DRAMA SESSION PLAN

Name: Who, What, Where, When and Why

Day, Time: TBA
Duration: 1 hour per session.
Type: Introduction
This activity plan aims to introduce participants to the basic concepts of theatre. The kids will learn how to
navigate themselves around a stage, how to use story-telling mechanics to create a great story, and how to think like
a fictional character. They will immerse themselves in different fictional environments and stories, and will become
exposed to a variety of tongue twisters, vocal warm-ups and icebreaker activities.

PROCEDURES
Physical warm-ups: stretching, lemon-explosion, countdown. Vocal warmups: spirals, bubbles. Banana song. 10
minutes.
Walk around the environment which will be used as a stage. 5 minutes.
Discussion: What is your favorite animal? Transition to act out favorite animal on stage. 5 minutes.
Mirror game: one participant stands in front of the group, while the rest of the group is in a single line. The group
must imitate the movements of the participant in front of them. 10 minutes.
Machine: A machine is a setting with a particular theme, in which the kids must play an active role. A space machine,
for example, would require the kids to be astronauts, aliens, planets, stars, etc. 10 minutes.
Learn stage directions: Participants must walk/run to the appropriate area of the stage after being taught. They must
repeat the direction given to them by the instructor out-loud before moving. 10 minutes.
Count to 10: A calmer game which requires great focusing skills. The group must count to 10, with each participant
being allowed to only say one number. If more than one person says a number at the same time, the group restarts.
Introduce participants to focus position: legs crossed, hand in front. 10 minutes.

 Cooking show: Each participant takes a turn standing in front of the group, and introducing themselves as a chef.
They then begin to prepare their favorite food for the audience, using no props and only their imagination. This
compliments the visualization piece which the students have previously been introduced to in class. 20 minutes.
Make up a story as a group. Introduce the 3 necessary components of a story (characters, setting and conflict). Each
kid is only allowed to contribute one sentence to the story at a time. 15 minutes.
Dramatic death: Participants learn the difference between what is real and what isnt in a performance, and begin
to understand that what is happening on stage is not real by practicing a dramatic death. They will also learn the
word queue during this activity, as they are expected to die on queue. 5 minutes.
Improvising with props: Use random objects as anything but what they should normally be used for. This helps to
introduce the structuralist thinking approach, in which objects are to be seen as a combination of shapes and colours,
rather than be interpreted further. 10 minutes.
Tongue twisters: She sells seashells by the seashore, Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, maybe my
mommy may move to Miami and maybe my mommy may not. 10 minutes.
Categories game: Participants take turns listing an item or subject from within a category, while maintaining a
rhythm provided by the instructor. 10 minutes.
Learn the difference between a costume, a prop and an object which is part of the set. 5 minutes.
Actor/director: Some kids play the directors of a story and others are the actors. The actors must do whatever the
directors tell them to do, and must freeze after they have performed each instruction given to them. 20 minutes.
Definitions to learn: Director, stage directions (stage left, stage right, center stage, offstage, backstage, upstage,
downstage), script, lyrics, queue, conflict, setting, background, prop, magnify.
Process questions: How would your character be feeling right now? Whats the difference between what you
know and what your character knows? Sure you can see that person in real life, but can your character see them if
they are off-stage? What else can we use to make a better story? What is the conflict in ______?
Total time: 155 minutes.

MATERIALS NEEDED

Random classroom objects, smart-board (to create backgrounds).