Suggested activities for years 9–13
- Working with chorus
- Working with freeze frame
- Working with the conventions of non-naturalistic theatre
Working with chorus
Suggest that your students read the extract (below) from Antigone by Sophocles in which Antigone responds to the chorus as she is led to her entombment.
Access the full text of Antigone.
CHORUS singing:
strophe
Love, unconquered in the fight, Love, who makest havoc of wealth, who keepest thy vigil on the soft cheek of a maiden; thou roamest over the sea, and among the homes of dwellers in the wilds; no immortal can escape thee, nor any among men whose life is for a day; and he to whom thou hast come is mad.
antistrophe
The just themselves have their minds warped by thee to wrong, for their ruin: ‘tis thou that hast stirred up this present strife of kinsmen; victorious is the love-kindling light from the eyes of the fair bride; it is a power enthroned in sway beside the eternal laws; for there the goddess Aphrodite is working her unconquerable will.
ANTIGONE is led out of the palace by two of CREON’S attendants who are about to conduct her to her doom.
But now I also am carried beyond the bounds of loyalty, and can no more keep back the streaming tears, when I see Antigone thus passing to the bridal chamber where all are laid to rest.
The following lines between ANTIGONE and the CHORUS are chanted responsively.
ANTIGONE:
strophe 1
See me, citizens of my fatherland, setting forth on my last way, looking my last on the sunlight that is for me no more; no, Hades who gives sleep to all leads me living to Acheron’s shore; who have had no portion in the chant that brings the bride, nor hath any song been mine for the crowning of bridals; whom the lord of the Dark Lake shall wed.
CHORUS:
systema 1
Glorious, therefore, and with praise, thou departest to that deep place of the dead: wasting sickness hath not smitten thee; thou hast not found the wages of the sword; no, mistress of thine own fate, and still alive, thou shalt pass to Hades, as no other of mortal kind hath passed.
Suggest that your students work in groups of five or six to explore the use of voice and to choreograph gesture and movement to accompany these speeches. Underlining key words in the text may help them do this.
The class chooses one person to rehearse and perform the role of Antigone, before rehearsing and performing the roles of Antigone and Chorus together.
Ask the class to discuss the ways in which the performances as Antigone and the chorus were different. How did they feel as a member of the audience? What had the most impact? What drama techniques were used differently by Antigone and the chorus?
The students might like to write their own chorus for a drama they are involved in.
Working with freeze frame
Ask the class to read a chosen story or to listen to a story you read to them, then decide on three to five key moments from the story. In groups, the class create freeze frames for each key moment, then share these freezes with the class. The groups could link the freezes with:
- a single repeated action from each freeze
- a monologue from a character in one of the scenes
- ten seconds of the action following the moment of freeze
- narration from an object within the freeze.
The class could explore how to rearrange the freezes to tell the story differently, using any of the above linking devices to retell it.
Working with the conventions of non-naturalistic theatre
The following list sets out some conventions used in non-naturalistic theatre:
- multiple time frames
- stylised movement
- a single actor playing multiple roles
- narrator(s)
- placards and signs
- monotone delivery
- flashbacks and flashforwards
- speaking directly to the audience.
Ask your students to apply a selection of the listed conventions to a piece of text or a poem they have chosen, deciding on their focus and what key ideas they want to convey in a performance, which they rehearse and present to the class.