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Theatre Arts for Advanced Secondary Schools

Know your characters
Performers need to know the characters they are representing. They have to
know their characters inside out. They need to know their character’s traits,
motivations, goals and conflicts. Performers must give characters bright and
vivid personalities. Performers have to know how to relate to other characters
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and the environment. The characters movements should start from the body and
all actions should spring from the characters themselves. The attributes of the
character will help performers to create a reliable and realistic body language
profile for their characters, based on their personality, background and situation.
Performers must analyse, understand and accept personalities of characters and
assume characters’ roles in a way that conforms to the personalities of characters
and the plot.

Use the space
Performers on stage have the power to create different effects with their bodies.
This is through their movements on stage, how they position themselves and
how they interact with props. For example, performers can use space to show a
character’s status, mood, or intention. If the character is happy, a performer can
move energetically while a sad character can move slowly, with less energy.

Express emotions
One of the most important aspects of body language is expression of emotions.
The performers are required to express their emotions clearly and in a convincing
way. Emotions keep the story moving. This is because they make the audience
feel what the characters feel.

Adapt to the situation
Performers have to be flexible and responsive to changes that might occur. This
is especially the case when body language that was proposed requires abrupt
change because of any situation beyond performer’s control. For example, if the
gestures that were selected appeared to have negative connotation, the performer
should be ready to change without losing focus.

Activity 6.6

Create a short theatre performance. Focus the performance on the challenges
that most students face when they are at school. Perform before your
classmates in your school.

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