HS Theatre Arts

Students in the Senior Theatre Arts Classes (Grade 9 and Grade 11/12) have been working on the Script to Performance Unit, with a central focus on bringing a piece of literature ‘alive’ on the stage. The importance of the process of theatre, that is, from the reading of a text, to the final performance, was an integral component of the unit.

After choosing suitable scripts for the performances, students identified characteristics of each of the given characters and the casting of the scenes took place. Students then considered their given character’s personality traits, motivation in the scene, character objective(s) and interaction with other characters on the stage.  This enabled the actors to move on further with the process of bringing the scenes to the stage.

Students then considered their character in terms of movement, body gestures and vocal communication.  During the process, the performers worked on this part of their acting. The stage blocking of the scene was created and perfected. Students worked on the memorization of their lines and their cues. They became more familiar with their entrances and exits and music was finally added for scenic atmosphere.

The group developed their characters during the rehearsal process and consistently reflected on their acting and that of the others in the class. The classes were creative in their theatrical journey and grew in confidence as the weeks went by during the rehearsal process.

Students in both classes performed their scenes in the Secondary Production of Falling. The Grade 9 group performed a scene from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The group brought the audience imaginatively to the Chocolate Room in the factory with the characters, Willy Wonka, Grandpa Joe and Charlie Bucket. The actors were flexible and open-minded to the involvement of the Elementary students as Oompa-Loompas in the scene and the two parts were integrated successfully together.

The Senior Theatre Arts class magically transformed the stage into Wonderland with their scenes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The audience was taken along this journey with the central character, Alice, who spends her time, feeling very confused and bewildered at all she experiences in Wonderland.  

The audience, along with Alice, has the opportunity to meet the grumpy and wise Caterpillar, the Chesire Cat who is constantly appearing and disappearing, and the comical twins; Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, who think fighting over an old rattle before tea is a rather fine idea. The students from this class embraced their characters and worked harmoniously as a drama ensemble during this unit. Both groups demonstrated their acting talents during the Secondary School Production and revealed themselves to be creative risk takers during the theatrical process of the Script to Performance unit.

MS Bahasa Indonesia

Middle school students have been learning how to perform transactions of buying and selling in Bahasa. At the beginning of the unit, they were introduced to the general vocabulary of items they usually buy. Examples of the vocabulary are: clothing, shoes, stationery, and food. They were also asked to bring objects from home to be used in class as training materials. In the classroom, a small shop was prepared to display the items they brought from home and are arranged like stalls.  

Next, they learned about the Rupiah. The students were given a price for the items they brought and learned to say the price in Bahasa. They practiced asking the price of these items by saying “Berapa harganya?” Or  “Berapa harga (name of the item)?” Then they answered with “Harganya…” for those who already have a little knowledge of Indonesian, they tend to ask with informal word structures, such as “Ini harganya berapa?”. In this unit they are expected to be able to use a formal sentence structure by saying or using question words at the beginning of the sentence.

After knowing how to say the price, they learned how to write the price in word format. After that, they learn about using the expression “Wah, mahal sekali!” (Wow, so expensive!) and “Boleh kurang?” (Can you lower the price?)  At the end of this unit, students are expected to be able to bargain and perform as a seller and/or buyer in front of the class.

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