Year 8 Melodrama: Lesson 1

Transcription

1 Year 8 Melodrama: Lesson 1 Aims: To establish understanding of what melodrama is and learn some basic facts about it. To begin to understand the dramatic style of this form of theatre. Student notebooks Teachers notes H/W sheets Stereotype cards 5 Explain that this half term s work will be on melodrama. Explain why this is what will be studied, bringing in some of the aims of the unit. Theory: Write notes onto board for students to copy, using teachers notes. Explain and elaborate. Ask for student input does anyone know anything about melodrama? Has anyone ever heard the word melodramatic? 5 Explain that characters in melodrama are usually based on stereotype. Discuss what this means. H/W Organise students into groups of 4. Give each group 2 stereotype cards. Students create a tableau for each card, showing stereotypical behaviour of people shown. Each group quickly shows tableaux Plenary: Discussion & feedback what has been learned today. Complete sheet on melodrama

2 Year 8 Melodrama: Lesson 3 Aims: To experiment with sound effects To understand how SFX can contribute to a performance To understand how music can contribute to a performance Tape/CD of music Story 5 Rainforest noise picture 5 Explain that melodrama relied heavily on effects and music. Explain that one of the reasons melodrama died out was that theatre managers had to come up with better and better effects to outdo each other and attract audiences. Inevitably, they ran out of ideas. Tell stealing thunder story Ask why music is used in Drama (think particularly about film) Play music selection. Students write down what each piece of music makes them think or feel, or what sort of Drama it might accompany. Discuss Main Activity 3: Explain that creating SFX these days is a very technical process, but that when melodrama was popular, certain technology was not available, and therefore had to be created in a more simple and man-made way. Organise students into groups. Give out copy of story. Students must create a performance with SFX, created any way they can, of the story one student to read, others to do effects. Perform stories 5 Plenary:

3 Year 8 Melodrama: Lesson 4 Aims: To use scripts of original melodramas to enhance understanding of the style and language of this type of drama. Lines from melodrama (lesson 2) Scripts of Sweeney Todd Recap what we ve learned so far record on board. Remind students of melodramatic acting style. Ask for volunteers to read/act stock lines from lesson 2. Give out student sheets. Explain story of Sweeney Todd As a class, read through script extract. Main Activity 3: Divide students into groups of 2 or 3. Allocate sections of script to groups. Students rehearse, aiming to use correct style. Select groups to perform 5 Plenary:

4 Year 8 Melodrama: Lesson 5 Aims: To explore the contemporary sources for melodrama. Maria Marten s story Newspaper story from time Explain that, often, melodramas were based on true stories mention that Sweeney Todd has become a London legend. Tell story of Maria Marten (see teachers notes) Ask why this would be suitable for a melodrama. Explain that the story was changed slightly to fit in with melodrama conventions Maria was changed into a typical heroine an innocent victim of William Corder s evil ways. Explain that we re going to look at some material actually written at the time of the murder. As a class, read through newspaper story extracts, and discuss. Organise students into small groups. Task is to create a TV news report of the story discuss how this can be done groups could have reporters, interview, a reconstruction etc. Select groups to perform 5 Plenary:

5 Year 8 Melodrama: Lesson 6 Aims: End of unit assessment. Scripts of melodrama Maria Marten. 25 Explain that today s lesson will be a chance for students to prove what they have learned during the unit. Allocate groups, give out scripts and explain task to create a performance of the extract, using the appropriate acting style, making the stock characters clear, and following the conventions of melodrama learned so far. Students get into allocated groups, discuss and rehearse script extracts. Watch and assess performances 5 Plenary:. Encourage self-evaluation from all groups.