Junior Cycle Drama & Performance

Course Content:

The Drama and Performance short course is an exciting and creative introduction into public performance and production, where students are given an opportunity to write, perform and create original extracts for stage, radio and screen.

The aim of the course is to build students’ understanding and confidence in how to engage an audience through a live performance.

To develop students’ skills on how to analyse a performance and to be able to critic an interpretation of a text from an actor, director and audience’s point of view.

To develop students’ technical acting skills which will help build confidence for live public speaking and theatre performance.

To gain a deeper understanding about the history of theatre through the analysis of texts from Greek theatre, Shakespearean theatre up to modern plays and film scripts.

Developing students’ creative writing skills for the stage, including creating believable and flawed characters - how to build dramatic tension on stage and how to script gripping and engaging dialogue.

To learn about the roll stage design, costume, lighting, music and sound effects have in staging a successful production.

Cross-circular links include:

Business: How to successfully market, budget and promote a play.

English: Introducing students to a variety of texts and building on their skills on how to successfully reimagine and interpret a character, a poem or stage extract which is a key component to the new Junior Cert English curriculum.

Art and Home Economics: Developing an understanding and creatively interpreting the roll of set design, costume design, poster design and lighting and how they enhance the overall quality of a live production.

Classroom Based Assessment: The Junior Cert CBA requires students to make a live presentation to a class in most subjects. This short course will offer students the public speaking skills that will support them in their presentations. Students’ will be offered a safe and positive environment in which to practise and perform, helping to build on the students’ creativity and confidence.

This course would be suitable for students with an interest in acting, public speaking, and creative writing.

An interest in reading, film and audio recording and editing, art and music are also of benefit, but not essential.

The course is formatively assessed through students’ active engagement in the material covered, including project work, live performance of texts studied and creative writing projects.

The summative assessment of this course requires students to perform an individual or group performance (2 students) of a chosen text. The text can be a famous extract or a student’s original piece of writing. The choice of text must be discussed with the teacher before presentation.

Technical competence, confidence and original interpretation of the text are the key areas looked for in the assessment.

Working in theatre, film, TV production, radio, marketing, set design, journalism, directing, writing, editing.