Physical theatre and ways to begin devising, inspired by Frantic Assembly

What is physical theatre? How can students be encouraged to work more physically, embracing different practitioner’s approaches, as well as discovering their own physical theatrical language? How can existing or devised text be combined with highly physical theatre styles? These questions are addressed in this scheme which works best for KS5. While it is intended for drama students, students with dance skills will also benefit. Frantic Assembly’s ideas and exercises are embedded throughout. This scheme could therefore be useful to students as an introduction to Frantic as inspirational theatre practitioners, or for devising their own work. The lessons could lead to work on an extended piece or remain as a series of workshops with smaller performance outcomes.

Learning objectives
By the end of this scheme all students will:

• Have developed their understanding of what physical theatre is
• Have developed their ability to work physically in drama
• Have developed their ability to devise their own original work for performance
• Have developed their understanding of theatre practitioners Frantic Assembly
• Have developed their ability to use text alongside physical theatre.

By the end of this scheme some students will:

• Have developed their characterisation in performance skills
• Have developed their ability to work using physical theatre and non-naturalistic drama techniques incorporating complex lifts.