1.2 Arts and culture: drama - dialogue and mime

Arts and culture

Grade 6

Personal and social skills

Module 3

Drama: dialogue and mime

Activity 1:

To develop dialogue with a partner

[lo 3.5]

DIALOGUE

Dialogue: conversation between two or more people; an exchange of options; discussion; lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction; a passage of conversation in literary or dramatic work; a literary composition in the form of dialogue

The Collins Dictionary and Thesaurus

Exercise 1

Imagine and then respond verbally to the following words:

• Note that the voice will spontaneously rise upwards.
• Whatever is connected to the upward flow of life, with energy and amazement, rapture or fright, the voice will go up.
• Explore other words or phrases that will have the voice go up lightly.
• Imagine and then respond to the following words:

• Whatever is bound to the ebbing of energy, with apathy or disillusionment, will descend along the scale of sound.
• Explore other words and phrases that will have this colour in their voices.

Exercise 2:

• The educator will present you with a few phrases and you have to interpret the phrases in different ways.

Example:

Tonight we shall be hearing some wonderful singing

• If we are guided by the meaning of the phrase, we should place the accent on the direct meaning of the phrase – singing.
• Imagine the phrase uttered by an effusive person whose room is plastered with pictures and posters of the singer.
• Imagine him to be one who manages to ooze with rapture at every concert given by his idol.
• Imagine how such a person might utter that phrase – the stressing of the word will be on wonderful .
• Imagine an old professor speaking – to him singing is a fine and subtle art demanding culture and the knowledge of many craft secrets.
• The professor speaks with contempt of many familiar singers.
• The professor will utter this phrase in an altogether different manner than that of the enthusiast – emphasis on singing.
• Imagine the phrase is spoken by a person who has tried many times to attend concerts of this singer – accent on we shall hear.

Dialogue

• The dramatist must dramatise his material.
• It must be transformed into action and conversation.

Exercise 3:

• Write a short scene – one folio page – about a conversation between two people.
• Choose any two characters.
• Divide into pairs.

• Read the dialogue and react to each other accordingly.
• Decide which dialogue is the best.
• Take the ‘winning’ dialogue and interpret it in different settings, moods and with different emotions.

Activity 2:

To assume leader and follower roles in mime

[lo 3.4]

MIME

Mime is the theatrical technique of expressing an idea or mood or portraying a character entirely by gesture and bodily movement without the use of words .

It depends on the skills of the actor how he creates his character and environment through the physical movements of his whole body.

Exercise 4

• Divide into pairs.
• Face each other.
• One has to be the leader and one has to be the follower.
• You will be given verbal instructions by your educator and you will have to follow the instructions physically while facing each other e.g. “lift your right leg”, “catch a ball”, “there is water falling on your head”, “clean your face”, etc.
• Plan the instructions beforehand.

Exercise 5

• Take five minutes to prepare a short “leader and follower” mime.
• Make sure that you show clarity in movement.
• Make sure you portray a full range of motion when executing your movements.

• Make sure the story or message is clear.
• Perform your mimes to the rest of the class.
• Choose their favourite mime from the class.
• Follow the ‘winning’ pair with their movements.

Hints:

• It is important to create class structure and control, especially with a large number of learners.
• Try to maintain a balance between give and take, concentration and relaxation, freedom and restriction.
• Set clear aims and rules.
• Be enthusiastic, caring and encouraging.
• Do not talk too much.
• Lead the learners to discover and wait for the moment when it happens.
• React to the ideas and feelings of the class.
• Encourage creativity.
• Your instructions must be brief and clear.
• Be well-prepared and adaptable.
• Keep moving among the learners and see if they understand the instructions. Encourage them if necessary.
• Let the class end on a high note.
• Support what is good and try to ignore the mistakes – feedback must be constructive – not destructive.

Assessment