At a glance
Groups of 3–5 · rehearsed in class from Thread 3, Day 1 · performed on Thread 3, Day 15 · 3–4 minutes on stage, plus a half-page note written in class the following day
What you are making
Your group will adapt a fairy tale, myth, or legend into a scripted scene of three to four minutes. Not the whole story — a scene: choose the stretch of the tale where the most is at stake and stage that, trusting your audience to carry the rest.
The adaptation must be shaped by exactly one convention, chosen from:
- Flashback and Flash-Forward — break the timeline to reveal a cause or a consequence
- Corridor of Voices — surround a character with the voices pulling at them
- Choral Speaking — give words to many voices at once
Alongside the performance, each of you writes a short note — half a page — justifying the choice: why this convention, for this story, at this moment. The group makes the decision together; the argument for it is yours, in your own words, and you write it in class the day after we perform. “It seemed cool” is a start, not a justification; Writing About Drama shows what a reason looks like.
You rehearse in a group, and you are marked as yourself
There is no common group mark. Your mark comes from your own work in the scene — the character you play and the choices your body makes — and from your own half-page note. Two people in the same scene can and often do come out differently.
How to work
- Read two or three candidate stories before choosing one. The best story for this task has a character facing a real decision — see Role and Character.
- Find your scene: where does the decision happen? What came before can be implied or flashed to; what comes after can be left to the audience.
- Try the scene with two different conventions before committing to one. The comparison is what makes your note honest — this is the experimenting stage of The Creative Process.
- Script it, but keep the script thin. Decisions about levels and focus will carry more than extra dialogue.
- Rehearse in class, and log what changes and why in your Drama Journal — your note practically writes itself from those entries.
Success criteria
| Quality | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Adaptation | The scene stands on its own; the source is honoured, not recited |
| Convention | The convention does real work — cut it and the scene loses something |
| Character | The motives of primary and secondary characters are readable |
| Elements | Elements like tension and contrast are used on purpose |
| Written note | Your justification names what the convention adds, in drama terms |
Choosing between the three conventions (click to expand)
Ask what your scene is missing. If the audience needs to know why — use Flashback and Flash-Forward. If your character is torn between pressures — use Corridor of Voices. If the story’s power is in its telling, its rhythm, its bigness — use Choral Speaking. A convention should answer a problem, not decorate a scene.
Curriculum connection
A1.2
select and use appropriate forms to suit specific purposes in drama works (e.g., use tableaux to tell a story to a young audience; use improvisational games to dramatize a proverb; develop a ritual that could be part of an Aboriginal celebration)
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A2.1
use the elements of drama to suit an identified purpose and form in drama presentations (e.g., use a historical conflict as the focus for a dramatic monologue revealing a real or fictional character’s attitudes, feelings, and reactions; use a futuristic, science-fiction setting for a mask comedy about an environmental or social issue)
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B1.2
interpret short drama works and identify and explain their personal response to the works (e.g., analyse fairy tales, myths, or legends to clarify the feelings or motives of primary and secondary characters; use journal writing, writing in role, group discussion, and/or teacher-guided reflection to identify and clarify their ideas and opinions about a variety of drama works)
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