Learning activities: Actors
On this page: Specific learning outcomes | Activity 1: Creating a voice profile | Activity 2: Creating character from a scene in the play | Activity 3: Reflection
Specific learning outcomes
The following learning outcomes relate to these drama strands 'developing practical knowledge in drama' (PK), 'developing ideas in drama' (DI), and 'communicating and interpreting in drama' (CI), from The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum.
Students will:
- explore vocal techniques
- select vocal techniques to portray a character in a radio play.
Activity 1: Creating a voice profile
Download and print the 'Voice profile' (Word 52KB)
A voice profile is like a character profile but focuses only on a character's voice. Fill in the voice profile for a character in Bow Down Shadrach, or for a character that you will play in a radio play.
Examples of features of a character's voice:
- volume – how loudly s/he speaks in a normal situation
- pace – how slowly/ quickly s/he speaks
- pitch – how low or high the voice is
- accent – shows the character's country of origin and social status
- distinctive vocal tics – for example lisp, stutter, clipped sentences
- register of language – used by the character, for example slang, formal
| Name of character | |
| Age | |
| Gender | |
| Ethnicity | |
| Occupation | |
| Attitudes | |
| Health | |
| Description of voice | |
| What it shows about the character | |
| Example of dialogue | |
Activity 2: Creating character from a scene in the play
- In pairs, read through the school playground scene, Extract from the radio play Bow Down Shadrach – scene 8 (Word 41KB)
- Cast the scene by deciding whose voice best suits the characters.
- Read through your lines several times, marking in which words will be emphasised, and places to pause and breathe on the script.
- Annotate the script with ideas for the emotions that the characters are feeling and what might be going through their minds.
- Prepare for your performance by hotseating your character or participating in an improvised scene, for example a police interview, or a 'talk' around the dinner table with parents following the events in the play.
- Develop questions to ask the characters in your hotseating or improvisation exercise.
- Share your work.
- As a class or group give feedback to the actors on how believable their responses were, and how well each student played the voice for his/her chosen character.
Use the criteria below to help guide your feedback:
The use of voice was:
- different from the student's own voice (how?)
- appropriate to the character (how?)
- sustained
- varied (how?)
- believable
- showed how the character was feeling.
Download and print:
After you have prepared your character's voice, rehearse and record the scenes from the play.
Activity 3: Reflection
Listen to one of these scenes from Bow Down Shadrach, by selecting on of the links.
Scene 10: School field, day, where Hannah and Mikey discuss rescuing Shadrach
Clip duration: 1min 17sec
Scene 13: Gravel driveway, day, beginning of the scene where the children go to Nelson
Clip duration: 1min 31sec
Scene 16: Dog food factory, day, beginning of the scene where they visit the factory
Clip duration: 2min 14sec
Discuss the following questions:
- How well did the actors portray their characters?
- How credible were they?
- What voice techniques did you hear?
- How did the actors voice changes in different scenes?
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