Drama

Drama is an elective course open to all 9th-12th grade students. A full year of Drama will count as one half of a fine arts credit. The class meets Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday during study hall period.

The purpose of the class is to introduce students to the world of theater and acting. Considering the fact that most students will come in with little or no exposure to theater and acting, significant class time will be spent in developing basic skills. Areas of acting technique that will be covered in the class includes:
 * Stage presence
 * Movement
 * Voice
 * Improvisational Acting
 * Character Development

The main focus of the class will be on one big production. This production will be around the end of the first semester or the beginning of the second semester. The exact timing is unknown at the moment because we must locate available space to perform since Chinquapin lacks the necessary facilities for theater productions.

After our big production, the rest of the year will be devoted to a smaller production involving small scenes made up of differing students. These will be a combination of monologues, duets, and ensemble scenes that the students themselves have a hand in selecting. This production will allow the students to have even more of an involvement in the staging of their scenes as they will have to freedom to make some of the choices themselves.

Grading will be based on participation and various assignments given throughout the year that are related to the productions e.g., memorizing lines by a certain time, turning in character evaluations, being prepared for rehearsal, etc. Beside participating and being prepared, there will be no grade given for the actual production. There is already enough pressure on the students to perform in front of an audience. Therefore, if the students have demonstrated through rehearsals that they are ready to perform, no additional pressure will be put on them to "make the grade" with their actual performance.