Buxton School - Williamstown, Massachusetts

(full year)
The Drama I class is designed primarily for freshmen and sophomores (with the occasional junior). The goal of this class is to expose beginning drama students to all aspects of theatre through a series of small-scale productions. Having this be a performing class is essential: it is only through the experience of performing that a student can come to understand the fundamental nature of theatre, that it is a shared experience between audience and actor.

It is also crucial that students feel that particular thrill of performing to understand why acting is such an extraordinary and rewarding craft. Through these productions, students are also exposed to all aspects of theatre: we read and choose plays together (debating the merits and performability of each), collect and/or make props, choose and fit costumes, design and build set pieces, and make choices about lighting. Students also learn basic drama terminology and skills—the areas of the stage, how to project and stay “open,” how to memorize lines and pick up their cues. Over the course of the year—and three or four productions that can range from Monty Python skits to comedic one-acts by David Ives to serious one-acts like The Lottery or The Long Christmas Dinner—the hope is that the student will grow both as an actor and as a person. We expect to see more comfort and risk-taking, more willingness and confidence on stage.

(full year)
Drama II is an upper-level elective class that assumes that the enrollees have a passionate interest in theatre, and are not just getting their feet wet. With that premise in mind, we start each year with monologues, an always challenging and risky undertaking for the aspiring actor. The students are involved in the selection of their individual material, and the monologues provide an important opportunity for close, one-on-one work. The current curriculum becomes more variable after the performance of the monologues at the Fall Arts Festival. In the past, it has included work on scenes of two or more actors, one-acts and full-length plays. Recently, the spring term has become a bit more experimental, as we have approached different kinds of work without a published script. This has included generating our own scripts for a Commedia dell Arte style performance, mask work, and improvisational exercises around opposites, character status, the Elements, the Seven Deadly Sins, the Virtues, and others. For students who have already taken Drama II, a repeat of this class can result in student-directed scenes.