Building Plays from Stories - Arizona Theatre Company

You can use any number of stories to dramatize, but I suggest using stories that arefamiliar to the students as a place to begin. Once they become more comfortable withstory drama, you can then introduce new material.The greater the plot complications and length, the greater demand on time in planning.There is sufficient content to absorb the interest of the average class for severalsessions depending on the length of the period and the age of the participant.Characters are presented in greater depth; hence much more time must be spent ontheir development. Most groups like to consider such questions as:1. What is the character really like?2. Why does the character behave as he or she does?3. What do others think of him or her? Why?4. If the character is not like that, why do others think so?5. How is the character changed, or what has he or she learned as a result of his orher actions?As the participants grow in experience, they will find new ways of telling the story. Somewill want to use narrators; others, many scenes; and some may rearrange the sequenceof events all together. The growing self-confidence of the players releases ideas thatlead to further thinking and experimentation. Each group, regardless of age, becomesmore critical of its efforts as, with the help of the leader, it strives for a higher level ofaccomplishment.ConclusionTime: 15 minutesIt is always important to wrap up each story drama. Find out which part of the processwas the favorite for each participant. Which character did they enjoy playing? Why?Were students concerned with being “wrong”? What made them nervous? How didthey calm their nerves?