, challenging and fun ways to deliver the curriculum. We like to balance historical and traditional elements with modern theatrical practices – all KS3 students explore a range of topics including; Greek theatre, Anne Frank, and the work of Frantic Assembly. Each year group will also study a play text where they consider themes and performance techniques. Our range of work at KS3 is aimed at developing student’s collaborative learning skills and building skills in preparation for GCSE Drama.
Drama is delivered in our dedicated drama spaces, including our specialist black box studio where lighting and sound are at ground level and students are encouraged to make use of the facilities. Our second drama space is a modern, well-lit studio, perfect for group rehearsals. Students are encouraged to use this facility before school, break time, lunchtime, and after school. Other resources include digital projectors, professional masks for Trestle and Commedia Dell’Arte work, a portable lighting rig for small scale performances around the site, a library of plays and textbooks within the department and a growing collection of plays and theory on DVD in the school library.
Throughout a student’s life at Moulsham there are many opportunities outside of lessons to become part of Team Drama. Our weekly clubs and activities include;
- Drama Clubs (Year 7 and Year 8-11) where students rehearse short plays, create devised pieces, or rehearse/create a series of sketches, ready for our performance evenings
- Musical Theatre Club (Years 7-11) where students can combine acting, singing, and dancing to create whole group pieces, and independently choose their favourite songs to sing and choreograph with friends for the performance evenings.
- Technical Club where students learn vital skills that enable their success as technical practitioners. These include; lighting, sound, special fx, and set building. These students not only run the technical aspects for the performance evenings and whole school production, but also learn technical skills ready to develop further for GCSE Drama if they desire. This club is led voluntarily by the director of 1159 Productions and runs every two weeks.
We aim for our clubs to be inclusive, where students make decisions about what they create and have ownership over the work.
- The Whole School Production is a collaboration between Drama, Music, Art, and 1159 Productions with a focus on giving students an experience they will never forget. Productions cover a wide range of musicals where there is something for everyone. Past productions include; Oliver, Guys & Dolls, Bugsy Malone, We Will Rock You, Grease, The Wizard of Oz, Les Miserable, School of Rock and, most recently, Joseph.
As part of our extracurricular programme we are always looking to develop individual skills, therefore we support and encourage our older students to direct/co-direct, choreograph, and help manage clubs and productions with the support and guidance of staff.
One of the most important aspects of our curriculum and extracurricular activities is collaborative learning, which helps develop confidence and individuality.
- The Drama Surgery is a name given to our daily rehearsal session. Students in all years are often set homework to rehearse for performance assessments. We open the Drama space every lunchtime and these sessions are supervised by staff and A‘level Drama students who offer support.
- Exam Presentation Evenings are an essential element of the GCSE and A’level courses. The sharing of exam pieces with parents and friends before the final assessment provides performers with invaluable audience feedback and inspiration for students wishing to take GCSE or A’level Drama.
Useful websites to visit