Drama

Drama plays an important part in the school curriculum as it increases a pupil’s confidence and helps them to explore their feelings and express ideas through theatre productions. Drama is a timetabled subject in years 7, 8 and 9. In each year, pupils study an aspect of the history of theatre, a Shakespeare play, scripted and unscripted work. The emphasis is on performance and enjoyment and practical skills are combined with written work to prepare them for GCSE.

The Drama Department aims to:-

• help pupils gain an understanding of values and the communication of ideas
• increase a pupil’s confidence, creativity and knowledge and understanding of drama forms
• encourage pupils to create performances and work as part of a team
• develop opportunities for leadership and develop a lasting enjoyment of drama
• promote each pupil’s knowledge of drama in a social, historical and cultural context.

Curriculum

Year 7

Students focus on creating characters and presenting themselves confidently on stage. They study Greek Theatre and the course culminates in a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which the whole year group participates.

Year 8

Students work on improvisation, the acting space and stage layout, narration and fables, poetry and choral speaking. They study Victorian melodrama and look at the difference between naturalistic and non-naturalistic theatre. Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night is studied and produced.

Year 9

Students work on structuring a dramatic sequence and creating tension; analysing and performing monologues; performing scripted non-naturalistic excerpts from a variety of plays. They explore and perform the Shakespeare play for the English SATS paper, currently The Tempest. Mask work is in the context of Commedia dell’Arte.

GCSE Drama

Between a third and a half of the year group take GCSE Drama. The school follows the AQA specification, which is equally weighted for performance and written work, providing an academically rigorous yet practical course. Frequent theatre visits and student performances are an integral part of the course.

Extra Curricular Activities

There is always an opportunity for any pupil in any year group to take part in a performance. Year 7 pupils stage a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the end of the year, and there are frequent Performing Arts Evenings to which pupils may contribute all manner of sketches, monologues, group or individual, serious and comic pieces. This year, Year 9 staged a full-scale performance of The Tempest in the first half of the spring term. GCSE drama students give regular performances of work in progress in addition to their assessed examination work.

Theatre Visits and Workshops

The Drama and English departments work together to provide a busy programme of visits by theatre companies to the school and trips to local and London theatres for all year groups. Recent performances by visiting theatre companies have included: The Little Matchstick Girl, The Tempest, The Red Room and The Tell-Tale Heart. Students have been to see: Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre, The Importance of being Earnest at The Wyndhams and The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre. Trestle Theatre Company provides an annual workshop using masks and mime, which is followed up in lessons with our own sets of masks. The Young Shakespeare Company provides workshops on The Tempest and The Black Cat Theatre company work with GCSE students on An Inspector Calls and other texts.

Outside School and post - GCSE

Many pupils at PGHS perform with theatre groups outside the school. Recently, several of our pupils participated in Chickenshed’s A Christmas Carol, where the school arranged for Year 8 pupils to see the performance.

Speech & Drama

In addition to timetabled Drama lessons, girls can opt to take part in group Speech & Drama sessions as an extra activity at lunchtime or after school. Each group works towards a LAMDA exam in the Summer Term.

Exam Results

The Drama Department achieves excellent GCSE results with 100% achieving A*- B grades in 2011 with 89% attaining A*/A grades. Many GCSE drama students go on to take Theatre Studies at A level.