Drama & Theatre Studies
The Drama department and its students are a lively, friendly and supportive community of actors, designers and technicians.
We have also helped the school to gain the Artsmark Gold Award with results being consistently high across the school and nationally.
The department endeavours for every pupil it teaches to become more confident, comfortable in front of an audience and culturally aware. Even the pupils who do not take the subject beyond KS3 will develop stronger presentation and interpersonal skills
Please click below to watch sample work
Year 7-9 production of Romeo and Juliet
GCSE Devised work
Sample IB Theatre Work
You can see more of pupil's work and support materials for the learners at our website - BGSperformingarts
Years 7-9
In Drama pupils will develop the following skills-
Higher Order thinking skills
We strive to constantly challenge students’ creative and evaluative skills in Drama. These are listed as the two highest orders of thinking.
Every performance is evaluated afterwards, with pupils identifying how the acting skills have created atmosphere/ show relationships. By year 9 most pupils are able to comfortably evaluate theatre.
Pupils are given the freedom to create their own work, this allows them to express their creative skills and allows those who are not as effective in their written work shine in lessons.
Teamwork
Pupils are constantly having to work in groups, with different members of the class and within different dynamics
They need to showcase both leadership and empathy to work together for shared aims. The material is always focused on the needs of the audience and this challenges the pupils to discuss different approaches to find the best outcome.
Presentation skills/Self-confidence
Pupils work is constantly focused on an audience’s needs, including the need for eye contact and the effect of controlling/ varying the voice.
All pupils will constantly performing their work, sometimes preparing inpidual work. This makes them feel comfortable in front of an audience, aiding both in future theatrical work- but also will aid them in presentations throughout the school and professional life.
In the last 5 years, 4 of the senior prefects have taken Drama/ Theatre Studies to KS5
Listening skills/ Empathy
In order to create in a group and evaluate work, pupils develop strong listening skills- the knowledge that their work will be constantly assessed pushes them to pay close attention to instructions, their peers and performances.
By engaging with complicated real life issues explored through their performances pupils learn to empathise with complicated emotional situations and are able to explain how others have used their acting skills to bring these across.
Artistic Appreciation
Through Drama lessons pupils gain an advanced knowledge of many play and other Literature- especially Shakespeare.
Pupils are given opportunities to see professional theatre and appreciate its cultural impact.
GCSE Drama
Click here for sample GCSE work
GCSE Drama (AQA)
Assessment
Practical work (performance) 60%
Written Exam 40%
The Course
During the course you will undertake 4 assessed performances; in Year 10 there will be 2 Devised (Meaning you work in a group to create your own play collaboratively) which will respond to a stimulus set by the teacher. In Year 11 there will 2 performances of Scripted Plays, where the final performance at the end of the year is performed in the evening to your parents and friends.
One of these scripted plays will be The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, which will be explored practically in lessons in preparation for the written exam. There will be a Theatre trip to The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time in London.
Most lessons are practical, but bare in mind this is an academic course and you will need to prepare for a written exam.
The Written Exam
The written exam is 90 minutes long and will ask you how you performed in your devised piece to create specific effects for the audience. The second section of the exam will give you a choice of writing about either your own performance of Curious Incident or the performance you saw in London.
Rehearsing after school
The majority of homework for Drama involves rehearsing outside of lessons. This should not be more than a couple of hours a week and only in the weeks leading up to a performance exam. In the week immediately before the exam, rehearsals will obviously become more frequent, however you will rarely be expected to stay after 5.00 pm.
Why choose Drama?
Drama will provide you with excellent communication, presentation, teamwork and independent learning skills. When you study the IB you will need all of these skills to be successful (regardless of which subjects you choose) and these skills will serve you well in any profession.
The Drama department is one of the most successful departments in the school, gaining over 90% A*- B grades. With commitment and confidence, you can be successful in this subject and perform, see and discover many excellent plays from a variety of creative dramatists. See our youtube channel for playlists showcasing the exciting work current drama students are producing – youtube.com/bgsdrama
Sixth Form
Extra Curricular
Click here to see a video of our pupils performing at the Barbican
Click here for a video of Year 9 pupils performing at the Summer Fayre
Click here to See Tempest Performed for The Shakespeare School's Festival at Greenwich Theatre
Drama Club
Drama club is every Friday after school, and is open to all pupils in year 7 to 9. It is run by sixth formers and has a friendly and inclusive ethos
Christmas Drama Production
At the end of Every Christmas term a large scale performance is put on in the Hall.
The play contains actors from every year group, and all the technicians are pupils too (lighting designer, stage manager, sound engineer)
Shows have included- A Christmas Carol, Our Day Out, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and Alice in Wonderland
KS3 Shakespeare production
We have some wonderfully talented pupils in year 7 to 9, this production gives them a chance to shine in leading roles as well as learn the beauty of Shakespeare.
We have performed in The Unicorn Theatre (Southbank) and Greenwich Theatre.
Past productions include- Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Tempest and in April 2015 As You Like It
Cinelive
Cinelive are a professional theatre company (working alongside the British Film Institute) that create immersive theatre pieces to help improve children's literacy. Our pupils are used as their actors for performances in the South East.
The Pupils have performed at- The Barbican, The Gulbenkian Theatre (Canterbury) and Capron House (Surrey)
Performing Arts Tent
At The Summer Fayre, some gifted and talented pupils are hand picked to perform to the general public. Last year this included both devised work and extracts from script.
Drama Photo Gallery
