Introduction to Drama
Senior 1 · Music
Introduction to Drama
Lesson 4 of 4
25 min
Small children play at being a parent, a teacher or a doctor without anyone teaching them. Adults do it too: nurses practise difficult conversations with patients, and pilots train in flight simulators before they fly a real aircraft. All of them are role-playing: acting as another person would in an imagined situation.
In drama, a role play is a short, usually unscripted scene in which you take on a role in order to explore a situation, practise how to handle it and understand how other people feel. It is the first step from watching drama to making it, and it is how most sketches begin.
| Role play | A scripted play | |
|---|---|---|
| Script | none: you improvise, making it up as you go | written in advance and learned |
| Purpose | to explore, practise and understand | to present a finished story |
| Audience | often only the class, or nobody | always |
| Length | a few minutes | from a few minutes to several hours |
| Can it change? | yes: replay it with a new choice or with the roles swapped | the words stay the same every time |
A role play often starts from a role card, a short note that tells each player who they are. It answers four questions: Who am I? Where and when are we? What has just happened? What do I want?
| Role card A | Role card B |
|---|---|
| You are ISHIMWE, 13. A week ago you lent your Mathematics notebook to your friend Byiringiro. The test is tomorrow and you need it tonight. You are worried, and a little annoyed that he has not given it back. Place: the school gate, after class. | You are BYIRINGIRO, 13. A week ago you borrowed Ishimwe's Mathematics notebook. Yesterday your little brother spilt tea all over it, and half the pages can no longer be read. You are embarrassed and have not told Ishimwe yet. Place: the school gate, after class. |
Here is how one pair played it. A classmate wrote down what they said.
ISHIMWE: Byiringiro! My notebook, please. The test is tomorrow.
BYIRINGIRO: (looking at the ground) Ah... about the notebook. My little brother... he had a cup of tea...
ISHIMWE: Tea? On my notebook? (takes a deep breath) Show me.
BYIRINGIRO: (takes out the stained notebook) I'm sorry. I should have told you yesterday.
ISHIMWE: (turning the brown pages) Half of it is gone... but the formulas at the back are still clear. And Mutesi has good notes.
BYIRINGIRO: Then let's go to Mutesi now. I'll copy the missing pages for you tonight, in my best handwriting.
ISHIMWE: Your best handwriting? (smiles) Then I'll need a magnifying glass.
Every line or action in an improvised scene is an offer: it adds a fact to the imagined world. When Byiringiro says "My little brother... he had a cup of tea", he offers a reason. Ishimwe accepts the offer ("Tea? On my notebook?") and then adds a new one ("Mutesi has good notes"). Improvisers call this rule "Yes, and...": accept what your partner gives you, then build on it.
Imagine instead that Ishimwe had answered, "You don't have a little brother." The offer is refused, the imagined world falls apart, and the scene stops. Refusing offers is the quickest way to kill a role play.
Reflecting on The Lost Notebook: Byiringiro felt embarrassed and put off telling the truth; Ishimwe felt worried, then relieved when there was a solution. The pair noticed that an early apology and an offer to help calmed the conflict. After role reversal, the student who had first played Ishimwe said that waiting a whole day to confess felt much harder than it had looked.
Tip
Listen, accept, add. In role play the best actors are the best listeners. Take what your partner offers, say "yes" to it, and add one new thing.
Write a role card for a customer at the market who has been given too little change.
Solution (one possibility): You are KEZA, 14. You bought 2 kg of beans for 1,600 Frw and paid with a 2,000 Frw note, but the seller gave you only 200 Frw back instead of 400 Frw. Place: Kimironko market, Saturday morning. You want your correct change without being rude.
In a role play, player A says, "Doctor, my leg has hurt since I fell from the mango tree." Which reply accepts the offer, and which refuses it? (a) "Let me look. It's swollen. How high was the branch?" (b) "I'm not a doctor, I'm a bus driver."
Solution: (a) accepts the offer and adds a new one (the question about the branch). (b) refuses it, so the scene collapses.
Why should you step out of role at the end, especially after playing an angry or unkind character?
Solution: to leave the character's feelings behind, return to being yourself, and make sure nobody confuses you with the character when the class discusses the scene.
Your group must role-play a scene about bullying. Give two rules that keep it safe.
Solution: any two of: use invented names, not real classmates' names; mime any pushing in slow motion with no contact; never mock a real person or group; anyone may stop the scene if it becomes uncomfortable.
What is role reversal, and why is it useful?
Solution: the players swap characters and replay the scene. Each then feels the situation from the other side, which builds understanding of how other people think and feel.
Remember
Sources and credits
The role cards, the sample role play The Lost Notebook, the steps and the practice were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
