Theatre Unit Plan

Course: Theatre Arts 2200

Teacher: Jackie Dawe

Unit: Popular Theatre

1. Purpose:

The purpose of the Popular Theatre unit is for the students to discover, respond (emotionally, reflectively, creatively and imaginatively), and value their own experiences and others. Popular Theatre introduces students to various theatre games, exercises, and techniques. More importantly, it provides self-understanding and the basis for personal values. Students will discover how much information lies in their own backyard (communities, house-holds, school, media, etc.), as well as how to turn this information into a play. Students will be able to share their experiences, responses, and values with the class, as they study their research, through written, oral, and enacted forms.

2. Goals:

Goals involved in the popular theatre unit are:


• understanding of popular theatre and give a definition with examples.
  
  
• understanding of various popular theatre troupes and their plays (Theatre Passe Muraille- Canadian troupe - The Farm Show, and a Papua, New Guinea troupe)
  
  
• understanding of the term "theatre of the oppressed" and be able to apply it to their own experiences.
  
  
• understanding of the works of Augusto Boal (His theatre games, exercises, and techniques.)
  
  
• students will be able to lead and participate in several theatre games and exercises.
  
  
• students will be able to express and share ideas freely and safely.
  
  
• students will be able to work in groups.
  
  
• students will be able to participate in brainstorming activities.
  
  
• students will be able to decipher the main points of an article (journal, chapter in a text book, newspaper, survey, etc.), video, personal interview, and statistical information, and share the selected points with the class.
  
  
• students will be able to narrow all of their acquired information down to one major topic area.
  
  
• students will be able to build a play from the information they found in the research and sharing stages.
  
  
• students will be able to collectively script, workshop, design, and direct their play.
  

3. Context:

The popular theatre unit will take place over approximately sixteen weeks. With 3 classes a week at 60 minutes each, the unit will cover 48 classes (48 hours). The unit will include:


• elements of popular theatre.
  
• personal (students) experiences.
  
• research of community, families, friends, media, and text books.
  
• background of popular theatre and many examples.
  
• works of Augusto Boal (games, exercises, and techniques).
  
• written, oral, and enacted activities.
  
• development of a student collective play.
  

4. Sequence:

Class number:

1. Intro to the Popular Theatre Unit.
   
2. Intro to Popular Theatre (Theatre of the oppressed).
   
3. Show The Farm Show video.
   
4. Discuss The Farm Show video.
   
5. Show New Guinea troupe video and discuss.
   
6. Start discussing the theatre of the oppressed in terms of how we (the students and community) might be oppressed.
   
7. Further discussion and examination of ideas written down the day before.
   
8. Pick some areas of focus and interest and assign people to the various topics (either groups or individuals is fine).
   
9. Discuss the various options for researching the areas of interest, and start initial research.
   
10. Start demonstrations, through exercises and games, of ways to share information (Introducing Augusto Boal).
    
11. Continue games and exercises which help the students to pick the most important elements of an article, video, personal interview, and statistical information, and share them with the class.
    
12. Continue games and exercises.
    
13. Students give an update on the research they have done to date through presentations they have prepared (they can use anyone in the class that they need-in other words, using the techniques taught in class 10,11, and 12).
    
14. Continue with student presentations of research.
    
15. Continue with student presentations of research.
    
16. Decide on what initial information we wish to pursue further and which is no longer relevant. Start rough structure of the play (what topics we will cover in the play or what themes/issues).
    
17. Continue with roughing out the structure of the play collectively.
    
18. Discuss what types of groups need to be formed at this point (i.e.public relations, fundraising, administration, technical, props and costumes, etc.), and have people sign up for the group they are most interested in.
    
19. Introduce new games and exercises to help students share their research later on.
    
20. Continue with games and exercises.
    
21. Continue with games and exercises.
    
22. Sharing of researched information through exercises and games.
    
23. Sharing of researched information through exercises and games.
    
24. Sharing of researched information through exercises and games.
    
25. Sharing of researched information through exercises and games.
    
26. Have meeting to evaluate the relativity of the material being presented to the play. Decide what stays and what goes, what needs further probing, and if there is anything that we over looked.
    
27. Do up the tentative order of the show ( a beginning, middle, and end).
    
28. Get the students to start scripting the areas they are responsible for (could write a song, do a monologue, a stylized skit, etc.).
    
29. Have meeting with the various committees/groups to see how they are progressing, as well as a mini production meeting.
    
30. Students keep presenting their pieces in class so editing and changes can continue to be made collectively.
    
31. Students presenting their pieces (if there are any songs or choreography they can be rehearsed during these times as well).
    
32. Student presentations continue.
    
33. Finishing touches on scripts so everyone can get a copy and start learning the lines that they don't already know.
    
34. Start running the scenes in the sequence they will be in the show (i.e. we might get the opening song, the first two scenes, and the transitions done).
    
35. Continue working where we left off last class.
    
36. Continue working the scenes till the end of show.
    
37. Have meeting with cast and committees/groups. Make final decisions on props, set, costumes, and lights. Also decide if anything needs to be changed in the script.
    
38. Have a run of the first half of the show.
    
39. Have a run of the second half of the show.
    
40. Rehearse show.
    
41. Rehearse show.
    
42. Try to run the whole show from start to finish.
    
43. Rehearse show with all props.
    
44. Rehearse show with all props.
    
45. Rehearse show with set, props, and costumes.
    
46. Rehearse show with set, props, and costumes.
    
47. Full company technical rehearsal.
    
48. Full company dress rehearsal.
    
49. Post mortem.
    

5. Procedures:

Many different procedures (methods) will be used throughout this unit. They are:


Lectures In-class discussions Group work Watching Videos Interviewing people outside of class Brainstorming Role playing Written work Question and answer periods Sharing personal experiences with the class

Oral presentations Enacted presentations Assignments/Projects In-class demonstrations and examples Images, articles, and poems Scripting Improv Researching (textbooks, community, etc.) A variety of theatre games and exercises Rehearsals

6. Materials:

• Texts:
  
  1. The Farm Show by Theatre Passe Muraille.
     
  2. Games for Actors and Non-Actors by Augusto Boal.
     
  3. Theater of the Oppressed by Augusto Boal.
     
  4. Numerous other texts that will depend on the subject matter of the play to be developed. This will be determined within the first week or two by the students and myself collectively.
     
• Handouts (outlines, researching techniques, etc.)
  
• Videos (The Making of The Farm Show, Popular Theatre in New Guinea, and homemade videos by the students)
  
• Masks
  
• Images (posters, photos, magazine clippings, etc.)
  
• Large sheets of paper
  
• Markers
  
• Overheads (projector and transparencies)
  
• Video camera (and blank tapes)
  
• Various props and costumes
  
• Various materials for creating the set
  
• Musical instruments
  
• Tape recorder/player (and blank tapes)
  
• Minimal lighting and sound equipment
  
• My own notes (university, etc.)
  
• Examples I have prepared for class (written, oral, pictorial, audio-visual, enacted, masks, etc.)
  
• VCR and television
  
• Chalk and chalk board
  
• Group, student(self), and teacher(self) evaluation sheets
  
• Masking tape
  

7. Culminating Activity:

The culminating activity for this unit is the major unit project worth 40% of the unit mark. This is assigned in the very first class of the unit, so students know what is expected of them right away. The whole unit centers around this culminating activity. Everything we will do in class relates to some element of the project. Thus, helping the students create the final product. This project requires the students to work collectively to develop their own play. They do this through learning about Popular Theatre ( and theatre of the oppressed), performing numerous types of research, and doing lots of work. The nice thing about this project is that the students get to perform a play about something that interests and relates to them. They also collectively create the play. The emphasis is not so much on the final product, but more on the whole process. There is also a lot of room for the students to do their own work throughout the unit. They will have to perform the show at the end of the unit, in a venue that is suitable to the type of play they develop. This play will emerge as a result of the work done throughout the unit.

8. Evaluation:

1) Student Evaluation:

1 Major Project (collectively created play)	40%
Journal	10%
Homework/Preparation for class (Research)	10%
Attendance	5%
Participation/Attitude (Games, Exercises, and Project)	15%
In-class Work (written, oral, and enacted)	10%
Group Work: a) Peer Evaluation	5%
b) Self Evaluation	5%
Total:	100%

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The teacher will have to monitor and assess the students work on an ongoing basis. This will ensure that the students get the feedback on their work needed to improve and develop their theatre skills throughout the unit. This will also allow students to be evaluated individually, eventhough a lot of the work is done collectively. Having such a varied evaluation also enables students to excel in their area of interest. Weight is given to all aspects of learning, providing many opportunities for students to succeed. This encourages students to get involved and think more creatively. Hopefully, this type of evaluation will give them a more "well - rounded" knowledge of the unit.

2) Teacher Evaluation:

I will evaluate myself after every class throughout the unit. Attached to every daily lesson plan there will be a self-evaluation sheet with eleven questions on it. Using the daily lesson plan as a reference, I will jot down answers to the questions. This will help me to improve my teaching by recognizing the things that worked, and did not work, that day. At the end of the unit I can make and overall self-evaluation based on these daily sheets.