PHYSICAL THEATRE
A Scheme of Work for Year 11
Outline In this scheme of work
students have the opportunity to
explore the use of the ‘physical’
throughout drama, from concepts
such as status and body language, to
how different practitioners such as
Brecht and Berkoff have developed
forms of physical theatre in their
work.
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PHYSICAL THEATRE
A Scheme of Work for Year 11
Introduction
SUPPLEMENTS
To accompany this scheme of work
students could watch the full film of
The Trial by Steven Berkoff as an
extracurricular activity or as a cover
lesson and a suitable theatre visit
would be to see some physical
theatre in action.
ASSESSMENT
Assessment for this unit is based on
an on-going assessment and a final
performance piece. The assessment
objectives for the unit are;
AO1 Response
AO2 Development
AO3 Performance
AO4 Evaluation
CROSS-CURRICULAR LINKS
There are opportunities within this
scheme of work to link with PE and
Dance GCSE.
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By the end of the scheme students should be able
to;
Identify and employ the concept of status
and tension within other people
performances and their performances.
Be able to develop effective and
appropriate body language for different
characters.
To understand and be able to manipulative
their physicality to express different
emotions, concepts and ideas.
To understand and use Brecht's theory of
Gestus in both their own performances and
recognise it in other peoples performances.
To understand and use Berkoffs style of
Total Theatre in their performances.
PHYSICAL THEATRE
A Scheme of Work for Year 11
Lesson 1: Status and
Levels of Tension
OBJECTIVES
Students will leave the classroom with
an understanding of the term Status and
how actors use movement, gesture and
body language to communicate their
status to an audience.
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
AO1 Responding to Stimuli
START/STOP COMMANDS
CHANGE = Change direction
HIDE = Pretend to hide in the room
MODEL = Strike a model pose from a
catalogue
CATWALK = Strut your stuff like your on
a catwalk!
DANCE LIKE YOUR DAD = Well, dance
like your dad!
CLEAR = Run as fast as you can to the
sides of the room.
TOGETHER = Come together in one
mass in the centre of the room.
ASSEMBLY = Gather at the front of the
room, in rows, like a primary school
assembly.
FREEZE = Freeze in the shape of…
POSSIBLE SCENARIOS
The fire alarm goes off whilst shopping in
ASDA
On a railway carriage that has broken
down
A bank robbery
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Starter (10mins)
Introduce the topic with a discussion around the use of body
language in our daily lives and in the performances the
students might have undertaken so far. Refer to the
introduction paragraph in the student workbook.
Stop / Start / Go (10mins)
Ask the students to walk around the space, making sure they
walk in straight lines, turning every time they want to change
direction. Explain that you are going to call out some
instructions and they are to respond quickly. You can make up
your own commands and it is often good when accompanied
by some music. As the game develops start to add emotions to
the freeze, until that is what the game comprises of, going
from emotion to emotion.
Status & Levels of Tension (20mins)
Go back to the workbook and read through the definition of
Status and Levels of Tension. Go through the 10 levels of
tension from 1 to 10, taking time to make sure they get used to
the way of walking, using their body and gestures etc… for
each level. Go through these backwards and forwards as many
times as it takes to make sure they understand. Once they
understand the movement, see if they can equate some sort of
character to each status level.
Status Improvisation (10mins)
Bring the class back into a circle and ask for five volunteers.
Give each volunteer a random number between 1 and 10 as a
level of tension/status for them to take on and apply to a
character. As a spontaneous improvisation exercise, give them
a scenarios to act out and react to as their character.
Plenary (10mins)
Firstly ask the students to complete the levels of tension and
status box in the workbook. Then, as a final activity, none of
the students can leave the room unless they have
demonstrated one of the levels of tension/status effectively.
PHYSICAL THEATRE
A Scheme of Work for Year 11
Lesson 2: Body
Language
OBJECTIVES
Students will leave the classroom with
an understanding of the term Body
Language and how we use movement,
gesture, facial expressions and stance to
communicate a characters emotion.
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
AO1 Responding to Stimuli
RESOURCES
You will need a set of character cards
that express simple characteristics such
as lonely, happy, excited etc...
Starter (10mins)
Place characterisation cards around the room and ask the students
to pick one up and on their own think about how they can use
body language alone to show the type of person that is displayed
on their character card. Give the students ten seconds to form a
freeze of that character, and then act it out in a whole class
improvisation. Swop the cards around and repeat twice, before
spot-lighting and discussing different body language and what
makes body language?
Status Still Images (10mins)
In pairs or threes, ask students to create still images or freeze
frames of moments in which one person has authority over the
other, such as teacher – student, judge – criminal, doctor – patient.
Forum Theatre exercise (20mins)
Firstly ask one or two of the students to perform their still image in
a circle in front of everyone – consider if it is right, what needs
changing or developing to communicate the right message. Then
ask a pair of spontaneously improvise the scenario, take this
improvisation to a natural conclusion in which the person with
authority wins. Return to the starting still image and ask the other
students if they can change the appearance of the still image so
that the character without status in the previous still gains it in a
new still. Perform the scene so that the person overcomes the
authority. Comment on the differences of both the character and
the characters body language.
Paired Improvisation (15mins)
In pairs, students create a series of short improvisations involving
two people meeting for the first time; although neither of them
can actually say anything more than just make noises. Call out
freeze. When you freeze the action, partner A remains still and
partner B changes his stance to change the relationship between
the two characters and start the improvisation again. Call freeze
again and ask for B to remain still this time. Ask the students to
then develop one of these improvisations by inserting the
following two lines anywhere in the action;
A: “What are you doing here?”
B: “You know perfectly well”
Plenary (5mins)
A summary of the learning asking the students to fill in gaps.
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PHYSICAL THEATRE
A Scheme of Work for Year 11
Lesson 3: Gestus
OBJECTIVES
Students will leave the classroom with
an understanding of the term Gestus,
how it relates to body language and
how Brecht employed it in Epic Theatre.
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
Starter (10mins)
Place in pairs at opposite sides of the room. Then ask them to shout
nursery rhymes across the room to each other – all at the same time!
Can they really hear? NO! Explain that they have to rely on body /
gesture to get across the rhyme itself. Watch how the movements
become bigger. Then tell them that it is a matter of life and death
importance that the rhyme is communicated (e.g. secret code in war).
Then repeat the exercise and examine use of gesture – how does it
convey the importance of the message? What did they do to help
convey the meaning when words were limited? This difference is
GESTUS.
Brecht & Gestus (10mins)
AO1 Responding to Stimuli
Return to the textbooks and explain about the relationship between
Bertolt Brecht and Gestus as a key part of his theories of drama.
AFL Activity
The meaning behind Gestus (15mins)
Use a random number generating
system or tongue depressors to choose
students to answer questions in the
Plenary. If the students show gaps in
their understanding of Gestus, extent
the activities for a further lesson.
Summer and winter, Cat and mouse, Sweet and sour, War and peace
& Rich and poor.
Ask the students to move round the room individually calling out
Freeze, and when they do ask them to form an image, with a partner
near them, on the following themes;
Look and analyse the last two and discuss how the students
portrayed them. Is there a value judgment for them (e.g. rich & war is
bad but peace & poor is good)? Then this is a meaning that you have
tried to put across and are subconsciously using GESTUS – do it again
being aware of meaning. This will make the image stronger.
Gestus Still Images (15mins)
In small groups, create 2 still images (in one minute each) of the
following comparing scenarios;
Crowd at a Football match after your team has just scored a goal
Crowd at a Football match after your team has just lost
War – the maker of heroes
War – the taker of lives
Look and analyse how the 2 images use GESTUS to convey different
‘meanings’.
Plenary (10mins)
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Provide a summary of the learning, asking students to fill in gaps to
provide evidence of their learning – suggest you use a random
numbering system to select students.
PHYSICAL THEATRE
A Scheme of Work for Year 11
Lesson 4: Manipulating
physicality
OBJECTIVES
Students will leave the classroom with a
greater understanding of how they can
manipulate their physicality to create
objects, moving objects and how we see
the world around us.
Starter: Quick Freezes & machines (10mins)
Students are to move around the room on the command of freeze,
they need to stop and stay still and listen for the number to be
called they then form a group as close to this number as possible
and listen for the object given to them (church, castle, bridge,
beans on toast etc) The class then has a minute to ‘create’ the
given object using themselves, Count down from 10 – 0, all groups
must freeze in position on 0. Teacher looks at each object created
and chooses a winning group for creating the most effective
object. Develop the objects into moving objects.
The Concrete Family (10mins)
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
AO1 Responding to Stimuli
AO2 Development
Ask the students to create a still image of what might be described
as the ideal family. This may require some discussion beforehand.
After the still image, ask the students to create a still image of
what they think a soap opera family looks like and discuss the
differences. Finally get the students to create a family that might
appear in an advertisement. Talk through and discuss the
differences.
The Perspective Family (10mins)
The previous three images depict a family from their knowledge;
they are concrete images the students are familiar with. This time
ask the students to create a family from the perspective of
different family members (as if the audience are that member of
the family). This might need a bit of discussion to begin with. Ask
them to do it from a five-year-olds perspective last, because we
want this one to be turned into a piece of physical theatre.
From my perspective (10mins)
Ask the students to develop the final still image into a
performance, in which the audience are watching the events of an
average family from the perspective of a 5 year old child. Perform
and respond to these pieces.
More from my perspective (15mins)
Develop the idea further and ask the students to improvise a scene
where one person or a group of people have status and authority
over another and perform it from the perspective that person, so
they have authority over the audience.
Plenary (5mins)
Perform and respond to the pieces.
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PHYSICAL THEATRE
A Scheme of Work for Year 11
Lesson 5: Berkoff and
Physical exaggeration
OBJECTIVES
Students will leave the classroom with
an understanding of how Steven Berkoff
uses physical movement, body language
and movement in his theatre.
Starter: Your day so far (10mins)
On your own, starting from the moment you got out of bed,
mime everything that you have done so far up to this point. As
the student perform this, give out instructions to make the
events bigger, smaller, faster or slower. But remind them that
whatever the speed or size, they must keep the detail. Discuss
how it was like to over-exaggerate certain movements or
actions. How do these over-exaggerations or over-emphasis
communicate to the audience?
Household objects (10mins)
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
AO1 Responding to Stimuli
RESOURCES
The video/DVD version of Steven
Berkoffs ‘The Trial’
HOMEWORK
Go onto the following website
http://www.iainfisher.com/berkoff/berk
off-influences.html and write down
some notes on the key people who have
influenced Berkoff and how. Also, have
a look around the website to find some
more information on Berkoff.
Quickly getting into different groups each time you undertake a
new still image, create a new household object. As the group
get used to this, add moving parts and sound to the images.
Again, no matter how big or small the object is, they must pay
attention to detail.
The Trial (10mins)
Show the students an extract from Steven Berkoffs The Trial,
when the henchman arrive at Joseph K’s house, examines the
contents of his room and eats his breakfast. There is a section
of the student workbook that refers to this extract for them to
fill in when they are watching it. Afterwards discuss how the
actors interacted with the set, which was entirely made up of
other actors and how they used body language and overexaggeration.
Berkoff and Total Theatre (10mins)
Referring to the student workbook, give an explanation of the
work of Steven Berkoff.
Your day once again (15mins)
In fairly large groups, select a common moment in everyone’s
day, could be getting dressed, cooking dinner or washing your
face, and using the similar techniques employed by Berkoff,
create a ‘Total Theatre’ performance of that moment.
Plenary (5mins)
Ask each student to give one important fact about either
Brecht’s use of Gestus or Berkoffs ‘Total Theatre’.
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PHYSICAL THEATRE
A Scheme of Work for Year 11
Lesson 6: The Trial
Starter: Slow Motion Races (10mins)
The Trial (15mins)
OBJECTIVES
Students will leave the classroom with
an understanding of how Steven Berkoff
uses physical movement, body language
and movement in his theatre and create
their own piece of physical theatre
based on Berkoffs Total Theatre
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
AO1 Responding to Stimuli
Ask the students to start the lesson again by recreating their day
so far, but pause the activity much earlier on and consider one of
the most interesting movements they did in that activity. Ask the
students to recreate that movement, but this time to a beat of 8,
which must include returning to the starting position for the first
beat. Once the students have this beat of 8, ask them to perform
the action while you call out the time (you can vary your speed to
vary theirs!). Then, get them into a line, do the action for 3 counts
of 8 and then ask them to scream for a burst of 4 seconds like
they did in the opening sequence of The Trial. Repeat if
necessary.
The Telephone (10mins)
Use the same technique to recreate the telephone sequence in
The Trial.
The Office (20mins)
Taking on the same idea as the previous exercise, ask the
students to create an office scene with the students taking on the
roles of the objects in the office. The students also should
consider what objects they need people to be and what they can
mime. Perform and respond to these pieces.
Plenary (5mins)
How does Berkoff use body language and physical theatre in his
pieces of theatre?
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PHYSICAL THEATRE
A Scheme of Work for Year 11
Lesson 7 & 8:
Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis Project
OBJECTIVES
Possibly one of the best pieces to perform would be when the
family first see Gregor or when the family are eating and then
feed Gregor.
Students will leave the classroom with
an understanding of how Steven Berkoff
uses physical movement, body language
and movement in his theatre and create
their own piece of physical theatre
based on Berkoffs Total Theatre
ASSESSMENT OBJECTIVES
AO2 Development
AO3 Performance
AO4 Evaluation
During the final two lessons (or more if needed) select an
appropriate part of the play Metamorphosis for the students to
turn into performance.
Start the project off with a brief discussion of the plot of the
play and any sub-plots that might be relevant to the sections
you have chosen.
It would make the performance better if the students were
required to learn their lines in preparation for the performance,
you may need to extend the scheme for this though.
The performances could be shared as part of an assembly
programme, another in-school related event or if the students
can remember, an end of year celebration.
Ask the students to evaluate another performance other than
their own using an evaluation template.
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ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
Band 1 (A)
RESPONSE AND DEVELOPMENT
You can clearly focus your ideas and suggestions into a performance that is well shaped and originality.
You have excellent knowledge of the explorative strategies and drama elements, and can use them confidently and without any guidance
from the teacher.
You can demonstrate an ability to explore issues and ideas in an expressive, analytical, reflective and personal way.
You work extremely well in different groups.
EVALUATION
Evaluate the effectiveness of the drama constructively and objectively making informed judgements by showing a clear and concise
understanding of how the explorative strategies, drama elements and mediums have been used by others.
PERFORMANCE
You use excellent vocal and movement skills to show a strong character that is imaginative, committed and realistic.
You can clear use your performance to communicate your characters intentions with clarity.
Band 2 (B)
RESPONSE AND DEVELOPMENT
You can clearly focus your ideas and suggestions into a performance that is well shaped.
You have a good knowledge of the explorative strategies and drama elements, and can use them confidently and with guidance from the
teacher.
You can demonstrate an ability to explore issues and ideas with some thought, imagination and understanding.
You work well in different groups.
EVALUATION
Evaluate the effectiveness of the drama with some insights and recognise and discuss how others have used the explorative strategies,
drama elements and mediums.
PERFORMANCE
You use good vocal and movements skills to show a character that is imaginative, committed and realistic.
You can use your performance to communicate your characters intentions with some success.
Band 3 (C)
RESPONSE AND DEVELOPMENT
You can focus your ideas and suggestions into a performance that is well shaped.
You have good knowledge of the explorative strategies and drama elements, and can use them with guidance from the teacher.
You can demonstrate an ability to explore issues and ideas, displaying some insight but with little depth or reflection.
You work in different groups.
EVALUATION
Evaluate the effectiveness of the drama and discuss how others have used the explorative strategies, drama elements and mediums.
PERFORMANCE
You use some vocal and movement skills to show a character that is sometimes imaginative and committed.
You can use your performance to communicate some of your characters intentions.
Band 4 (D)
RESPONCE AND DEVELOPMENT
Your ideas and suggestions are not well focused but can be made into a performance.
You have some knowledge of the explorative strategies and drama elements, and can use them with guidance from the teacher.
You can demonstrate some development of issues and ideas but with limited means of expression.
You work well with the same group each time.
EVALUATION
Attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the drama and discuss how others have used the explorative strategies, drama elements and
mediums.
PEROFRMANCE
You use vocal and movement skills as an attempt to show a character that is sometimes imaginative.
You can use your performance to communicate your character.
Band 5 (E)
RESPONSE AND DEVELOPMENT
You have ideas and suggestions that are not easily turned into a performance.
You have little knowledge of the explorative strategies and drama elements, and need guidance from the teacher to use them in a
performance.
You can demonstrate a basic development of issues and ideas but without reflection or understanding of structure.
You work with the same group each time.
EVALUATION
Occasionally evaluate the effectiveness of the drama and describe the work of others without reference to the explorative strategies,
drama elements and mediums.
PERFORMANCE
You use vocal and movement skills in a basic way with little regard to character.
You
can use your performance to sometimes communicate your character.
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