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.
Materials Needed:
Access to the prop/costume closet, rubrics for grading playwrights and actors (and directors).
Hook:
We are performing today! Take 10 minutes to make sure you are ready and have all of your props, costumes, etc.
Performances:
Number the board with the number of groups you have – 1-5 if you have 5 groups, 1-10 if you have 10 groups, etc. and when their rehearsal time is up, announce that the playwright should come sign their group up for a performance slot on the board.
Perform in the order listed on the board.
After each performance, ask the audience for their reactions to this play. What was the message/moral?
Grade playwrights and actors separately according to the attached rubrics
Self-Assessment:
After the performances are through, ask the students to get out a piece of paper and assess their group in writing. What went well in the final performance? What went wrong? How well did the group work together to portray the play’s message? How could the group have worked better? How did I contribute to this scene? How could I have contributed more to this scene?
Collect these assessments and use them to help with grading the scenes. Give each student who turns in a thoughtful self assessment 10 points.
Quiz:
Give the students time to study for a short quiz at the end of the period. Tell them to study their notes on Medieval theatre.
Quiz: 1. What is a Morality play? (a play that teaches the audience how to live their lives and how to be a good Catholic)
Which Medieval play category would a play about Adam and Eve fit into? (Mystery)
Which Medieval play category tells the stories of the Saints? (Miracle)
Why did the Catholic Church ban the theatre? (because they believed it to be immoral – especially all of the violence shown onstage)
Why did the Catholic Church bring theatre back? (because they recognized that theatre is an effective teaching tool, and because the common Catholics had no idea what they were supposed to do or not do and plays were a simple fix)
Collect these and grade them out of 5 – 1 point per question.
