Space as a drama element
The drama elements are the key ingredients that create a dramatic world distinct from the real world. They are:
- role
- time
- space
- action
- tension
- focus.
Image 6, poster 4
Space as a drama element refers to the place in which the action of the drama occurs. Dramatic space is created by using the physical environment to represent the imagined world of the drama. For example, the real world is the school playground, whereas the imagined world of the drama might be a pirate ship in the Pacific Ocean (image 6, poster 4).
The process of negotiation by which participants discuss, plan, and set up the physical environment in which the drama will occur is known as defining (or shaping) space. The space we are using in a drama can be defined to:
- establish location
- determine how big or small the imagined place is
- identify how the space will be used and which parts might have a special meaning
- build belief in and commitment to the drama
- negotiate a shared sense of the meaning of this imaginary world
- suggest what roles we might take on in it
- highlight the possible action and focus of the drama.
Defining the space means that we are setting aside an area in which actions are make-believe, symbolic, or representative of other people and times. The space can then be dressed to create a visual context for meaning, using it in literal or symbolic ways.
For example, the performance space of Stephen Sinclair’s play The Bellbird (images 2 and 3, poster 4) is divided into two areas, with a neutral middle ground. The stylised cabbage tree and hill slope to the left suggest the rugged natural world of Aotearoa inhabited by Māori, whereas the view into parts of a colonial wooden building suggest the domestic life and values of the Pākehā settlers. Sean Coyle, the set designer, comments that he wanted to portray “two distinct worlds, Māori and Pākehā – and the middle ground between these.”
For comprehensive notes on this play, including the stage set, go to Drama materials –The Bellbird.
Young children naturally create imaginary play spaces (image 8, poster 4) for themselves, based on familiar places, for example: domestic spaces such as play houses, huts, and tents; schools; libraries; shops; or doctors’ surgeries.
They take on roles within these spaces, including family roles (mothers, fathers, and babies) and occupational roles (teacher, shopkeeper, firefighters, police) to explore the roles they see adults enacting in the real world.
Playing inside these spaces gives students an authentic context and opportunity to develop oral language and voice skills as they name and use new or familiar objects in different ways and experiment with unfamiliar voices, registers, and tones. For example, when taking on the role of the teacher and giving instructions to a class, they practise using instructional language and experiment with status.
Teachers can capitalise on young students’ natural desire to create play spaces by setting up themed “home corners“ and providing opportunities for the children to play in them, initially independently. Later, the teacher could take on a role and enter the space to play with the students, structuring and extending the children’s dramatic play to meet learning needs. Those purposes might be:
Image 10, poster 4
Awareness of how play is being used in drama is important to the processes of meaning making. Initially this may be intuitive and directed by the teacher but, as students progress in their learning, they need to be able to make conscious decisions about how to use space to support the drama.
For more information, see Playing Our Stories, pages 8, 25–26, and 32–34.