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Year 3

Reading and performing a script based on 'The Iron Man'

I can read and respond to a play script based on 'The Iron Man' and perform it in front of an audience.

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Year 3

Reading and performing a script based on 'The Iron Man'

I can read and respond to a play script based on 'The Iron Man' and perform it in front of an audience.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Play scripts are written with certain conventions that help make a script organised, clear and easy to follow.
  2. Performance techniques are tools that actors use to connect with the audience.
  3. These techniques can be learnt, practised and developed.
  4. Deciding where to stand and how to move is an important part of the rehearsal process for the director and actors.
  5. Plays can have large or small casts - the number of actors who play the different characters in a play.

Keywords

  • Play script conventions - rules that are followed by playwrights to write play scripts that are clear and easy to follow

  • Performance techniques - the ways an actor uses their body, voice and facial expressions to bring a character to life in a play

  • Setting description - a brief description of where and when the action takes place at the beginning of a scene in a play

Common misconception

Pupils may think it is **always** easier to perform a play with a small number of characters.

The difficulty of a play is not just down to the number of characters in it. Often, the most difficult plays are the ones with the most troubling or complicated themes - central messages that the playwright wants the audience to think deeply about.

You could show pupils in your class some films of small companies of actors performing scenes from plays with small casts. You could also show pupils images of sets on stage that are very sparse and empty so they can see that sometimes, directors choose to have a 'minimalist' approach.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on
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Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 'Actors, a __________ and a stage crew are involved in preparing a play for a performance.'
conductor
Correct answer: director
teacher
mentor
Q2.
Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 'The title of a play is the __________ of a play.'
Correct answer: name
ending
plot
Q3.
What is a scene?
the proper name for the whole of a play
the words the characters say in a play
Correct answer: a short chunk or section of a play, like a chapter in a book
something a character has seen in the play
Q4.
Which of these is the best definition of dialogue?
the actions a character does
Correct answer: the words a character says
the facial expressions an actor uses
a dance some actors do
Q5.
Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 'Stage directions are like __________ for actors to follow for how to speak or move in that part of the play.'
rules
words
Correct answer: instructions
Q6.
Put these steps for preparing a play for a performance in the correct order.
1 - reading the script
2 - responding to and discussing the script
3 - rehearsing the script
4 - getting feedback about what could be improved
5 - performing the play

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these would be a suitable stage direction?
the Iron Man
Correct answer: (firmly)
I will
challenge you
Q2.
Which of these is a setting description from a play script?
Scene 2: Hogarth’s Discovery
Correct answer: Setting: Early morning on a farm near the hill. Hogarth, a boy, spots something.
Hogarth: (excited)
Who's that?
Q3.
True or false? Setting descriptions are only useful for creating a setting in a story.
Correct Answer: false, False, fols
Q4.
Which of these are people who work as part of a stage crew?
Correct answer: people who build a set
people who act and say the lines as the characters
Correct answer: people who design costumes
Correct answer: people who create sound effects
people who sell the tickets
Q5.
Who gets the final say on how a scene should look: the director, the actors or the stage crew?
Correct answer: the director
the actors
the stage crew
Q6.
Fill in the gap in the following sentence: 'When a director first reads a script, they should look at the __________ of each scene to help create a vision for how each scene should look.'
actors' lines
stage directions
music choices
Correct answer: setting descriptions

Additional material

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