Corelli College

GCSE Drama -Record of Work (2012-13)

Unit 2: Exploring Play Texts

Antigone by Sophocles (in an translation by Declan Donnellan)

Session Workshop Content Explorative Strategies

Drama Medium
Drama Elements
Preparation  Explored the background to the Oedipus story leading up to Role Play
Sessions Antigone story Characterisation
 Read through whole play as a class to aid understanding
 Students undertook research into the play, Sophocles, Greek
Theatre and modern productions of ‘Antigone’ and worked in
pairs to create and present a PowerPoint of their findings.
 Off-text improvisation work to bring out themes of family loyalty,
power and politics – based on newspaper article about Euan Blair.
In three’s as Tony Blair and his advisors discussing how they would
deal with the incident where Euan Blair is found drunk and
disorderly shortly after Tony Blair announced tougher penalties
for such behaviour. Discussion about the connections between
this story and the events in Antigone.
 Visually represented the Oedipus story by students holding cards
with each characters name on and walking through the action as
teacher narrates story.
 TV discussion show – off text improvisation/group role play.
Characters from the Oedipus story taking part in a TV discussion
programme (Jerry Springer style). Really helped students
understand the family connections and context of Antigone.
Session 1 Exploring Ismene’s Speech Still Image
(1 hour and  In groups of 4/5 create 2 symbolic Still Images representing Sight Space and/or levels
15mins) and Blindness – incorporate these into the next activity Movement, Mime and
 In groups of 4/5 create instant Still Images in response to the Gesture
following words/ideas taken from Ismene’s speech – try to Spoken Language
incorporate the symbols of sight and/or blindness if you can. Voice
Shame/Law/Punishment/Power/Patience/Authority/Compromise Conventions -chorus
Think about how you might use Space and Levels to enhance your Symbols
work.
 Add in full sentences from the text, use convention of chorus in
speaking the text and in movement (moving and speaking in
unison). Think about how to use voice to highlight certain sections
of the text and bring out themes.
 “He saw his crimes and never saw again”
 “We saw our mother… twist silently at the end of a rope”
 “Our brothers saw the bright crown fall and roll”
 “The King is powerful”
 “We are weak and have no choice but to obey authority”
Link together images using movement and spoken language,
chorus, physical theatre. Avoid being too literal, try and present
the themes and atmosphere of the piece rather than simply what
it is describing.
Session 2 Exploring the Guard’s Speech Role Play
(1 hour)  Discuss the convention of reported off-stage action in Greek Movement, mime and
drama and the convention of the messenger gesture
 Read the Guards’ speech as a class – which describes how the Voice
Guard and his colleagues discovered someone trying to bury the Contrast
body of Polynices. Characterisation
 In groups of 5 dramatise the off-stage action as reported by the Hot-seating
Guard. Improvise dialogue between the Guard and his colleagues.
Think about how to show the weather, Antigones feelings, the
guards realisation that it is Antigone - show contrast between the
status of Antigone and the status of the guards, show how the
guards picked who would go and tell Creon the news.
 In small groups hot-seat the Guard. Guard must stay in role
throughout. Other students must quiz Guard to discover more
about him and to find out how he felt after his meeting with
Creon. If time, hot-seat a selection of Guards as a whole group.
 Hot-seat Creon. Find out his thoughts about the fact that it was
Antigone who was found with Polynices body. Find out what he
thought of the Guard.
What do we notice about the language of this speech in contrast to
that of Ismene’s that we looked at last week?
Session 3 Exploring the characters of Antigone and Creon. Still Image
(1 hour)  Whole class brainstorm the character traits of Antigone and Creon Thought-tracking
 Pairs – create a pair of contrasting ‘sculptures’ one showing how Conventions – alter-
Creon sees himself and how Antigone sees him. Justify choices ego
from evidence in the text. Use thought-tracking so hear the Contrast
sculptures speak their thoughts aloud – “I think/feel…”, “Antigone Characterisation
thinks I am…”
 Pairs – create a pair of contrasting ‘sculptures’ one showing how
you think Antigone sees herself and one showing how Creon sees
her. Use thought-tracking so hear the sculptures speak their
thoughts aloud – “I think/feel…”, “Creon thinks I am…”
 In pairs, read through the scene between Antigone and Creon on
p37-38.
 Join with another pair to make a group of 4. 2 students remain as
Antigone and Creon and work with the script. The other two act
as alter-egos passing comment during the scene, and speak the
sub-text aloud. The alter-egos say what they think the characters
may be feeling and what they really want to say.
Session 4 Exploring the chorus (need 18 bamboo canes!!) Conventions – chorus
(1 hour) Starting and stopping game Mask
Bamboo exercise (from Complicite’s devising pack) props
- Students walk around the space holding the cane 10cm off
the ground. They move in groups of 3 without talking. In 3s
they move together, all the time changing leaders- with no
speech. Introduce simple movements of the canes which
they must all perform in unison.
- Watch the groups working in the space –what works? What
doesn’t?
- Put 2 groups together to make 6’s. Add masks. Develop a
movement sequence in which the chorus enter the space,
address the audience and then exit.
- Add in some text from the play (tbc)
 - Add a selection of costumes – one theme per group? E.g
army uniforms, skirts, suit jackets, police helmets – what
difference does this make?

Session 5 Exploring voice through Creon and Haemon’s Duologue Voice

(1 hour)  Intro – today’s focus is on using our voices in different ways - Language
looking at public and private voices and the relationship Characterisation
between Creon and Haemon.
 Whole group in circle – Each person says the line ‘How dare
you insult your father!’ in a different way. Think about
changing pitch, pace, tone, accent, audience.
 In pairs – A is Creon, B is Haemon. Creon takes the line ‘Am I
to take orders from the people?’ and Haemon takes the line
‘Would you like to rule an empty city?’ and they explore
different ways of exchanging these lines – including one public
way and one private way (e.g as if telling a secret and as if
reading the news)
 In same pairs – read Creon/Haemon duologue (p44 – 46). Try
out different vocal techniques and rehearse the scene. Think
about the fact that the argument is happening in a public
place. Vary the delivery to avoid it becoming monotonous.
 Show and Evaluate

Session 6
(1 hour)

Explorative Strategies Drama Medium Drama Elements

- Still Image - Costume - Action/Plot/Content

- Thought Tracking
- Narrating
- Hot Seating
- Role Play
- Cross Cutting
- Forum Theatre
- Marking the Moment
- Masks and or/make up - Forms
- Sound and/or music - Climax/Anti Climax
- Lighting - Rhythm/pace/tempo
- Space and/or levels - Contrasts
- Set and/or props - Characterisation
- Movement, mime and - Conventions
gesture - Symbols
- Voice
- Spoken language