Lesson 1 FORM AND GENRE

Today you are learning to…  Understand the meaning of FORM and GENRE  Understand the plot of Blood Brothers by Willy Russell

Form The overall style of the drama Scripted play  Rehearsed improvisation  Dance drama  Mime  Monologue  Musical  Pantomime  Forum

Genre The category or type of drama  Comedy  Tragedy  Crime drama  Docudrama  Melodrama  Commedia dell ‘arte  Farce  Tragicomedy  Satire

Video clips Watch the following clips and decide what you think is the FORM and GENRE of the play Blood Brothers by Willy Russell

Lyrics So did y’hear the story of the Johnstone twins? As like each other as two new pins, Of one womb born, on the selfsame day, How one was kept and one given away An’ did you never hear how the Johnstones died, Never knowing that they shared one name, Till the day they died, when a mother cried My own dear sons lie slain? An did y’ never hear of the mother, so cruel, There’s a stone in place of her heart? Then bring her on and come judge for yourselves How she came to play this part

Task 1 In your groups you will be given the plot outline for the story of Blood Brothers. You should pick out the key moments and create a freeze frame for each moment. After that you should rehearse moving smoothly between each freeze frame with a NARRATOR explaining what is happening.

Lesson 2 STATUS AND CLASS

Today you are learning to…  Understand what is meant by status  Understand how status is shown within a drama

Status exercises Your teacher will now do some practical exercises with you to help you understand status

Watch the following clip and consider which character has the higher status

Discussion in groups  Which character has the highest status?  How can you tell from the STORYLINE?  How can you tell by the way they use their voice?  Does the status change in the scene? You should write you answer in your jotters and be prepared to share your answers with the class.

Lesson 3 SUPERSTITION

Today you are learning to…  Understand what is meant by superstition  Understand how superstition affects the plot of Blood Brothers

What is Superstition?

5 Minute Task! In your groups you should think of as many superstitions as you can and create a FREEZE frames to show them. We will then present these back to the rest of the class and see if they can guess the superstitions you are trying to show!

What is the superstition in Blood Brothers? Listen to the following clip to help you remember!

Your task You are going to think about what happens AFTER Mrs Johnstone hears about the curse and whether she should believe it; or ignore it and take her son back One person will play Mrs Johnstone the other two people will play the thoughts in her head. You will present these scenes at the end of the period!

Lesson 4 EDDIE AND MICKEY

Today you are learning to….  Understand the differences between Eddie and Mickey’s upbringing  Use you voice and movement to show the difference between the characters of Eddie and Mickey

Your task In small groups you are going to create a scene which shows a typical day for either Eddie or Mickey. Your scene should start from the time they get up until they go to bed. You must consider:  How they speak  How they move  Their relationships with their family  Their attitude and the things they do

Lesson 5 EVALUATING PERFORMANCES

Today you are learning to..  Evaluate the performances of your peers  Perform in front of your peers

Evaluation When you are watching the performances you must think about:  How did the actors show the difference between Eddie and Mickey through their voice and movement  Did the content of the pieces relate to the characters’ upbringing?

Lesson 6 ALTERNATIVE ENDING

Today you are learning to…  Create an alternative ending for the play Blood Brothers

Your task In small groups you are going to create an alternative ending for the play Blood Brothers. It must start from the line “Mickey. Don’t shoot Eddie….” You need to think about:  Do they get shot?  What happens after?  Can they become friends?  What happens to Linda?  What happens to Mrs Lyons and Mrs Johnstone? You will rehearse these scenes and present them next period

Lesson 6 PRESENTING ALTERNATIVE ENDING SCENES

Today you are learning to:  Present you ‘alternative ending’ scenes in front of your peers  Evaluate your own work and the work of others

How Successful were the performances? Over the past few weeks you have performed and evaluated lots of performances. What things would you comment on when you are evaluating the scenes you are about to watch?

Lesson 8 SCRIPTS AND TEXTUAL CLUES

Today you are learning to:  Look for textual clues within a script to help you make decisions about your performance  Use textual clues to make decisions about Theatre Arts

Your assessment task In small groups you are going to be given an extract from Blood Brothers to perform, you will have the next few weeks to rehearse it.

What are textual clues? Before you start rehearsing a script it is important to look for the clues within it which tell you about how it should be performed. These clues may be in the STAGE DIRECTIONS, the DIALOGUE or sometimes even in the PUNCTUATION. You are looking for things which tell you:  Who the characters are  How they are feeling (which will affect the way the speak and move)  Where they are (and what set and props you would need)  What time of day it is (and how that would affect possible sound and lighting choices)

Task 1 In your groups you will be given an extract from Blood Brothers. You should discuss the script and highlight any important textual clues. When you have finished you will be asked to share your findings with the rest of the class!

Task 2 Using the textual clues you should make decision about what Theatre Arts will enhance your piece. For this performance you should focus on:  Set  Costume  Props As a group you should decide what each of you will bring from home and what things you need to get from the department.

Lesson 9 REHEARSING EXTRACTS

Today you are learning to  Rehearse a scripted drama  Understand what blocking is and what makes Effective Blocking

Reminder! What are textual clues?

Your task Once you have finished identifying any important textual clues you are going to begin BLOCKING your drama. What things are important to think about when BLOCKING?  Masking  Levels  Facial Expression  Props and set required  A variety of movement and stillness

Lesson 10 PERFORMING

Today you are learning to…  Perform your scripted extracts in front of your peers

Lesson 11 EVALUATING YOUR WORK

Today you are learning to…  Effectively evaluate your work and the work of others

What makes an effective evaluation?

Your task Your teacher will give you a written evaluation task to complete. You must remember in which you will evaluate both your CREATING and PRESENTING.