Reflective essay Farah Mudrikah binti Zaimy (921029-14-5454) Plays and Drama for Young Learners LGA 3104

short coursework require us to select, adapt and perform play script on stage. This assignment is an individual assignment for Task 1 and Task 3, and group assignment for Task 2. For Task 1, we were required to select a theme and story to be adapted into a script. I chose the theme World of Stories because it let me choose from a wider range of selection of stories and are not limited to only a few stories. The story that I have chosen for my play script is Cinderella. It is a traditional story which students already known, therefore it is easier for them to comprehend the story. I chose Year 4 as the students. I have never adapt a story into a play script before, thus this is a challenge for me to complete this task. The first procedure that I have to go through was reading the story first. It was a simple and short story about 3 pages long. The sentences were simple and easy to comprehend. I identified the characters in the story and list them down to ensure that I included them in the play script. After listing the characters, I began drawing the story line starting from the introduction until the denoument. For the play script, I have decided to categorize the scene based on the plot of the story. For example, the climax is one scene which is when Cinderella lost her glass shoe at the ball, and the denoument is when the prince has found Cinderella to be the owner of the glass shoe. This will make it easier for the students to go through by the scene because every scene has its importance towards the story. This was a new experience for me as I needed to find the proper way of writing a play script. For Task 2, we were required to work in groups of ten or twelve and decide on one adapted script for a 20 minutes performance. We chose the story of Bremen Town Musician. The main reason that we chose this story was because it consists of animals characters which are fun and could attract the students attention. Most children are curious about and fond of animals. Many of us share our homes and our hearts with our pets (Carolyn L. Burke, 2004). Through the story, children can relate to the animals as the characters. The story was then localized to relate to our country Malaysia so that the audience can better relate themselves to. Thus, the title was changed into Ipoh Town Musician. It could be inferred from a research done that localization of materials would be beneficial to learners as it would make the materials more familiar and thus more enjoyable for them.

(Mahabadi, 2012). Therefore, materials that are familiar will help audience to engage more in the drama. Processes involves in performance include such things as positions of actors on stage (often referred to as blocking), their facial expressions, gestures and movements (also called stage business), the scenic background, the props and costumes, lighting, and sound effects. The cast were hired based on their personalities and characteristics. I became a cat in the story of Ipoh Town Musician. Since the story line portrayed a donkey travelling to Ipoh and met some other animals, thus the positions of the actors on the stage or blocking is vitally important to ensure the smoothness of the play. As the cat, I was the second animal that the donkey encountered with. Therefore, the position of my character is after the dog because the donkey met the dog first. Throughout the rehearsals, we were reminded not to back the audience and always say our lines as if we were talking to the audience but we were actually talking to other characters. Blocking is important because if the audience could not see the characters or are confused by the movement of the characters, then they might not be able to comprehend the story. Other than that, gestures and facial expressions are important to convey feelings or emotions to the audience. I conveyed feeling of sadness by pouting my mouth to show that I am sad. I also throw my hands in the air and said Hooray! to show that I am happy and overjoyed. I smiled while talking to indicate that I am happy which will make the audience know what I am feeling at the moment. This will help them to immerse in the drama. The first thing that the audience of a play sees is the stage set, the physical objects that suggest the world of the play. In other words, the settings play a huge role in a performance. Whether your story takes place on an imaginary world or right here on present day earth, setting is a crucial part of any story. The type of world you create will determine the reactions and behaviors of your characters (Morgan, 2001). Setting is often linked to props and also costumes. For example, in the play Ipoh Town Musician, we constructed a barn, bushes, road sign and also a living room. This is to indicate to the audience that the musicians are travelling from the barn by walking between bushes and finally found a road sign to Ipoh Town which made them continue walking until they found a house. Props play a big role in a play. Successfully telling a story through a play or musical requires more than just exceptional acting. Certain plays use minimal sets and even minimal costumes, yet manage to draw the audience into the story. However, certain plays must have elaborate sets, costumes and more importantly, stage props. Props play a vital role in successful plays. Without stage props, many plays would make no sense or would be quite confusing (Pike, 2006).

Other than that, costumes are also important to show the identity of the characters. In this case, the characters are mainly wearing some sort of animal masks to indicate what animal they are. For example, a cat mask consists of cats ears, its whiskers, cute mouth and eyes because usually cats are considered as cute animals. One of the stage craft that is important is the sound effect. For example in the story, the sound effect of a robber who tiptoed to the house back enhances the movement of the robber which made it clear to the audience that the robber is walking slowly back to the house. Sound effects enhance and also aid the characters action and also the scenes mood and settings. It helps audience to understand the play better. The strength that I have encounter during the process of selecting was the story itself. It has a good story line and is suitable for primary school learners. It also has a moral value which is to never give up on your dream. For the process of adapting, I opine that the story was not too hard and it was adapted according to Year 3 students. It contains simple sentences which is understandable for the audience. We also include song which uses the rhythm of Old McDonald and changed the lyrics to suit the story. The song has repeating pattern which is very helpful in teaching the students rhyming. While performing the play script, the strength that I have was my acting which includes my facial expression, my gestures and also my costume. I was able to immerse in the character of a cat because my personality is cute and I love cats. Therefore, I feel that the character is very suitable for me. I was also able to add a few lines so that I am more comfortable in the character and also to portray what kind of cat I was. For example, I added a laugh at the end of the line where I said Food? Im starving! I want to eat all the food. Muahhahaha. I believe that an actor needs to understand his or her character in order to deliver the lines more effectively. . Drama activities help students to communicate in the foreign language including those with limited vocabulary. (Aldavero, 2008). I was able to convey my message through the script that I had. In addition, I was able to make impromptu lines whenever something does not go as the way it is during rehearsal. This indicates that I fully understand the story and was able to still follow the story line. This is one of my strength as I was able to be spontaneous on stage. This is important because it actually shows that I know my character well and also the story line as I was still able to adapt lines into the story itself. Using drama to teach English results in real communication, involving ideas, emotions, feelings, appropriateness and adaptability (Barbu, 2007). Therefore, the ability to comprehend the story is important to ensure that we know the flow of the story.

I also have discovered weaknesses during the performance, for example my voice projection because it was not loud enough even though the audience in the front could hear my voice. My volume of voice was slow and I was afraid that the audience at the back could not hear my lines clearly thus not understanding what is happening in the play. Apart from that, I did not use the props extensively which means I could have taken the opportunity to use the props in aiding my acting. For example, the scene where the cat and other animals are eating, I did not use the props as food to further consolidate my action. At some point, I also stumble when expressing my lines. The challenges and constraints that we have encountered during the performance was mainly its smoothness. This was because most of the main casts were not around during rehearsal. Therefore, we decide to substitute some of the casts with other actors. Some improvisations were done, and the worry was that the actual casts were not able to follow or catch up with the changes and improvisation in the play. Other than that, the props were also not much but still sufficient in creating settings and moods for the play. The props would have helped the characters in their acting. Therefore, props were one of our weaknesses because it was quite hard to figure out what props that can be used in the play. In addition, there were not enough man powers to help finish producing the props because most of the teammates were not around to help. However, we still manage to finish some props. One of the solutions that can be done to solve these problems is to work on voice projections. Before rehearsing, a vocal activity to warm up the voice can be done to ensure that the voice is loud enough and can be heard. Other that, the key to voice projection is breathing correctly. Props can also be improved. There is a saying that says less is more, thus in order to overcome the problems of not having much props, we can focused on perfecting on a just s few props. For example, the barn can be done in a sort of box where the doors can be opened. It does not necessarily mean that we need to have many props, but just a few props that are good and are able to reflect the symbol of each of it represents. Other than that, to avoid stumbling, actors can practice lines and also do a script reading so that everyone will know the story lines which will make it easier. Fluency and accuracy is important so that the lines can be delivered effectively. In conclusion, the processes that involved in a stage performance are important in performing a fun and also interesting play.

Bibliography

Carolyn L. Burke, J. G. (2004). Animals as People in Chilren's Literature. Language Arts, 205-213. Mahabadi, S. (2012). The role of localized materials in learning of FFL students. Journal of Languages and Culture, 65-74. Morgan, T. (2001). The Importance of Setting. Retrieved from Fiction Factor: http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/setting.html Pike, A. N. (2006). How Do Stage Props Contribute to a Play? Retrieved from Local.com: http://entertainmentguide.local.com/stage-props-contribute-play-2017.html