KS3/4 Drama - Engaging with a Difficult Text - Dr Faustus

Description

This programme features an inspiring example of one teacher's approach to engaging students with the meaning and language of a "difficult" text.

At Haggerston School for Girls, east London, head of drama Rachel Ray Choudhuri's mixed-ability Year 10 GCSE group tackle their first piece of coursework text - the final speech of Marlowe's Tragical History of Dr Faustus, written in the late 16th century.

Exercises featured include:

• A warm-up linked to paranoia and tension
• A sequence of short exercises on desire, ambition and selling your soul, which helps encourage pupils to make connections with popular film and television storylines
• A look at the text itself: despite initial reservations, they develop imaginative work that includes Marlowe's original language
• Devising ways of involving four or five performers in each piece, despite the text being a soliloquy
• Evaluation of each others' work
• Pupils documenting the lesson for themselves and reflecting on the value of this process

Part of the series: Inspirations