In the following list, you'll notice that the major skill categories are addressed at each age level, but the complexity of the tasks increase. As students continue with us over time, they build on their early experience to create a strong understanding of the theatrical process. As students play theatre games and develop performance pieces, they not only gain acting skills, but public speaking, teamwork and problem solving skills and self-confidence.
PreK- K Major Skills:
Ensemble skills:
Engage in fantasy play- learn to pretend as part of a group
Able to listen to other actors and director
Stage Presence:
Speak loudly and clearly
Face toward the audience
Begin to be aware of sharing the story with the audience
Improvisation:
Improvise short lines as part of a story
Characterization:
Present various character movement and voice:
animals, different professions, and human characters
Present emotion physically and vocally
Understand that each character moves and speaks differently
Audience Skills:
Able to watch others perform and give positive feedback in the form of applause
Vocabulary:
Imagination
Audience
Emotion
Character
Costume
Prop
______________________________________________________
K-1- Major Skills:
Ensemble skills:
Participate in a scripted performance, listening to other actors and director
Stage Presence:
Speak a character’s lines loudly and clearly
Able to learn and remember blocking
Aware of their body in relation to other actors onstage
Able to use simple props as part of a performance
Improvisation:
Improvise in theatre games in order to develop and understand scripted character
Characterization:
Observe and describe the traits of a character
Present a specific character’s emotion physically and vocally
Understand that each character moves and speaks differently
Audience Skills:
Able to watch others perform and give positive feedback in the form of compliments
Vocabulary:
Actor
Setting
Play
Plot
Improvisation
______________________________________________________
2-3- Major Skills:
Ensemble skills:
Use problem solving and cooperative skills to support fellow actors
Know how to solve problems when actors forget lines or blocking onstage
Take responsibility for their role, memorizing lines and blocking
Take responsibility for props and follow theatrical etiquette for handling them
Stage Presence:
Speak a character’s lines loudly and clearly, using appropriate emotion.
Learn and remember blocking
Perform blocking confidently, adding simple character-specific details
Understand the basic stage areas (downstage, upstage, etc.)
Improvisation:
Understand the basic rules of improvisation:
Say yes, make others look great, accept ideas
Verbally and non-verbally improvise in character
Characterization:
Understand that each character has specific, unique traits
Create simple “stage business” appropriate for their character
Listen in character
Present a specific character’s emotion physically and vocally
Take risks to create a character who is very different than themselves
Audience Skills:
Watch others perform and give positive feedback
Self-evaluate their own and the group’s performance
Vocabulary:
Scene
Sets
Conflict
Blocking
Stage Areas
Projection
______________________________________________________
4-5- Major Skills:
Ensemble skills:
Use problem solving and cooperative skills to support fellow actors
Set performance goals for themselves and make specific choices to achieve them
Take responsibility for the show as a whole: moving set pieces, remembering transitions and helping one another
Maintain a rehearsal script where they keep blocking and characterization notes
Stage Presence:
Speak a character’s lines loudly and clearly, using appropriate emotion.
Learn and remember complex blocking
Self-adjust and create stage pictures where all fellow actors can be seen
Improvisation:
Play improv games consistently playing by the rules
Play improv games that have multiple objectives
Able to verbally and non-verbally improvise in character
Characterization:
Able to take on and maintain a character throughout the show
Able to create specific gestures and reactions appropriate for their character
Able to step into a character’s shoes and understand their unique motivations and objectives
Audience Skills:
Able to watch others perform and give constructive criticism
Able to self-evaluate their own and the group’s performance and offer positive suggestions
Vocabulary:
Climax
Objectives
Motivation
Resolution
Monologue
Dialogue
_______________________________________________________
Middle School- Major Skills:
Ensemble skills:
Participate in creating a safe environment, where fellow actors feel comfortable taking risks and trying new things
Supporting and encouraging fellow actors, onstage and off
Stage Presence:
Take on and maintain a character through show, or create unique contrasting characters which stand apart physically, vocally and emotionally
Take on Shakespearian roles, understanding how to deliver complicated language
Take on contemporary roles, creating believable and fully fleshed-out characters
Understand the basic audition process, including monologues and cold-readings, so they are able to audition with confidence
Improvisation:
Play complex improvisational games which require multiple objectives
Verbally and non-verbally improvise in character, understanding how to do so without stealing focus
Characterization:
Understand a character’s subtext (what is said beneath the lines)
Understand and use the concept of “timing” in line delivery
Create character actions which exhibit tension and suspense, or high emotion, such as love, fear, anger, jealousy, etc.
Create a “back-story” for their character
Audience Skills:
Able to watch others perform and give constructive criticism
Able to self-evaluate their own and the group’s performance and offer positive suggestions
Vocabulary:
Action/Reaction
Subtext
Timing
Cold Reading
Ensemble
