This is a course for English learners seeking to develop their English language skills alongside dramatic writing and performance skills. The course culminates in a dramatic performance of a play written by the students themselves.
Level: B1 or above
Course Content:
- Setting the scene
- Creating Characters
- Developing the plot
- Writing dialogues
- Staging
Duration of the course: 1-4 weeks depending on the availability of the group
Introduction: Types of play:
Example: ten-minutes play: compact play, with a beginning, middle and end. It typically takes place in one scene and runs no more than ten pages. Other types of play: one-act plays, full-length plays, musicals
Story Structure:
Scenes or Acts: Virtually all plays divide into three-act structure
1) Exposition
2) Complication
3) Resolution
Story Development
Outlining and breaking down the elements of a story:
1) Create a context
2) Write a conflict: plan the beginning, middle and end of the play
3) Create characters: express their desires and conflicts
4) Create ticking clock (example: giving a speedy resolution to a conflict)
5) Write a dialogue that moves the plot forwards
Manuscript Format Elements
1) Title Page
2) Cast page
3) Act/Scene Heading
4) A stage direction at the beginning of an act or a scene that describes what is on stage at rise of the curtain,
5) Characters name
6) Dialogue
7) Stage direction
Performing on the stage