Dramatic improvisation and scripted text in the secondary school drama lesson

Abstract

This dissertation investigates possible relationships between dramatic improvisation and scripted text within the Secondary school drama classroom. It aims to explore the role of these two approaches (i.e. improvisation and text) within Theatre-in-Education (TIE) and Drama-in-Education (DIE), especially in the local context. It does so by (1) exposing the main similarities and differences between Theatre-in-Education and Drama-in-Education; (2) locating the techniques of improvisation and scripted text within twentieth-century actor training, specifically through the work of Konstantin Stanislavski and Vsevolod Meyerhold; (3) discussing the perspectives given by Maltese drama teachers via interviews; and finally by (4) practically conducting and analysing workshops which are based on improvisation and scripted text. The result emerging from this study is the existence of numerous possible relationships between the two approaches where the transition from scripted text to improvisation is more natural.