Directing a play for your drama class? No idea where to start? OR maybe you have done this one hundred times before, you’re a seasoned director – but you’re looking for a fresh perspective and to take it back to basics…? I got you.
To start, you need a template that you can reuse over and over again each year as a starting point (so that you know you have covered all of your planning bases). I can help you out with my free and editable Canva template. This breaks down planning your class production into 6 simple steps to get YOU ready for directing a play!
So, what’s my story?
Why am I here, on the internet, reaching out to fellow drama teachers like YOU about directing a class play….. Let me tell you. I am a high school drama teacher based in New Zealand. I have been teaching for 5 years and I LOVE TEACHING DRAMA. Starting out, I didn’t have much to go off of, and asking for advice from other teachers sometimes felt overwhelming. I am in the process of directing one of my class productions for the year and wanted to take note of the things I wish I had been told from day one. Hopefully this post helps to support other drama teachers out there on a similar learning journey.
I have decided to create all of the resources, planning templates, and lesson plans that I wish I had been given when I first started teaching drama, my production planning template is one of them!
Read this if you’re asking – where do I even begin with directing a class play?
The following post will guide you through the VERY FIRST steps you should think about when directing your class play. When I first started teaching drama, putting on a class play seemed overwhelming, I am here to help YOU enjoy and trust in the process. Directing a play involves MANY different things. This blog post is to provide you with a starting point…
1. How to choose a Drama Production?!
One question that tends to come up a lot in the drama teaching community is – does the teacher choose the class play in collaboration with the students? My answer, initially, is NO!
When directing a class play there are SO many factors that you have to consider. You need to choose a play that will;
- Work with the students that you have in front of you
- Meet the expectations of the school environment
- Ideally, link back into some prior learning from earlier in the school year
- Be affordable in terms of performance rights, royalties, and permissions
- Be achievable in the time frame you have to go off of
The end goal of the drama class production (at least for my high school students) is to allow them to perform in a live production where they play a ‘substantial’ role as stated in the assessment criteria, to achieve (5 specifically) NCEA Credits. Now, depending on your country and situation, you may or may not have this same goal. The MAIN goal is for the students to enjoy the process and get something out of it, like the confidence to go on stage, or the ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with others inside and outside of the classroom. But let’s be real – so long as the assessment is a milestone all students have to reach – as a teacher focused on getting the students to pass…. We need to take into consideration the achievement standard at hand and how we will provide an opportunity for every student in the performance to gain those credits.
When initially choosing a play…
I tend to ask my friends in the local theatre community for suggestions, who have experience putting on plays. After this, I narrow down the suggestions to ones that would work with the students I have in front of me, as well as the school-appropriate ones (as it were). If you narrow it down to a couple of options, THEN you can ask the class’s opinion on the narrowed-down list. Giving them options to choose from is fine – it gives them a say without being too broad.
Some good places to look for class plays are Playmarket, or reaching out to the community on Dramanet. If you are a drama teacher in New Zealand and aren’t already signed up for the Dramanet email subscription, I highly recommend this as your go-to for any questions you may have – it is likely (in a previous email) that another drama teacher has already asked something similar.
2. Choosing your theme/style when directing a play!
When directing a class play, I tend to go for a play that ties in well with something previously studied earlier in the year to reinforce the students’ prior learning. For example, this year during term 1 my students had been assessed on Drama Techniques. This assessment requires the students to use voice, body, movement, and space in a scene to portray characters effectively. For this, my class and I studied the theatre form of farce using scenes from the play The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard for their assessment. SO, for their production standard later in the year, I have decided to go for 7 Keys to Baldpate by George M.Cohan which is another murder mystery melodramatic farce that ties into the SAME theatre form we researched earlier in the year. See what I mean? LINKS TO PRIOR LEARNING. However, sometimes this isn’t always possible – in which case – choose something that is fun and accessible for the students – and you can’t go wrong!
3. Can we do a student-written play?
Some teachers like to combine the devising standard with the production standard where the students create their work from scratch to perform. Look, if you’re ballsy – go for it. In my experience (and in my humble opinion) It is going to be easier for you to use a script and a play that is existing and has been successfully performed in the past. Asking other teachers what plays they have used at their schools can help! But be aware of the demographic and learning needs of your students – you need to cater to the beautiful individuals that are sitting in front of you. I haven’t used a student-written script before HOWEVER, I have taken a script and re-written it to suit our kids and our context – which turned out to be a great success – for some plays – you will need to apply for specific rights to adapt the writing of the script – so that’s something to check if you go down this road.
4. Where will you perform it? Will there be a door charge?
The cheapest option…? Most likely your school hall! Contact the person who is in charge of bookings and get in there quickly! If you have a boujee school that has a theatre EVEN MORE EPIC! Use that! However, if you are in a position (like I am currently) where you don’t only NOT have access to the school hall, but also don’t have access to the drama classroom. It can seem like you’re in a bit of a pickle. BUT never fear – I have a solution for you. Make the most of your local community theatres! As a COMMUNITY theatre – supporting local schools is part of what the theatres do! Schools can perform at local theatres if organised in advance for a hire fee (that varies depending on the theatre).
Not only can being in contact with your local theatre benefit you in terms of performance space. But if you decide to put on a play that the theatre has done before (or any play really!) – they already have all of the props, costumes, and set that you could need and will happily lend these things to you for a hire fee. Being in communication with your local theatre can also be great in terms of providing audition and performance opportunities for your students once they leave school (or while they are at school depending on their workload). Support your local theatre, and they will support you!
5. Who is your audience? Cater to them!
It is important to know who your audience is going to be and to cater to them as much as possible. If you’re inviting the local community, be aware of your demographic and whether young kids will be coming to the show etc. Sometimes, you may choose that for a live audience you would just like a different class to see the performance or some invited teachers. This is a fine call to make, so long as the students are still performing to a ‘live audience’ it meets the needs of the assessment criteria to do this. Putting on a class production looked different during the Covid era, students had to perform online, perform to smaller audience numbers, or perform outside. Be aware that if you need to – you can adapt your audience and venue as much as you see fit, so long as it’s the right thing to do situationally and for the students in front of you.
6. What does your budget allow for?
When directing a class play, from the beginning, be aware of your budget and how much you can afford to spend. As mentioned earlier – if you form a positive relationship with your local community theatre, often they are happy to give a discount for schools on hiring their props, set, and costumes. If you need props, it can also be a good idea to send out an all-staff email and see if anyone has what you’re looking for lying around at home to save you some cash. If you would like to save money on buying the rights to a show – after a play has been around for more than 100 years the rights tend to cost next to nothing or be completely free!! This is the same for any of Shakespeare’s works – seeing as he was around so long ago, you do not need to pay for the rights to use his plays.
7. What is the run time?
Know the run time of your show. I tend to let my seniors do a full-length play and my juniors do a one-act play or a combination of multiple scenes rather than a play. I find that one act can feel more accessible and low-pressure. Be aware that audience members don’t generally want to be sitting watching a show for 2 hours either, so be sure to break your performance up with an interval if it is longer than a one-act play. If you’re going to do a full-length play and a one-act in the same year – I suggest getting the full-length play done first – as the one-act will seem like a piece of cake in comparison!!
8. How long do you have?
How long do you have to get this show on the road? For me, I usually have around a 10-week term to get a show on the stage. This is why I came up with a 10-week rehearsal schedule in my free Canva production planner. I use this for every one of my rehearsal schedules early in the process. I will delegate specific scenes to specific days and will make sure I know which characters I need for which dates so that EVERY student does not need to come to every rehearsal unless they are needed. Planning is SO important. Your plans will change and that’s okay! But to go in with a solid game plan of when you will rehearse what will set you up for success. ALWAYS, work backwards from the performance date. Know which date you will be performing on – and from there – decide when and how long your rehearsals will be… and which scenes you will do when etc.
9. Who can you bring in to help you?
This is an important one! Directing a play involves far too much for you to be the only one on the scene doing everything. The first thing you need to do is reign in any teachers that are willing to help with props, set, costuming, stage management etc. I usually send out an all-staff email and tend to get a few teachers wanting to be involved in some capacity. It’s great to double up teachers on one job to take the pressure off of someone being in sole charge of something. I have created an email template that you can copy and paste to send to teachers asking for their support – this comes as part of my production planner.
It is important to make the most of your ex-students!
That’s right, they are the perfect people to bring back in and help with production! Why?? They know the school, they know what is expected of the students, and they know what it feels like to get on that stage and perform! Ex-students tend to make good stage management people. Their younger peers tend to look up to and admire them – and therefore, listen to them backstage!! However, make sure you know that the students you choose are responsible. The last community I would ask for support with production is your local theatre community! Like I said earlier in the piece – if you support your local theatre – they will support you! If you get into a jam when it comes to finding costumes or set creation etc. There tends to be someone around that knows what they’re talking about at your local theatre. Trust me – supporting your local theatre will be a game-changer for you!
10. How will student work be assessed for credits?
How will your students be assessed for credits? Things you need to plan…
- When will the students do their written work?? Will you have time during class time? Will it become homework? When will you TEACH them what’s expected of their written work?
- When will they hand in their written component?
- How will you be recording the show? You may need to organise for someone to come in and film the show for you! This means organising a fully charged camera and SD card.
- Invite a moderator! Who is going to help you to assess the students? Give them a free ticket to the show and reserve them a front row seat!
Related Articles from Theatrefolk (a site that I find SUPER helpful):
- Putting on a Class Production – Part 1
- Putting on a Class Production – Part 2
- Creating a Pre-Show Checklist
Still, feeling lost?
I got you covered, download my free class production planner template now, and you can get started straight away with planning and directing your class play.
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