GCSE

1Teaching Drama · Summer term 1 · 2015/16www.teaching-drama.co.uk

HomelessnessRhianna ElsdenGCSE

IntroductionThis scheme uses different stimuli connected to the topic of homelessness enabling students to develop their skills in devising. This would fulfil many different GCSE specifications (both current and up-coming) that require the development of original devised work. The scheme could also be adapted for A level devising units, and some lessons could be made to suit KS3 as well.

Students will not only develop devising techniques and skills, they will develop a great many social skills as well. They will also discover more about some key devising theatre companies in operation today which may inspire them to see work by the companies or to use their techniques again in the future. There are also opportunities to work with scripts which could be extended if desired. There are many moments of discussion developing students’ social, political and cultural awareness as well.

Learning objectivesBy the end of this scheme all students will:

f Have developed their understanding of what devised theatre is f Have developed their ability to work cooperatively in groups within drama f Have developed their ability to use text alongside physical theatre f Have developed their mime, chorus/ensemble skills f Have developed their ability to create imaginative original work from given stimuli

f Have developed their understanding of theatre companies that produce devised theatre pieces and some of the techniques for developing work

f Have developed their understanding of issues within the topic of homelessness.

By the end of this scheme some students will: f Have developed their characterisation in performance skills f Have developed their script writing skills f Have developed their ability to interpret meaning and characterisation from a script

f Have improved their ability to research material independently in order to develop devised performance outcomes.

Lesson 1: Introducing the topic and beginning to devise from given stimuliLearning objectivesBy the end of the lesson students will have learnt:

f How to begin to work from stimuli to produce short imaginative performance outcomes

f How to work collaboratively with others in discussion and practical work f How to develop performance skills – aural and physical f How to interpret script extracts.

Starter (20 mins)Students enter the room where a pile of ‘rubbish’ has been set up. Ensure that within the pile there are items that could provoke discussion, maybe an old toy, a shoe, an empty bottle of alcohol of some sort, plus general rubbish. Make the pile such that it could deliberately misdirect them; i.e. not just an obvious ‘this work is about being homeless’.

Allow students a moment to view the pile, maybe circling it, but not touching it.

Resources f PowerPoint (included in the

Resources at the end of this scheme) f Internet access f Stone Cold by Joe Standerline, Robert

Swindells script: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=f5tFDQMnLHwC&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=Stone+Cold+script&source=bl&ots=gihcN47_0v&sig=8XjVZxz6vtebh4AK_bNcgqTeW_Y&hl= en&ei=hM8JSt7YGpHoMKX7xdkL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q=Stone%20Cold%20script&f=false

f Social experiment, boy begging video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CwCvpEMEJU

f Teenagers leaving home video: http://ytchannelembed.com/video.php?id=9m7WW0TF6b8&t

f Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett f ‘Homeless’ poem by Pete Marshall.

Rhianna Elsden has been a qualified teacher of drama for 14 years since graduating from Cambridge in 2002. She has worked in three state schools and extensively for Edexcel. She is currently a Head of Faculty and a Specialist Leader in Education. She is also a published playwright.

2Teaching Drama · Summer term 1 · 2015/16www.teaching-drama.co.uk

Scheme of work|GCSESee PowerPoint slide 2:

f Look at the pile of rubbish in front of you – what catches your eye? f Does it belong here? f What does it make you think about? f Do you have an emotional reaction to it?

Imagining that the pile is in the street/road, in pairs you are to create a stereotypical response to the pile from the viewpoint of one of the following:

f Two people aged 70+ f A pair of teenagers f Two police officers f Two council street cleaning operatives.

Students produce improvised dialogue and actions creating a mini-scene lasting for 1–2 mins max.

Rehearse for 2–5 mins then show the mini scenes without evaluating each one in turn; instead, when all have been shown, discuss the different responses, realism, characterisation and use of spoken language.

Ask: What do you think will be the focus of this scheme in terms of themes, social/political/cultural links?

Main activityUsing PowerPoint slide 3 and Scene 1 from the play text of Stone Cold, students are asked to stage the extract in groups. They can have more than 3 people in the group, in which case this would provide an opportunity for the passers-by to perhaps react/act without the constraint of the stage directions, but still in keeping with the action as described by the character of Link overall.

This is rehearsed and then shown in the second lesson.

Plenary f What skills have you begun to develop today? f What difficulties have you had to face today in respect of devising and working with a section of a script?

Students can be told that during the rehearsal they can’t touch the pile, but in the performance they can touch it if they feel it appropriate.

3Teaching Drama · Summer term 1 · 2015/16www.teaching-drama.co.uk

Scheme of work|GCSELesson 2: Devising material from a given stimuliLearning objectivesBy the end of the lesson students will have learnt:

f How to begin to work from stimuli to produce short imaginative performance outcomes

f How to work collaboratively with others in discussion and practical work f How to develop performance skills – aural and physical f How to interpret script extracts.

StarterIn the groups from Lesson 1, students re-rehearse the extract from PowerPoint slide 3.

Allow 5 minutes then show the work. Peer-assess the performances using PowerPoint slide 4.

Main activityReflecting on the situation Link describes and that he finds himself in, show PowerPoint slide 5. Use this to then generate a discussion about giving money to someone who is homeless.

In groups, write a sign that you feel would be effective to try and connect to passers-by if you were homeless. Each person is then given something that represents money (a pen, a piece of paper) and they must put it by one of the signs as a donation – no one can put the ‘money’ by their own sign.

Reflect on which sign connects most effectively (as demonstrated by the most donations), and why it was effective.

Then, back in own groups, develop a short scene in which we see Link and passers-by with a sign. Show the different reactions of the passers-by.

Rehearse, show and evaluate.

Plenary f What skills have you developed further today? f What difficulties have you had to face today in respect of devising? f Reflect on any development in your understanding of homelessness as topic.

This could be broadened into a discussion about why a homeless person might spend the money on drugs and not food. Whether this is their right or whether it is a ‘waste’ and whether the donator would feel disappointed if this was the outcome with their money could also be debated. Previous experience of giving/not giving to homeless people could be discussed, with the usual rules about respecting each other’s opinions.

Evaluations can be of the devising success, of the performances and indeed in terms of how sensitive/realistic the material developed was in connection to the developing topic.

Extension 1PowerPoint slide 6 has a link and questions to a YouTube clip that shows a social experiment of a child in New York on the streets begging and people passing by. This could provide another discussion opportunity.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CwCvpEMEJU

Extension 2: Invisible theatreStudents could be introduced to the concept of invisible theatre and the practitioner Boal. This could lead to an extension project in which the students develop an invisible theatre piece in order to raise awareness of the issues within homelessness.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_theater offers a starting point for exploring Invisible Theatre and there are many examples on the internet of companies and their projects.

Taking a devised piece of invisible theatre out of the classroom would need to be fully considered in terms of safeguarding. It could be something that connects the school to a local homeless charity and an awareness project developed between.

4Teaching Drama · Summer term 1 · 2015/16www.teaching-drama.co.uk

Scheme of work|GCSELesson 3: Devising non-naturalistic material from given stimuli connected to a topicLearning objectivesBy the end of the lesson students will have learnt:

f How to work from stimuli to produce short imaginative performance outcomes f How to work collaboratively with others in discussion and practical work f How to develop performance skills – aural and physical f How to develop choral/non-naturalistic responses to stimuli.

StarterUse PowerPoint slide 7. In groups, create an essence machine under the heading ‘Homeless’.

Reflect and discuss the movements, the use of spoken language.Then, continuing the exploration of the topic using non-naturalism, in groups

get into a symmetrical shape and produce a piece using 5–8 words connected to the topic ‘homelessness’. In the symmetrical formation, all perform the same movements and say the same word. Consider canon, repetition and unison in the structure.

Main activityUse PowerPoint slide 8 to engage students in beginning to consider the positive and negative reasons a person might leave home. Discuss the ideas.

Then PowerPoint slide 9 linked to the video http://ytchannelembed.com/video.php?id=9m7WW0TF6b8&t=Teenagers leaving video

The video provides an insight into the real stories of five teenagers forced to make themselves homeless and some of the dangers they have had to overcome.

Having watched the video and discussed it, in groups, students develop a flashback scene connected to one of the stories within the video. They mark the moment within their devised scene to show the highest point of tension.

PlenaryThe piece is evaluated considering characterisation, as is the use of marking the moment.

ExtensionIf seeking to show how non-naturalism can be useful in performance work connected to serious topics, an extract from Too much Punch for Judy or Hard to Swallow by Mark Wheeller could be explored.

If required, http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/drama/exploring/explorative_strategiesrev8.shtml provides a link to an explanation of the exploratory strategy, with examples of it in use.

5Teaching Drama · Summer term 1 · 2015/16www.teaching-drama.co.uk

Scheme of work|GCSELesson 4: Devising scripted material from a script extractLearning objectivesBy the end of the lesson students will have learnt:

f How to work from script extract stimuli to produce short imaginative performance outcomes

f How to work collaboratively with others in discussion and practical work f How to develop performance skills – aural and physical f How to develop characterisation f How to develop scriptwriting skills f How to interpret a writer’s style.

StarterUsing PowerPoint slide 10, students analyse the image. Discuss what it has to do with the overall topic. Discussions could then spiral to include consideration of ‘What defines being homeless?’ and ‘If you have a roof over your head, somewhere to stay, are you homeless?’

Main activityFor this, use PowerPoint slide 11, the extract of text from Waiting for Godot. As a class discuss the use of language, the likely age of the characters and what else they can learn from clues within the extract.

Students rehearse the extract, but not to show it for any formal or peer assessment, just to explore its style and the characters.

Then, in their pairs, develop the script on from what has already been given. No one else joins the two characters, it remains just them. See if, in developing the existing extract, they can match the style of language and the characters’ way of speaking and interacting with each other.

Write, rehearse and show within this lesson or the next lesson.

PlenaryAssess the success of the scripted pieces the students have developed. How well do they follow on from the existing extract? Is the dialogue in keeping with the original? Have stylistic patterns of the original dialogue been used to influence the students’ own writing? In performance, has the characterisation remained consistent between the existing and devised extract?

ExtensionRe-create the picture in slide 10 as a still image and add thought tracking to explore the emotions, characters and issues reflected within in

ExtensionStudents could work on further extracts from Waiting for Godot.

HomeworkWrite a monologue from the point of view of a homeless teenager. Try to connect with the various stimuli so far in creating the character and narrative. Learn the monologue for a performance in Lesson 5.

6Teaching Drama · Summer term 1 · 2015/16www.teaching-drama.co.uk

Scheme of work|GCSELesson 5: Performing devised monologuesLearning objectivesBy the end of the lesson students will have learnt:

f How to develop performance skills – aural and physical f How to develop characterisation f How to develop scriptwriting skills.

StarterStudents create their own criteria for assessing the monologues. This needs to focus on performance, but could also take into account the writing of the monologues as well.

In creating peer assessment criteria, students must engage with key terms associated with performance.

Main activityStudents are given a short amount of time to rehearse their monologue again.

The monologues are then performed in turn and the assessment criteria the students have developed are used to assess the performances. Development ideas as well as positive comments should be encouraged.

PlenaryEach student outlines the key learning that has taken place for them as an individual in the lesson. This could be from direct feedback given to them, or from something they’ve heard or seen in the lesson. It could be learning linked to performance skills or to do with the topic overall.

Lesson 6: Extended devised pieces from a stimulus – poemLearning objectivesBy the end of the lesson students will have learnt:

f How to develop performance skills – aural and physical f How to develop characterisation f How to develop extended performance material from given stimuli f How to structure devised performance work showing creativity and imagination in the choices

f How to structure devised performance work showing excellent collaboration skills when working in groups

f How to reflect on material devised for performance and to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses effectively, setting goals for improvement.

StarterUse PowerPoint slide 12. Read as a class and then discuss the poem in its themes, ideas, use of language, the questions it makes you ask, etc.

Main activityPowerPoint slide 13 outlines the task. For the part in red from the poem, have it as a mime, and then move it to a flashback scene to show ‘what went wrong’.

After the flashback, move to the present again and then show the final verse.Students need to find interesting and clear ways to show that the structure is

moving to a flashback.Their own text can be added onto what has already been written.The students rehearse and then show their work – either in the same lesson, or

extended across two lessons.

PlenaryThe work is evaluated verbally, or in a written homework, by each group using a set of evaluation questions. A suggested criteria can be found on PowerPoint slide 14.

The key words from the centre’s chosen assessment body should be used. Although this scheme is focussing on devising, here there are cross-overs into performance units and the skills required.

Extension homeworkStudents write up an evaluation of three performers within the class.

Alternative stimuliThe song ‘This City’ by Ed Sheeran could be another starting point for students to use to develop a short devised piece. If using this, play the song and reflect on it. Ask the students to come up with creative and imaginative ways of working with the music/lyrics that could, but might not, involve the playing of part or all of the song within their own performance.

HomeworkIn preparation for an extended piece of TIE linked to the topic ‘Homelessness’, students are to complete independent research. They could be told that the research must involve collecting testimonies from real people as the TIE piece will also use real testimonies and link therefore to a verbatim style of theatre. (See PowerPoint slide 15 which outlines verbatim theatre.) Students could also be encouraged to explore companies that produce verbatim theatre.

7Teaching Drama · Summer term 1 · 2015/16www.teaching-drama.co.uk

Scheme of work|GCSELessons 6–9: Producing extended devised pieces from independently researched stimuli linking to verbatim theatre within the devising process and outcomesLearning objectivesBy the end of the lesson students will have learnt:

f How to develop performance skills – aural and physical f How to develop characterisation f How to develop a performance from researched stimuli they have gathered for themselves

f How to structure devised performance work showing creativity and imagination in the choices

f How to structure devised performance work showing excellent collaboration skills when working in groups

f How to work with researched material to develop a piece that links to the verbatim style of devised theatre

f How to reflect on material devised for performance and to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses effectively, setting goals for improvement.

StarterIn groups, share some of the material they have found – the interesting testimonies and reflections on the companies they have researched who work in a verbatim theatre way.

Main activityPowerPoint slide 16 outlines the task. At the end of the development and performance time, the task slide can be looked at again and the groups measure their success alongside these opening objectives.

PlenaryThe work is shown, preferably to a wider audience than just to the class, then the outcomes evaluated verbally and also within coursework.

ExtensionOne high-performance G&T group could be directed to produce work matching their outcomes to Punchdrunk Theatre Company in terms of the way they use space, for example. There could be other theatre company styles that groups are told they must be influenced by, such as another group could have to include elements of Frantic Assembly. A specific practitioner could also be included in the devising and outcomes.

Students work on the pieces in lessons with the teacher circulating to support but allowing as much space as possible for the independent development of the work.

To keep momentum, at the end of each lesson objectives for the next lesson could be set by each group. During its development, sections of the material developed could be shown and peer feedback offered to help improve the ideas further.

The coursework/portfolio headings from the devising unit in the prescribed specification should be used, whether this is for a formal assessment or as a mock.

8Teaching Drama · Summer term 1 · 2015/16www.teaching-drama.co.uk

Scheme of work|GCSERESOURCES

PowerPoint presentation

Homelessness

Devising from stimuli

1

What do you see? What could we develop from the stimuli in front of you?

• The pile of rubbish in front of you – what catches your eye?

• Does it belong here? • What does it make you think about? • Do you have an emotional reaction to it?

2

Stage this in small groups:

3

Peer assessment of scenes

How realistic were the characters? How committed to the roles were the performers? What did they do well vocally/physically/with the use of space? In what ways have they used the extra people within their group (if applicable)? How effective have their own ideas been in adding to what was already outlined by the writer?

4

Imagine you have £1 – who out of these would you give it to?

5

Watch this:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CwCvpEMEJU

How many minutes do you think a child would have to wait before getting any food or money if they were standing on a street in the freezing cold with a sign

saying they are homeless and in need? Why do you think people don’t always go to help?

6

Non naturalistic devised Drama In groups, create an essence machine under the heading ‘Homeless’. Reflect and discuss the movements, the use of spoken language. Then, continuing the exploration of the topic using non-naturalism, in groups get into a symmetrical shape and produce a piece using 5-8 words connected to the topic ‘homelessness’. In the symmetrical formation, all do the same movements and say the same word. Consider cannon, repetition and unison in the structure.

• What do you feel you have learnt from doing this work? • Why might non-naturalism be effective in exploration and

performing a piece connected to the topic? What might be the drawbacks of using non-naturalism in performance work connected to this topic?

7

9Teaching Drama · Summer term 1 · 2015/16www.teaching-drama.co.uk

Scheme of work|GCSE

Discussion

• Brainstorm – all the reasons a person would leave home.

• Extension – put a + or a – by each idea to show whether it is a positive or negative reason.

8

From the video

• Something that you learnt • Something that surprised you • Why did the people in the video leave home? • What were the dangers and problems they

faced when having to leave home?

9

10

A country road. A tree. Evening. Estragon, sitting on a low mound, is trying to take off his boot. He pulls at it with both hands, panting. He gives up, exhausted, rests, tries again. As before. Enter Vladimir. ESTRAGON: (giving up again). Nothing to be done. VLADIMIR: (advancing with short, stiff strides, legs wide apart). I'm beginning to come round to that opinion. All my life I've tried to put it from me, saying Vladimir, be reasonable, you haven't yet tried everything. And I resumed the struggle. (He broods, musing on the struggle. Turning to Estragon.) So there you are again. ESTRAGON: Am I? VLADIMIR: I'm glad to see you back. I thought you were gone forever. ESTRAGON: Me too. VLADIMIR: Together again at last! We'll have to celebrate this. But how? (He reflects.) Get up till I embrace you. ESTRAGON:(irritably). Not now, not now. VLADIMIR: (hurt, coldly). May one inquire where His Highness spent the night? ESTRAGON: In a ditch. VLADIMIR: (admiringly). A ditch! Where? ESTRAGON: (without gesture). Over there. VLADIMIR: And they didn't beat you? ESTRAGON: Beat me? Certainly they beat me. VLADIMIR: The same lot as usual? ESTRAGON: The same? I don't know. VLADIMIR: When I think of it . . . all these years . . . but for me . . . where would you be . . . (Decisively.) You'd be nothing more than a little heap of bones at the present minute, no doubt about it. ESTRAGON: And what of it? VLADIMIR: (gloomily). It's too much for one man. (Pause. Cheerfully.) On the other hand what's the good of losing heart now, that's what I say. We should have thought of it a million years ago, in the nineties. ESTRAGON: Ah stop blathering and help me off with this bloody thing.

11

Homeless by Pete Marshall Water soaks through shredded news That’s wrapped around a hungry heart And as I walk in heelless shoes I wonder forth around the park. The nights are cold and days are long My mind replay’s where I went wrong And rain will soak and wash my tears Where strength resolves to show no fear. And last nights meal was found in bins Of salad tossed in throw out things And smokes are found upon the floor The stubbed out tabs I barter for. The children stare as mums walk past A school runs joy a nervous laugh That sees no soul as thoughts are cast Their eyes look down and cross the path. My callused hands and grubby nails Grip plastic bags that hold my life And heelless shoes pace endless trails That tread beyond this bitter plight.

12

Exploration

For the part in red have it as a mime, then it moves to a flashback scene to show ‘what went wrong’ (text in blue indicates where it moves to flashback)

After the flashback, move to present again • How can you show it is flashing back in time? • How can you show past then moving back to

present and make it clear for an audience?

13

Evaluating your own work • What difficulties did you face in developing the work? • How did you overcome any difficulties? • What did you learn about devising from this and from the

scheme so far? • What are the successful elements of the work you created? • How effectively did you use the stimuli? • What would be the next steps if developing this work

further? • Do you feel as an individual you contributed significantly to

the success of the work? Justify this with examples of how you helped generate/improve the performance outcome.

14

Devising in the style of verbatim theatre

Verbatim theatre is a form of documentary theatre that employs recorded testimonies from real people interviewed. It is theatre that claims a degree of authority and ‘truth’. The 1963 devised play Oh! What a Lovely War was formed using some verbatim methods, knitting together actual soldier diary entries and researched material found by the cast. The Laramie Project (2000) by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project about the reaction to the 1998 murder of gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming, is another highly regarded example. The play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town, company members' own journal entries, and published news reports. Using verbatim testimonies is highly popular today as a way of developing material for theatrical performance. Playwright Mark Wheeller mixes verbatim with his own ideas to put his original work together.

15

Final assessment - devising In groups, create 10 minutes of performance material connected to the topic ‘homelessness’ You can use material and ideas already explored in the scheme - but you don’t have to You must add in your own stimuli and ideas to anything you do use from previous lessons You must include evidence of the verbatim style of theatre making within your work You must use some or all of the following theatrical conventions: • slow motion • freeze-frame • audience aside • split focus • flashback/ flash-forward • narration • spoken thought You must consider your actor-audience relationship and you could choose not to perform the piece

in the conventional performance space within the centre You must show evidence of characterisation somewhere within the work This is a piece of TIE and therefore there needs to be a consideration of message and what you

hope the audience might gain from watching the work

16