Ibsen, Strindberg & Chekhov
Ibsen, Strindberg & Chekhov (ages 13-14)
This scheme of work introduces students to three giants of drama- Henrik Ibsen, August Strindberg and Anton Chekhov. There are two lessons based on each playwright. The lives and contemporary society of each of the playwrights are explored to show how these influenced their writing. Laban’s 8 Efforts are also introduced to help develop the students’ awareness of naturalism and movement. Drama forms taught include split scene, dramatic pause, status and symbolism. Throughout the scheme text extracts from some of their greatest works are used, combined with starter exercises which makes these accessible to the students.
This scheme of work contains 6 drama lesson plans.
- Lesson 1: Ibsen, Godfather of Realism. The students are introduced to Ibsen and look at a brief history of his life so that they can understand the themes in his works and how they relate to his play ‘A Doll’s House’. An extract of this is then explored through practical exercises.
- Lesson 2: Letters & Symbolism. The play ‘A Doll’s House’ makes extensive use of written letters between characters. The consequences and symbolic meaning of these are explored and developed by the students.
- Lesson 3: Strindberg, Godfather of Naturalism. Students take part in some Laban warm-up exercises, enabling them to apply the 8 Efforts to Strindberg’s play, ‘Miss Julie’. This helps them develop their understanding of realism and naturalism in drama.
- Lesson 4: Status. The use of status is developed and applied to the play ‘Miss Julie’. The change of relationships and status effect throughout the scene are explored through student-devised pieces.
- Lesson 5: Chekhov, Godfather of Short Stories. The theme of unrequited love is explored using Chekhov’s ‘The Seagull’. Shadow movements are used to embellish student-devised pieces and introduce humour.
- Lesson 6: Assessment. For their assessment students devise and perform an extract from Chekhov’s ‘The Bear’, a popular one act comedy.
Supporting materials include
- Extract from ‘A Doll’s House’ by Henrick Ibsen
- Extract from ‘Miss Julie’ by August Strindberg
- Extract from ‘The Seagull’ by Anton Chekhov
- Extract from ‘The Bear’ by Anton Chekhov
- A Bell Sound Effect
- Laban’s 8 Efforts PowerPoint Slide
- A Doll’s House – Letters PowerPoint Slide
- History and Themes for the three playwrights, 1 PowerPoint set for each
Additional resources are included in the appendices
- End Of Unit Self-Assessment Form
The scheme of work is supplied as a downloadable zip file containing a PDF file, readable on most computers, 1 MP3 sound effect file and 5 PowerPoint files.
