IB Theatre

Gisela Tarifa April 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Baccalaureate(IB) High Level and Standard Level Theatre is established at Granada Hills Charter High School for about 2 years now. The instructor Mrs. Celia Ashley, originally an English teacher, dedicates herself to the IB Theatre course and to her students. Mrs. Ashley studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, United Kingdom and is well developed in the subject.The class is held during period zero at 6:55 AM to 8:03 AM from Monday thru Fridays except Tuesdays and period sixth at 2:22 PM to 3:19 PM from Mondays thru Fridays. Both classes are mixed with junior and senior students. The seniors are busy working on their internal assessments, otherwise known as IPP's, etc. The juniors are just barely learning the curriculum. In the zero period atmosphere, mostly made up of senior students and 5 junior students, the juniors tend to finish a topic in a about a week due to the small amount of kids. Compared to sixth period where the group of students is larger, which takes the lesson to finish in about a month. In the first semester the junior class learned about method acting from Stanislavsky, Shakespearian monologues from William Shakespeare, andstage directions from Dean and Kara. Through this learning experience, the students practiced various exercises, which allowed them to transform and become their chosen character. The first semester final was a culmination of all their lessons into one performance. The performance consisted of a group of five/six or two acting out a scene (5) or a short play (2). Now in the second semester of the curriculum, the junior students learned about Brecthian Theatre from Bertold Brecht, the different types of theatre spaces (such as Greek Theatre, Open-Air Theatre, Thrust stage, etc.), and now onto the play Dr. Faustus and the method of body movement from Jack Leqoc. All the students hope that after they learn and become familiar with the play Dr. Faustus, the play will connect zero and sixth period together, in the hopes of carrying out a performance for the IB family and possibly the Granada community. For now the students are all interested in the play Dr. Faustus, the entire class, both zero and sixth period, have read through the play (other wise known as a cold read) and are now watching a performance from the Globe Theatre. As for now, the class continues to form a closer bond and grow as individuals.