PGCE Secondary

Lesson Plan

Section A Information
Subject:
BTEC ND
Unit of Work:
Practitioners
Title/Focus of Lesson:
Artaud Workshop

Date:

Time of Lesson:

Class:
Year 12

Number of Pupils:

Duration of Lesson:
1 hour 30mins
Lesson number in unit:

Section B Professional Development Links:

The following QTS Standards (maximum 3) will be addressed:

Action Points from last lesson (see section J of previous lesson plan):

Section C Aims: Select aims related to the Unit of Work (maximum 2)

To provide opportunities for pupils to:
1. Practically explore a range of practitioners theories and techniques
Section D Intended Learning: By the end of the lesson

Differentiation for Groups: By the end of the lesson

Pupils will have learned:

Who Antonin Artaud is and what is meant by the Theatre of Cruelty
That the concepts of universal language, symbolic movements and
actor/audience relationship are key within this theory.

Additional Challenge. These pupils will have learned:

To apply these techniques effectively within a short performance,
pushing themselves physically.
Additional Support. These pupils will have learned:
Who Artaud what and a range of his techniques.

Section E Meeting Individual Needs: Briefly outline the measures you will take to meet the needs of some named pupils:

Section F - Resources Checklist:

Section G Homework / Independent Learning:

PowerPoint Presentation, CD/CD Player.

Section H - Lesson Plan:

N/A

PGCE Secondary
Lesson Plan

Time:

Learning:

Teaching:

Assessment:

10.00

Pupils will be introduced to the practitioner

from the audience perspective to engage
them with the relationship between actor
and audience.

Set up classroom with chairs in a circle in

the middle. Dim the lights and put on music.
Invite pupils in one by one (possibly
blindfolded).
Go around each the group and make them
feel uncomfortable.

Pupils will respond to the situation and,

within discussion, express how they felt.

10.05

The group are offered an opportunity to

discuss their feelings towards the scenario,
again relating to audience reaction.

Raise the lights. Ask each person to

describe how they felt during the exercise in
one word.

Pupils will express honest and justified

responses to the scenario.

10.10

Through the introduction to Artaud, pupils

will begin to understand him as a
practitioner and what the Theatre of
Cruelty is. In discussion, this can be
expanded upon and pupils can engage with
his theories further.

PowerPoint Explains who Artaud was and

introduction to what Theatre of Cruelty is.

Within discussion, pupils will be able to

identify key features of Artauds theories
from the introduction to the practitioner.
They will be able to discuss early reactions
to this before the workshop activities begin.

10.20

Throughout the exercise, pupils will begin to

understand what is meant by pushing actors
to the extreme. They will be challenged to
continue even if they feel they cant.

Extremes: Group to find an area in the

room to stand. Introduce the routine of
reaching up high, reaching to the floor,
stretching out with both hands to the left and
then to the right. Keep a continuous rhythm.
Continue until pupils are fed up and go
beyond this.

Pupils will continue throughout the exercise

to follow the routine. They may respond
when they begin to get fed up, but will
continue despite this. Afterwards they will be
able to discuss why we did this exercise.

10.25

Pupils will begin to understand the idea of a

collective language in which everyone can
share.

Breathing: Sit the group in a circle. One

person in the room begins by focusing on a
particular emotion and trying to establish a
breathing pattern for it. The rest of the group
must try to follow the breathing pattern.
Discuss how this felt.
Select a different person and they must
repeat the exercise with a different emotion.

The group will, by the end of the exercise,

be working together within collective
breathing and create a sense of the emotion
throughout the group.

Discuss the ideas within the PowerPoint.

Cruelty doesnt necessarily mean blood,
guts and pain but the cruelty of physically
pushing the actors and audience to
extremes.

PGCE Secondary
Lesson Plan

10.30

Pupils can begin to develop this universal

language through their understanding of
how we communicate without the use of
words.

10.35

To further develop the understanding of

universal language and developing a scene
without the use of words.

10.40

This exercise begins to develop pupils

understanding of how the physical body can
be used to present extreme images.
Through pushing them to the extreme,
beyond how far they feel they can go, it
reinforces the idea of the extreme.

10.50

Pupils will learn about the power of visual

symbols, rather than naturalistic
representation within performance. They will
learn about Artauds use of this within his
theories.

Language Exercise 1: Have the group

milling around the room in a random
fashion. As they come across others they
should greet them, not with actual words but
with polite sounds of pleasure.
On a signal the liking turns more intense
until it reaches love and finally adoration.
Repeat the exercise, with all the physicality
but using the word hello.
Language Exercise 2: Create a scene in
which the two people are having an
argument, but there must be no talking,
instead it must be made through sounds.
Emotion Line: Ask 7 students to stand in a
line at one end of the room facing the rest of
the group. Give them the emotion panic.
The first in line starts with as slight a
response as possible. The next in line
watches and builds the response a little
further, then the third builds it further, and so
on. Keep working up and down the line as
long as is necessary. Keep pushing them to
take it further and further.
The next group repeat with word anger.
Possible continuation to words suspicion
and love.
Concrete language of symbols: Discuss
the idea of symbols. For example, what do
you think of when you hear the word
horizon?
Eg, boredom is like a ticking clock, anger is
like two dogs fighting over the same bone.
In groups of 4, create physical symbolic
images for the words rejection and deceit.

Pupils will be using only sounds when

walking around the room, but still
understand what is happening and how they
are using their own language.

Pupils will present clear and interesting

scenes using only sounds and the language
between themselves.

Pupils will present clear physical responses

to the words and will push themselves
beyond what they believe to be the stopping
point of the exercise.

Pupils will use the information discussed to

present clear images which show symbolic
representations of the words given.

PGCE Secondary
Lesson Plan

11.00

This exercise relates Artauds theories to

the idea of dreams and surrealism. How
dreams can feel real but be completely
strange.

11.05

Within creating a short piece, pupils will

begin to apply Artauds ideas within
performance, deepening their
understanding.

11.25

Through being audience members, pupils

will be able to respond to the performances
and discuss how they felt as the audience to
this style of performance.

11.30

In the plenary, pupils can relate the work of

Artaud to that of other practitioners and
discuss how they could use certain
elements of this within their own work.

Think about the weirdest dream you have

ever had. Possible share some with the
group.

Main task: In groups of 3-4, create a short

piece in the style of Theatre of Cruelty.
Use ideas of; actor/audience relationship,
symbolic physicality, push to extremes,
universal language.
Present back to the group.
Question: How did they make you feel?

Plenary: Discussion on the practitioner.

Question: What elements did you enjoy/did
you find effective?

Pupils will be able to present back the

strangest dream they can think of and relate
this to the idea of Artaud.

The performances will include a range of

Artauds ideas and be clear and well thought
out.

In response to the performances, pupils will

discuss again the audiences reaction to this
style of theatre and whether these
performances achieved that.
Pupils will be able to relate the work to the
other practitioners studied and identify
elements that they found effective and areas
they possibly wouldnt use.