Teaching Resources

DramaWorks produces a range of Teaching Drama Resources for Schools and Colleges…

Click on the title of any resource for details of content and to view extracts.

All Teaching Resources are available for purchase/download online or as printed, hard copies, with additional Posting and Packing charges (see downloadable order form).

The Practitioners Through Practice Series

• Comprise a full term’s work, with suggestions as to how to take the work further;
• Contain separate sections with clear explanations, interspersed with a number of practical exercises designed to test or prove the theories. No section or theory is without practical exploration.
• Contain in their introductions reminders or ‘hooks’ from which the theories hang, so that teachers can state briefly at the start of the course what the practitioner stands for and the recognisable features of his style. All these features are then explored in greater detail, through practical work, in a logical order for study and with a view to clarifying and demystifying the practitioner’s own theories.
• Apply the theories to a number of texts;
• Cost – Now Only £40!

The Drama Plans series

• Are a complete year’s lesson plans;
• Are aimed at one hour sessions but with in-built provision for both longer and shorter periods;
• Are designed to be a complete 3-year preparation for drama as a GCSE subject;
• Are geared towards performance as well as the building of confidence and social skills;
• Cost – Now Only £40!

The Styletasters series

• Include relevant background and influences on each practitioner;
• Practitioners within the series include Stanislavski, Artaud, Grotowski, Brecht, Boal, Brook, Laban and Lecoq.
• Explain theories clearly;
• Are the same level as the ‘Through Practice’ files but less detailed;
• Do not repeat exercises for the ‘Through Practice’ series;
• Cost – Now Only £40!

Exploring Theatre: Knee-high

• Includes details of the company’s history and development;
• Is approached, as always, through practical experimentation;
• Covers all the ‘ingredients’ that are Kneehigh’s key elements.

Devising Skills

• Covers all aspects including audience and staging options;
• Is designed to be used for both GCSE and 6th Form level studies;
• Contains a lot of preliminary work that should be tackled well before beginning a devising module;
• Cost – Now Only £40!

The Plays Through Practice

• Work through the whole text in a practical manner;
• Explore the potential of many different interpretations;
• Include exercises for direction and design skills as well as those for actors;
• Include carefully researched background;
• Include, where necessary, preliminary practical work before beginning the text;
• Cost – Now Only £40!

Approaches to Unseen Text

• Introduce students to a wide range of nineteenth and twentieth century texts;
• Cover work on these texts for would-be actors, directors and designers;
• Tie in texts to the work of practitioners and current theatre styles;
• Encourage a visual and practical approach to all theatre scripts;
• Are useful as an introduction to theatre styles and the problems confronting actors, directors and designers following any syllabus;
• Cost – Now Only £40!

Understanding Drama

• Covers the span of theatre history from the Greek to modern times;
• Blends information and practical work, including on textual examples throughout;
• Seeks to teach students about the conditions and acting style of each particular period through practical work;
• Shows the development of theatre buildings and stage shapes, as well as scenery, lighting, etc.;
• Shows the development of features like masks, the use of a chorus, clowning, etc.;
• Traces the development of the various styles of comedy and tragedy, of naturalism, narrative and epic theatre, and visual or physical theatre;
• Cost – Now Only £40!

The Basics: The Building Blocks of Examination Drama

• Quickly ensures that students with mixed experience achieve the same platform of skills and knowledge;
• Can be used for Key Stages 4 & 5;
• Encourages a class to work together as a team;
• Prepares for improvisation, devising and textural work;
• Cost – Now Only £40!

Exploring Physical Theatre

• Aims to demystify and make accessible the world of physical theatre;
• Traces the twentieth century development of physical theatre through Michael Chekhov, Meyerhold, Jacques LeCoq and others;
• Details other influences such as commedia and clowning;
• Explores the practical uses of physical theatre for devising as well as for general classwork;
• Explores all practitioners and ideas practically and in an accessible way for students;
• Cost – Now Only £40!

Genre, Style, Context

• Clearly defines these terms;
• Uses practical exercises to explore each one;
• Shows practically how alterations in style or context impact on the genre of a play;
• Increases the understanding of the creative roles of directors and designers.

Reviewing Plays

• Has an easy to follow, practical approach;
• Has carefully stepped exercises to hone observational and analytical skills;
• Builds up the visual and descriptive vocabulary of the reviewer.

Performing Text

Performing Text is a step by step student-orientated manual of how to go about taking on a role from first reading to last rehearsals. Though it references Stanislavski and Max Stafford-Clark for specific parts of this process, it is applied to any style of play. The work progresses from the first stages of HOW to read and what to look for in the text, moves on to showing how to move from the intellectual process of understanding a character to physicalising it and then shows how to explore the text through speech. Emphasis is always on remaining open and playful, not fixing things too soon, and on group collaboration throughout, including with designers.

More About the Resources

• All Teaching Resources are available for purchase/download online;
• All Resources are available as printed, hard copies, with additional Posting and Packing charges (see downloadable order form);
• All DramaWorks Teaching Resources are copyright to Jeni Whittaker;
• Photocopying of materials is permitted for students within the the buyer’s institution;