An English credit built around drama?

[K&Rs Mom]

Did I just imagine that someone here had done this?  Searching isn't getting me anywhere.

 

I'm considering designing a class for my theatre kid, for English/Literature credit, based on mostly (entirely) plays - starting with the Greeks or possibly Chinese if I can find anything, and working up chronologically to modern works.  Kind of like a "great books" of the stage.  I really thought I remembered reading about someone else doing this, so if it was you, please help me out!  If it wasn't you, I'd still love to hear any suggestions.  

 

What plays must I include?  Where can I find study guides and/or where can I find a recording of a performance?  We live in a small town, so not much chance of live performances but maybe we could swing a trip somewhere for one or two shows.  

 

Of the three remaining years of English for her, I had planned BritLit, American Lit, and 20th Century Lit - which should I skip or combine?

 

She's halfway through a drama class at the local PS, but it's mostly learning to be comfortable on stage, now they're starting some stagecraft, they've watched two movies made from plays, but not really analyzed them much (more comprehension, "were you actually watching" type questions).

 

Thanks!

[klmama]

When I was in high school I took a half credit English course called "Play Reading."  Dull name, but that's what we did.

 

A few suggestions:

 

Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex)

Antigone

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, MacBeth, Hamlet, Much Ado about Nothing, Midsummer Night's Dream, and/or The Tempest

Tartuffe

Candide

The Importance of Being Earnest

Cyrano de Bergerac

Pygmalion

A Doll's House

Arsenic and Old Lace

The Cherry Orchard

Our Town

A Streetcar Named Desire

The Glass Menagerie

 

I don't like the last three, but many high schools cover them. 

 

If you added more and stretched this to a full year, I would eliminate the 20th century course and just include British and American 20th century books you really want her to read in the other courses.  Or, if there are world lit books you want her to read, eliminate British as a separate class and include British works in a world lit class.  However, I would likely only make drama reading a semester course and make the other semester either a composition course or a speech course or a mixture of the two. 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2016 by klmama

[K&Rs Mom]

Thanks, that's the kind of list I was thinking (and had a couple I hadn't considered).  

 

I wanted 20th Century to include a few world authors who don't fit other places (like Solzhenitsyn), but I could probably fit that into a semester and plays for a semester.  

 

If anyone has any resources for non-European drama, I'd love to include some of that but am really not familiar with any.

[katilac]

My kids took a drama class that covered commedia dell'arte (Italian) and kabuki (Japanese). 

 

This link on theater history has some information on those topics and many more, it might be helpful: 

 

http://www.theatrehistory.com/index.html

[katilac]

Also, search for ethnic festivals in your area. They often feature live performances, sometimes including selected scenes from plays or lectures about the type of theater common to that area/country. 

[Loesje22000]

I hope to get inspirated by this thread, I personally loath reading plays...

But for next year I planned this:

http://www.classicalcomics.com/titles/an-inspector-calls.html

[jetzmama]

My ds is not a drama lover by any stretch, yet thoroughly enjoyed (and thrived) in a class called Rediscovering Shakespeare by The Potters's School.  They read two plays in the spring semester (Romeo & Juliet, Othello), including analysis of the historical context, literary elements used, perspective analysis, writing assignments, reading out-loud during class, a stage design project, and more.  The final project was the student's choice of a shorter Shakespeare play to read, write a paper about, and present to the class.  My son did not at all enjoy Taming of the Shrew with a co-op the previous semester, but the TPS class really made it come alive for him. 

 

I realize this isn't exactly what you are looking for, but thought I'd throw it out there as an example of how a reputable online school uses drama for English credit.  We did the tragedies in the 2nd semester, but the syllabus for the comedies in the first semester can be found by searching 'The Potter's School Rediscovering Shakespeare'.  (It won't let me post the link for some reason. Computer has been wonky today!). 

 

If you will be near any universities, might not hurt to check out their drama center.  Usually they have some excellent offerings!  Wonder if they'd offer a ticket discount if they knew a student wanted to tour their school during the weekend of a specific performance?  Hmmm... I may need to ask that!  

[wintermom]

It sounds like a really great way to tie in your dd's interest in drama with literature studies. I have pretty much no expertise in drama (or literature!), but I have been a volunteer at our community theatre for a couple years, and my dc are involved in drama and opera. I'm noticing some really interesting workshops that our community theatre (or others in the area) have offered over the years, and they sound like they'd be wonderful additions to serious drama education. One workshop was for masks - acting with masks, the history around it, the stock characters, and how to use the body to tell a story. There may be opportunities for your dd to plug into various workshops in your region.

 

I'd probably expand a drama and lit class to include a historical component well beyond the time and location you mentioned. Your initial list of British, American and 20th c. just seems a rather narrow focus. I'd include Greek drama and ancient stories, as well as other cultures and geographical locations. And PP mentioned Japanese and Italian theatre, which would be excellent. The Italian theatre also expanded into origin of opera. 

 

Ok, so maybe this would be more than an English credit, but it might be stretched to include history as well. ;)

[DebbS]

Colleges are going to want to see some composition credit somewhere in there. You can cover that by doing various kinds of writing assignments (research paper, comparison essay, persuasive essay, book report, etc...) within literature, history or other subjects.  That's what we did. I just added up the hours and when they had spent 60 to 70 on writing, I gave them a one semester course. That's 4 to 6  essays depending on the length. Ours were usually 3 to 5 pages each with one 6 to 8 page essay and one 12 to 15 page essay for the long paper experience. So, in total they wrote about 10 formal essays in high school. In addition they were assigned at least one homework question weekly that required a half to a full page written answer. They each earned 2 semesters of composition credit in high school, which is what the colleges wanted to see.