How to Teach Students to Self-Stage in Drama

Getting students to independently stage scenes can be challenging! Read on to discover five ideas and strategies to teach students how to self-stage in drama.

What is Self-Staging?

Self-staging involves the transfer of creative responsibility from the teacher to groups of students, when staging or devising a scene. Usually, a teacher may model certain processes prior to the independent task and then circulate the room to coach groups. Self-staging happens in about 90% of my drama classes, whether that be through speedy warmups or longer focus tasks. 

The Joys of Groupwork

Groupwork has always been one of my favourite features of the drama classroom. I can’t think of any other subject in the school experience which relies so heavily on frequent collaboration between students. As drama teachers, we know that groupwork fosters active listening, turn taking, empathy and negotiations. It also emulates the types of scenarios that students will undoubtedly face in the workplace. However, when it comes to guiding students to stage and rehearse scenes in a team, problems begin to creep in. 

Some Problems When Self-Staging 

Unfortunately, groupwork is far from plain sailing. There are common issues teachers face when trying to teach students to self-stage in drama. Usually groups are either:

• Uncooperative
• Directionless
• Overfamiliar
• Overwhelmed
• Indecisive
• Or chaotic!

Some of these issues may be solved through finding the most harmonious groupings, whether by their or your own choosing. However, this blog post in less concerned with the finding the perfect mix of pupils (it rarely happens) and is focused on what comes after the group is formed. That is of course, teaching students to self-stage in drama.

How to Teach Students to Self-Stage in Drama

I have compiled a list of six actionable strategies which will hopefully move learners from dependence to independence, when staging. Some ideas are designed for the midst of groupwork, while others can be delivered during your exposition to teach students how to self-stage in drama.

Dual Code the Process

Firstly, I like to break down the directing process into concrete steps which my learners can always refer to. I will always talk the students through the steps, while supporting my explanation with a simple visual graphic. Thus tapping into some dual-coding. These are examples which I always use and display on the board, while circulating the room… 

When the groups are engaged (or maybe disengaged) in the self-staging process, I can double check that they have completed all the necessary steps and/or highlight the step in which they are stuck on.

I Do, We Do, You Do

Secondly, there’s the gradual release of responsibility model, which almost all educators have experience with. However, as drama teachers are we truly monopolising on all of its benefits? In case you haven’t heard of this model, in a nutshell it involves the transference of learning responsibility from teacher to student, via worked examples, modelling, guided practice, collaborative learning and independent work. The theory behind the model originated with Pearson and Gallagher, inspired by the work of Vygotsky. 

The ‘I do, we do, you do’ model is aptly suited to teach students how to self-stage in drama and I often use it to give the learners a starting point. In practice, I demonstrate with the help of student volunteers, how I would stage the beginning of a scene, allowing moments for the class to contribute ideas. This is rather like a ‘fill in the gaps’ activity. After modelling the beginning of a scene, I then advise students to recreate what we just made, if they are struggling to know where to start during independent practice. 

Fixed Focus Cards

Next, I would like to introduce you to one of the most helpful strategies, which has really developed how I teach students how to self-stage in drama. Fixed focus cards are post-it notes or mini whiteboards which you can give to individual groups, which have specific improvement targets written on. For example, you may write ‘proxemics’, ‘backs to audience’, ‘emphasis’, ‘tone’ or ‘facial expressions’ on the card and explain how you are going to return in a few minutes time to observe their new target in action. After giving the groups a card with the word or phrase, you may wish to model how to implement the feedback.

Overall, this is a great use of formative assessment of learning (AfL), as the learners know exactly how to improve their work, without becoming overwhelmed with lots of verbal feedback.

Watch the Professionals

Subsequently, you may find that showing your students short clips of live theatre, equally beneficial. Resources such as YouTube, Digital Theatre + and Drama Online can offer educators ample opportunities to show students exactly what ‘success’ looks like. I always observe a marked improvement in the students’ group pieces, after they have watched a professional version of the scene being performed. 

Although, watching a performance and then re-doing a scene is not enough to teach students how to self-stage in drama. You must demystify the process for the students, ask questions to guide their thinking and narrate what you deem effective in a professional performance.

Short ‘turn and talk’ questions can aid you and the learners to unpick the scene. Some examples include…

1. How did X use his voice to convey his emotions in the scene?
2. Why did the director change the proxemics at this moment?
3. Name three physical gestures used by X during the monologue.

Lights Up, Lights Down

After reading The Viewpoints Book by Anne Bogart and Tina Landau, I adapted one of their exercises for use in my classroom. I employ Lights Up, Lights Down to encourage learners to transform their scene into a series of snapshots/still images. This works well for particularly long scenes, in which we have a lot of action taking place. Learners must come up with several still images for key moments in the scene first, before joining the dots with the dialogue later. 

For example, a group may come up with a still image for the start, the middle and the end. Then each group can perform these still images in succession, using the Lights Up, Lights Down convention. When you say lights up all those in the audience open their eyes and observe the image, then when you say lights down, everyone closes their eyes while the actors rearrange themselves in the next image. 

This exercise can really help scaffold the process, while aiding to teach students how to self-stage in drama. 

Want Some More?

If you are still struggling to teach students how to self-stage in drama, then take a look at this TheatreFolk course which may illuminate the process even further https://www.theatrefolk.com/blog/scene-self-staging.