Writing a radio play is about painting a picture with words and sounds. Radio drama is essentially heard, not seen. However in radio drama the playwright needs to let us know about the elements through different means as we cannot get information through our eyes. focus: the ideas, feelings, or characters that the playwright wants us to concentrate on in a particular moment.tension: conflict within and between characters and their environment.The elements of radio drama are the same as those of stage drama: The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum defines the elements of drama as the the 'key ingredients' of drama. The elements of drama are its basic building blocks. When you have decided on these things you are ready to begin planning the ingredients for your script which are the elements of drama. comment on a current or historical event?.Define audienceĪs a writer you need to decide who your audience will be and what your intention is.
#Play scripts ideas free
No learning your lines as the performers read aloud from scripts.Īaron Shepherd's Reader's Theater has lots of free resources, scripts with visuals and written versions of the narratives.Here are some hints and tips for writing radio drama, showing some of the similarities and differences between radio and stage drama.Minimal teacher participation is required.Everyone in the class can be involved if different readings are attempted.The narrative tells a story which is easier for language learners to follow and work on.There's no need for anything but the simplest props, as all characters wear just a hat or another item of clothing to represent their character.Many performances last no more than ten minutes and can in some cases be thought provoking, very funny or very sad. The power of the performance is in the timed reading and contrasting voices. The stories that are freely available are suitable for primary up to adult learners. The script is a story told in parts by many narrators. Students work from a script which they read at the front of the class. These are very exciting short plays with four to eight characters but many involve performance parts for everyone in the class. Give students tasks to reorder the narrative and move on to reordering dialogue or giving half a scene and asking them to match the missing parts or tell you what might be missing.Support the storytelling with visuals if possible (see the posters available with Reader's Theatre scripts). If it tells a story work on getting the class familiar with the story. Look at intonation as you deal with each chunk. Mark the stressed words in the script and check with a recording if you have it.
bring them out of themselves – some students like performing or find the script gives them confidence.help them experiment with language – tone of voice, body language and their own lines if they are involved in writing the play.improve their reading and speaking skills.
#Play scripts ideas how to
Here are some suggestions and guidance on how to get the best from your students.