Browsing by Author "Dreyer, Magdalena Anna"

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    A road map for devising : in search of comprehensive teaching resources for secondary school drama teachers
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) Dreyer, Magdalena Anna; Hattingh Pretorius, Mareli; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Drama.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the creative collaborative strategies characteristic of South African Workshop Theatre and Devised Theatre. The motivation for this study was to create a possible roadmap that the secondary school drama teacher may consult to guide her facilitation of collaborative performance generating strategies such as: workshop, improvisation and polished improvisation as required by the South African school curriculum for Drama. This study traces the creative collaborative strategies employed by theatre practitioners of South African Workshop Theatre. This form is an amalgamation of creative strategies utilised by theatre makers in the 1970s and 1980s to create performances that explored the dire social effects of apartheid on South African citizens. The creative collaborative strategies employed by practitioners working in this field were rooted in their own stories and experiences and the narratives of real people disempowered by the laws of apartheid. The significance of Devised Theatre lies in its inventive, non-hierarchical and collaborative way of making theatre, which is not tethered to scripts, directors or designers. The open-ended nature of Devised Theatre challenges the drama teacher to structure the devising process in such a way that it keeps the process on track and to ensure positive participation and optimum creative collaborative output. Therefore, I structured the devising process in five stages. They are: (1) planning, designing and conceptualising; (2) research and response to stimuli; (3) discovery through creative collaborative strategies and discussion; (4) selecting, editing and polishing; and (5) finalising of design choices. The most fundamental play making strategy of both South African Workshop Theatre and Devised Theatre is improvisation. The principles of creative, spontaneous play and positive participation that underpin improvisation are explored in relation to the possible effects this creative collaborative process has on the individual learner as well as the group. The study specifically explores the positive life-skills improvisation sanctions and how these skill, if regularly practised can be transferred to other educational practices and contexts. Life skills engendered includes positive and playful collaboration, empathy, deep thinking and whole listening. Particular attention is paid to the role of the teacher in her capacity as facilitator to the devising process. (Hereafter the teacher will be referred to in the female form the sake of brevity.) The study relates how the priciples that underpin the devising practice and impropvisation as a creative collaborative process can enhance teacher practice. This study offers a practical example of how to structure the creative collaborative, thinking and learning oportunities the devising practice offers, in the form of a Workbook for Grade 8 learners, titled, “Conservation: Devising an environmentally conscious performance piece”. The design process as well as the devising strategies employed are discussed to motivate the choices made concerning experiencial learning and reflection on process.