China 九年级（初三） Arts: Drama (incl. xiqu)

1. Sem.1 U1 Starting to create

Inspiration; styles; relationships between characters

Coming soon

2. Sem.1 U2 The director's view

Second creation; drama workshop

• Second Creation: How a Director Reads a Script, and Drama Workshop Exercises – A writer makes the first creation: the script. A director makes the second creation: the stage show. The director reads the script and decides what it means, then shows that meaning with distance between actors, where they face, light, pace and sound. The same line can be warm or cold depending on these choices. A drama workshop is a practice session where a group does warm-ups and exercises such as mirror, freeze frame and role swap to find ideas and trust each other.

3. Sem.1 U3 Stage transformation

Costume/make-up; sound design; music

• Stage Transformation: Costume, Make-up, Sound Effects and Incidental Music – On stage, four tools transform a plain actor and an empty room into a story. Costume shows who a character is: rank, work, age and time. Make-up changes the face, so age and mood can be seen from far away under stage lights. Sound effects are noises such as thunder or a door slam that tell us about places and events we cannot see. Incidental music plays under the action to create mood: slow and low music can feel sad, fast and high music can feel thrilling or scary.

4. Sem.1 U4 Collaboration

Producer; putting on a show

• Arts Management: Organising a Live Show – Arts management is the work of turning an artistic idea into a show that reaches an audience. Every live performance needs artistic, technical and administrative people, and many of them work freelance, do several jobs and find work through networks. A show is a project: idea, planning, rehearsal, performance and sometimes a tour. Managers plan the schedule, make a budget where income (tickets, grants, sponsors) covers costs (fees, venue, equipment, advertising), promote the event with posters and social media, keep everyone safe, and treat artists and audiences with respect. Digital tools have changed how shows are made, sold and shared.

5. Sem.2 U1 From history

Ancient drama; Chinese opera; classics renewed

Coming soon

6. Sem.2 U2 Spoken drama in China

Awakening; development; voice of the times

• Spoken Drama in China: Awakening, Growth and the Voice of the Times – Spoken drama (huaju) is theatre made mainly of speech, not song. It began in 1907 with Chinese students in Japan, grew with new ideas after 1918, gave landmark plays like Thunderstorm (1934) and Teahouse (1958), moved to the street in hard times, and today lives in many small theatres. Each play is the voice of the time it was written in.

7. Sem.2 U3 Dialogue

Eastern and Western drama; exchange

• Eastern and Western Drama: Comparing Traditions and Cultural Exchange – Eastern traditions such as Chinese xiqu, Japanese Noh and Indian Kathakali mix song, dance and speech on a bare, symbolic stage. Western tradition, from Greek drama to realism, leans on words and a believable set. Neither is better. Ideas have travelled both ways: Shakespeare and Ibsen to Asia, and Asian acting to Brecht and modern directors in Europe.

8. Sem.2 U4 The future is here

Forms and future of drama

• Forms and Future of Drama: New Forms and Technology in Theatre – Drama keeps changing. New forms include immersive and site-specific theatre, devised and physical theatre, and online or hybrid shows. Technology adds projection, livestream, sensors, VR and digital characters. What does not change is the heart of drama: live actors, a story and an audience.