Drama Conventions

Drama Education Conventions

DESCRIPTION OF THE UNIT:

Drama conventions are ways of organising time, space and action to create meaning. They allow all members of the group to participate in the drama in an organised and hopefully challenging way. Different conventions can allow for different levels of participation which often means that at one end of the scale individuals can contribute and participate without feeling that they have to do anything embarrassing. While at the same time other individuals can take on a big personal challenge.

OBJECTIVES:

A group experienced in drama will be able to suggest conventions that could be useful to develop the drama. It is important to share these terms with the group from their first drama session. In this way they will be able to make suggestions about form as well as content, and will be improving their drama and theatre skills, knowledge and understanding.

Conventions are not sufficient in themselves to create process drama. It is the transitions and timing, pace and appropriateness of these in relation to the content being considered and feelings and thoughts of the participants that give the drama a dynamic. A string of pre-determined conventions mechanistically worked through will produce a perfunctory piece of work.

APPLIED METHODOLOGIES:

The conventions themselves are drawn from a wide range of sources; theatrical, literary, psychological, therapeutic, the arts etc. Conventions used in one particular way establish a scenario giving clear definitions of role, situation, focus and perspective. They can be used to feed information into the drama and help build the context. They often operate on a narrative or plot level ie what happens next? Used in another way the same conventions can be used to explore areas other than those concerned with narrative, plot development drama and the art form. They can focus on the symbolic dimensions of the work through careful use of signing and reading. They can give the opportunity for individuals to consider their thoughts, emotions, feelings and understandings in relation to the rest of the individuals in the group. Used in such a way conventions also allow for considered reflection from within the dramatic context.

SELECTED CONVENTIONS (see more in the file for download below):

Games:
played together to focus attention, calm down or wake up, to reinforce, or make concrete concepts, to reveal the game structure found in situations.
Narrative/voice-over:
commentary/narration: by the leader or a group member over or in front of the action to create atmosphere, give information, help reflection or move the drama on in time, control the action, etc. In its simplest form narration can be used to control the action.
Supporting sound/sound tracking:
sounds made using voice/body/first instruments which are then used to support action. This may be recorded or done live to create atmosphere, consolidate the context, usually used to fit part of the drama.
Drawing together/collective drawing:
the whole group draw on a very large sheet of paper (pieces taped together) or all contribute to it over a period of time, to pool ideas, share perceptions, consolidate the context.
Hot spot/hot seating:
the group interviews a person in role (the groups may also be in role or not) to build characters, clarify perspectives and the context.
Still images, freeze frame, frozen image, tableaux, set in concrete, photo album:
groups or individuals get into a frozen position which may be looked at, and read, by others to focus closely on one moment or to physically express an abstract concept. The images might be presented as part of the drama as, for example, a photo that has been found, a painting, a sculpture, a statue. This is a very versatile convention and can be used as a form of work in its own right.
Interviews/interrogations:
in pairs or groups to give or gain information and build roles. Examples include detectives, scientists, TV researchers, barristers, members of a jury, oral history, etc.

REFERENCES:

Owens, A. and Barber, K. 2001, Carlisle: Carel Press