West Side Story

West Side Story (and, to a small extent, Romeo and Juliet) to introduce students to non-verbal communication skills. It also helps to prepare students for GCSE drama. While not all students will opt for drama 14–19, the skills of textual analysis and interpretation developed throughout the scheme will prove useful for the speaking and listening tasks in GCSE English, while the communication skills addressed will benefit students in general. The scheme lasts for six weeks (working on the assumption of one drama lesson a week, each lasting an hour). It has proved popular with both boys and girls, which has manifested itself in healthy numbers signing up to drama at GCSE.

Key terms:
Invite students to jot down new key terms encountered throughout the scheme and their definitions. Because drama lessons are on the timetable once a week and, in some cases, once a fortnight, a new key terms vocabulary book is particularly useful. It can also be used to herald the onset of GCSE.

Learning objectives:

• To explore and examine how eye contact can be used to create meaning (subtext) and conflict in drama
• To learn some Stanislavskian terms (‘the given circumstances’, ‘motivation’ and ‘subtext’) and see how eye contact and body language can be used to convey a character’s motivation
• To explore and examine how eye contact can be used to create meaning (subtext) and conflict in drama
• To introduce students to some basic stage-fighting rules: self discipline,focus and control
• To see how the techniques explored in the previous lessons can be used in an extract from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
• To develop spontaneous improvisation strategies which will help students feel better equipped to deal with situations that require them to think on the spot

Number of lessons: 6