GRADE 9

CREATIVE ARTS TERM 1 CLASS NOTES

DRAMA

2024
UNIT 1: Drama Elements in Playmaking
Key Concepts: Drama Elements

1.Actors – The people involved in the activity they perform and act
out a role or character.
2. Audience – The people who watch the performance.
3. Space – Where performance takes place and how the space is
arranged or organised.
4. Time – Certain times only; of a particular duration.
5. Costumes – Clothing or other items worn by the actors to reveal
the character they are portraying.
6. Props- objects that are used by the performers ;they will usually
hold a great deal of significance.
7. Special effects – the use of technology to enhance the
performance, this includes aspects such as sound or lighting.
8. Music or accompaniment – songs or instruments that may be
used during the performance.
9. Movement or choreography – the use of physical work to
enhance the performance.
10. Chants , Call, and Response or Dialogue - these elements all
add to the way in which the performers communicate on stage.
11. Structure – the way in which the performance is ordered , for
example: linear, cyclical or episodic .
12. Character – The person/role that is portrayed by the actor
13. Language – the way in which each character speaks and the
register and vocabulary that they use. This will be influenced by the
dramatic context .
14. Dramatic tension – the way in which suspense, excitement and
anticipation is created in a performance.
IMPROVISATION , RITUAL AND CULTURAL PRACTICES
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Rituals
Ritual refers to an event that has a specific shape and structure and
usually involves some or other conventions . Rituals can vary in
significance, from daily rituals (such as how you say goodnight to
your parents when you go to bed) to rituals that reveal what you
believe in (such as a confirmation service) or rituals that reveal your
personal commitments , for voting for a particular party in an
election.

The rituals we take part in will always reveal something about our
society, beliefs and way of thinking. Rituals are useful to Drama
because they slow down the action and give the viewer time to think
and process. Rituals are often theatrical in nature and this makes
them interesting for the audience to view.
Cultural Practices
These are events that hold importance or significance for a specific
community or group people, for example weddings or funerals they
often contain a large number of drama elements.

Improvisation
An improvised scene is one in which there is no script. The
performers work together to create the scene, without any
planning in the moment.

Drama
Drama is made up of many different aspects. On the right is a list of
a few of the many elements that make drama interesting and
exciting. Whenever you create a scene, you should ensure that you
are considering how to use these elements
UNIT 2: EXPLORING THEMES AND INTERGRATING
CULTURAL PRACTICES (Page 70)

THEMES
What is a theme?
-A theme is one of the main messages or ideas in a piece of theatre
(or other literature). It is a topic that the characters in a play will
keep coming back to or referring to. It is the idea that you will be
left thinking about after the play has finished.

A theme is important because it helps the audience to understand

what the purpose of the play is and what sort of concerns it is
addressing.
Cultural practices
Cultural and social practices are significant events or
moments that are held as important by group of people.
These may include wedding ceremonies, christenings,
initiation rites, coming of age ceremonies, funerals and so
on.
Different groups of people may express these events in
different ways. The events may make use of ritual,
ceremony or symbol (amongst other things).

Ritual, ceremony and symbol

1. Weddings
- A wedding is a great occasion and is a time for feasting
and celebration. Different cultures celebrate
differently. Some people will be married by a minister
-in a church, others by a magistrate in court.

Naming Ceremonies
-naming a child is a significant and important event in traditional
cultures. The name given to the child may be one that was held by
an ancestor or other important person in the family’s life. The child
may also be named in accordance with an event that happened at
their birth.

Rites of passage or initiation ceremonies

-Most traditional South African cultures will have initiation
ceremonies to mark the transition from being a boy to becoming a
man or being a girl to becoming a woman (in some cultures a girl is
only considered to be a woman once she has given birth).
Funerals
-As with weddings, different cultures and religions celebrate
funerals differently . A funeral marks the end of a person’s life.
Many religions and cultures believe that death is not the end and
that your spirit will go somewhere. For example, Christians believe
in heaven and hell. Hindus believe in reincarnation. Muslims
believe that you wait until the day of judgement to be resurrected
and will then go either to paradise or hell. Buddhists view death as
a passage of rebirth to another realm, an awakening of the soul,
and breaking apart of material that holds us together.

UNIT 3: CONTEXT AND STORYLINE (page 76).

Context
-Every story has specific context, this means that it has a
specific set of events, circumstances or situations that
provide a background to it. Context refers to the way in
which we understand something because of how ,when why and
under what circumstances it happens. This is important for drama
because context will change the meaning of a story.

What is storyline ?
-Every story will have a few significant moments or events. To work
out the storyline of the drama, you will take all of the main events
and link them together. A storyline is like a summary of the most
important moments in a play. They will be the events that will cause
action or tension in the drama.
Skills Development
- By guessing what happened before a certain situation (the picture
on the board), you are trying to work out the ‘back story’ to that
situation. By doing this, you are actually creating the storyline.

-Notice how one event can trigger many different and interesting
stories.
-Think about how much more these stories will change when you
add a context to them.
-They will change even more when you decide on a theme to focus
on when you tell the story. The theme will determine which parts of
the story you highlight and give attention to.
UNIT 4 : DRAMA ELEMENTS (REHEARSE) (page 85)

Time, Space and Structure

Drama Elements are the things that define drama. They can be
manipulated to make your piece more effective and more
theatrically enjoyable for your audience.

Timing refers to the speed at which you do something . In

drama, the timing you use will change the meaning of an action.

Using space well helps the audience understand where the

action is taking place. It can also make the piece more visually
interesting.

Structure refers to how you put your piece together. Up until this
point you have always worked with stories in a linear order:
Beginning, middle and end.
You can change the structure the structure to be more circular
by coming back to your starting point after you have reached the
end : beginning, middle, end and back to the beginning.

You can also put your ideas into short episodes with links
between them to create an episodic structure.

Remember
Never rush in drama. Your audience needs time to understand
and absorb what is happening on stage.
Rather do less more thoroughly and care fully than trying to
cram a great number of half developed ideas into one piece.

Remember
When you use an episodic structure, you need to find a short
link such as a line of narration or a snippet of a song to link your
UNIT 6 APPRECIATION AND REFLECTION (page 88)

Reflection
Why do you think it is important to learn how to reflect
on theatre?

When you reflect you give yourself a chance to:

-Take stock of the learning that has happened
-Grow a critical artistic eye
-Learn from your own and other’s experiences
-Share ideas with your class and grow your own
understanding of the dramatic process
-Learn how to appreciate theatre
-Formulate and motivate an opinion