In the middle years, students should look beyond their community and begin an investigation of drama and theatre in other locations across Saskatchewan, Canada and the world, past and present. Encourage students to become familiar with Saskatchewan and Canadian professional and amateur theatre companies and groups, and the dramatic artists associated with them. Encourage students to research and write to dramatic artists and, when possible, invite them to the school to talk about their work, life styles, education, concerns and how they develop their ideas. They should also develop their understanding of how plays are made through reading, analysing and interpreting scripts. Examine the contributions and responsibilities of the dramatic artists who produced the work.
Citations appear in full in the bibliography, alphabetized by title.
Respond to the play through discussion, writing, use of a range of drama strategies and activities involving the other arts. Have students use themes and ideas inspired by the plays they view and study to structure their own dramas and develop their own collective creations. Note A play study suitable for grade six students is described at the end of this section Drama Reviews Ask students to collect and create displays of play, film and television movie reviews from newspapers and magazines, both local and national. Examine and compare the contents of the reviews and the styles of the individual critics. Discuss the functions of such reviews and the role of theatre and movie critics.