Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of Medieval Theatre, playwriting, and getting a play up on its feet by participating in discussions, taking a quiz, writing a play, and performing a play.
Learning Level:
Intermediate
Prior Experience:
All should have some experience with Drama. Ideally they have had a unit on Greek theatre and a unit on Roman theatre before this.
National Standards:
TH:Cr2-II.b. Cooperate as a creative team to make interpretive choices for a drama/theatre work.
Re7.1.II.a. Respond to what is seen, felt, and heard in a drama/theatre work to develop criteria for artistic choices.
TH:Re8.1.I.b. Identify and compare cultural perspectives and contexts that may influence the evaluation of a drama/theatre work.
TH:Re9.1.II.c. Verify how a drama/theatre work communicates for a specific purpose and audience.
TH:Cn11.1.I.a. Explore how cultural, global, and historic belief systems affect creative choices in a drama/theatre work.
Big Idea:
Theatre is worthwhile and essential to humanity. Playwriting is difficult and the intent of playwrights should be respected.
Essential Questions:
How can theatre be perceived as immoral?
Why do we do theatre?
Why should we respect the intent and wishes of a playwright when we perform their play?
How should you start writing a play?
Enduring Understandings:
The arts need advocates to survive.
There is something about theatre that keeps it around throughout time.
Playwriting is more than just coming up with a story and writing it in dialogue form.
Key Knowledge and Skills:
The Catholic Church banned theatre in the Medieval period and then brought it back in order to teach the people the stories and correct behaviors of the church.
How to write a play that is compelling and realistic.
How to respect a playwright’s wishes when performing their work.
Authentic Performance Tasks:
Explanation: Discussions, debate, some of the quiz questions
Interpretation: Debate, putting a play up on its feet, finding the messages in Everyman
Application: Writing their own plays, performing their own plays
Perspective: Looking at why they agree and disagree with the Catholic Church’s decision that theatre is immoral, debating both sides of the issue
Empathy: Understanding why the Catholic Church decided to ban theatre, and why they decided to bring it back, having respect for the playwright and performing the play according to their writing and wishes
Self-Understanding: Completing a self-assessment after the final performance, examining their reasons for doing theatre and expressing them to others
Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the value of theatre by presenting their advocacy projects and their understanding of Morality/Miracle/Mystery plays by participating in discussion.
Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of what makes a good play by revising their scripts and beginning work on putting some of them up on their feet.
Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of playwriting and how to get a play on its feet from the page by rehearsing and revising their scenes.
Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of playwriting and getting a play up on its feet as well as finding the moral of the play by performing each other’s scripts.
