Process Drama IDEAS

Process Drama – The Swaying Mic of Tension

Focus:
Dramatic Element of tension and how you build it

Stimulus:
A microphone stand with the microphone dangling tediously by its lead like a hung corpse

Lesson 1 – The ingredients for tension
To create tension there are two factors we need; the characters and I conflict between them. In this first lesson focus on these to elements and their relationships with the knowledge that in the reflection you can talk about these ingredients need to be developed to create real tension.

To get started, if possible, see if you can recreate the stimulus in the classroom. If you don’t have access to a microphone and equipment then use the attached image. Have the students enter the classroom with the microphone swaying, fallen off its clip.

Warm Up and bring them to focus
Get the students to form a circle around the microphone or the image placed on the floor and do the point of focus exercise. Ask them to close their eyes take three deep, controlled breaths and then slowly open there eyes and focus on and point in that circle they desire. Ask them to look hard and this point and to focus on nothing else but their continued deep, controlled breaths. Tell them if they fatigue or their mind wanders just to slowly close their eyes, take a deep, controlled breath and then find their focal point again

Intro of stimulus – Freeze Frame
After a few minutes and only continuing when the students are all properly focused start to question them rhetorically about the microphone, what its doing, why its there, who left it there, what situation lead to this microphone, a valuable piece of equipment, to be left in such a precarious position. Then ask them to agree on the number of people who were present just before the microphone fell. This needs to be at least two or more people. Though you want the students to decide, keep in mind the realistic and logistical limits or having too many people and if need be guide the students to keep the number reasonable. You could do this by having them justify each person’s reason for being in the room as the microphone fell. Once they have chosen how many people break them into groups of that size to create the freeze frame just before the microphone fell.

Intro of characters – Teacher in Role
Before the teacher moves into becoming the characters get the students to give each character in the freeze frame a name and a gender. Then the teacher assumes the role of each character allowing the students to question them about anything they like but on the one proviso that they make no reference to the situation taking place in the freeze frame. Go through each character until the students feel like they know them well enough or have nothing further to ask. If they would like to the students may create character profiles to refer back to.

Intro of conflict – Small group improvisation
Moving back into the freeze frame and on the teachers call get the students to do an improvisation lasting as longer and they feel correct. All the groups should go at the same time so as to keep their work authentic to their own perception. Once they’re finished insist that they don’t talk until all are finished and then get them to do it again twice identifying and then intensifying the conflict in their improvisation.

Development of relationships – Role on the Wall
Now the students have acted out and know the situation that has take place, bring all the students back into the circle and do this exercise with just one set of characters. In the inside ask the students to place feelings and thoughts of that character relating them firstly themselves and then about the others in the drama. Once a sufficient amount has been collected then ask the to write on the outside of the characters’ outline how these feelings are being portrayed by the character; i.e. if character one is feeling hurt by character two, his/her reaction might be to no longer talk to character two or say mean things behind character two’s back etc. Hang these on the wall so the students call refer to them at anytime

Lesson 2 – Creating the tension
Now that the ingredients for tension have been developed and the students feel familiar with these ingredients we can set about creating the tension itself.

Create tension – Overheard Conversations
After reviewing and refreshing the last class jump back in time to an hour, a day, a week, a month or term before the freeze frame turned improvisation scene took place. In small groups ask the students to think of friends or relatives etc. that are not in the scene and create a small conversations they had about those in the scene that hints that the conflict is already brewing. Each group can chose how far back in time they want to go, how they are related to the characters and also the degree in which they hint to the conflict to come.

Climax – Writing in Role
Come back now to the point of conflict and ask the students to now knowing what they know write a short letter (as the character they played in their improvisation) to each of the other characters in the scene telling them exactly what they think and feel about that other character with the knowledge that the character they are writing to won’t hear the true thoughts that are being put on the page. Then get each of the groups up and have each character read the letters aloud so that the character they were actually writing about hears it. For this part a bit of deception or withholding of the whole true may be necessary so as to get the students writing as if they can say anything they want about another character and they won’t hear it…then when they actually do have to tell the other character true thoughts are being revealed and no character is holding back, thus creating a real climax.

Downfall – Decision / Conscience Alley
Time to send each character down conscience alley. This can either be the teacher as the characters or you can send all the students who played the one character down at a time i.e. all those students who played character one go down the alley and all hear what the others have to say about what they said in their letters.

Resolution – Freeze Frame
Now go forward an hour, a day, a week or a month or term and get the students to do a quick freeze frame of the reconciliation of all the characters and the resolution of the tension. Again each group can chose how far back in time they want to go, how they are related to the characters and also the degree in which they hint to the conflict to come.

Reflection – General Discussion
Sit round in the circle and again and discuss what the students gained from the process and then inform them about how the development of the ‘ingredients’ in the first lesson lead to the strengthening and true nature of the tension that ended up creating in the second.

References
To find more detail on how to carry out the activities in a general sense see the following

Cremin, T. ‘Drama conventions to structure and develop drama’, Drama in Key Stage One and Two, http://www.ite.org.uk/ite_topics/drama_at_KS1-2/027.php, Canterbury Christ Church University