Status lessons

• Drama
• Middelbare school
• vmbo t, mavo, havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 2

This year

Drama is a half-year subject in year 2. We work with 2 periods.

1st: status
2nd: musical theatre (heeft niks met 'musicals'  te maken)

Before we begin, I’d like to refresh your memory about the rules that apply during the theatre class....

Today

Start period 1: Status.

Learning objective for today: you understand what status is and can recognize high vs. low status.

• Group assignment

Status...what comes to mind?

* Pariah: iemand die in een groep of samenleving wordt buitengesloten.

Do you know any examples?

* Pariah: iemand die in een groep of samenleving wordt buitengesloten.

Do you know any examples?

Assignment for today: The chair

You are a group of 4–5 actors.

There is ONE chair.

Everyone wants the chair.

Your challenge:

Create a short scene in which the status between the characters changes.

You have 20 minutes to rehearse.

Then you perform your scene for the class.

In the beginning, decide:

Who has HIGH STATUS? Why?

Who has LOW STATUS? Why?

Then...

CHANGE THE STATUS!

Someone who had
low status becomes high status.

Or someone with
high status loses their status.

Think about:

Posture

Voice

Eye contact

Space

Movement

Who speaks first?

Who gets interrupted?

Who gets listened to?

You can choose the situation
(or come up with your own!)

Waiting for the bus

Entering a classroom

At a party

At the airport

In a doctor's waiting room

Waiting for a job interview

Performance & feedback

While another group performs, look for:

🪑 Who wanted the chair?

👑 Who had the highest status?

And the lowest? 

🔄 When did the status change?

👀 How could you see it?

Discussion in pairs.

• What does status mean in every day life?
• Do you have some examples?
• How can you see status in body language, voice, posture?
  
  Think, pair, share!

Exercise: meet & greet!

Make pairs. Find a place in the classroom to work. 
Make sure you can see the teacher. 

You quickly decide two roles;
FI: Mom/daughter, Boss/employee,
Teacher/student, President/staffmember, etc. 



Decide who has the high status and who has the low status!

What do you do with posture/gestures/voice?

Switch partners a few times with different combinations (high/high, low/low, high/low).

           Assignment in groups!

Status scenes in small groups.

• Form groups of 4/5 people. For today, you can create your own groups.
  
• Each group receives a simple location (from the teacher!)
  
• Create a short, silent scene (30–45 seconds) where each person has a  different status (from very high to very low).
• Everyone must clearly show
   their status using:  posture, gestures, and movement. 
  
• Time to rehearse: 10 min.

Locations: 
-  At a café

- Waiting for the bus

- In a classroom before the teacher arrives

- At a birthday party
- A fancy restaurant
- Airport check-in
- Police station

      Now add text!

Status scenes in small groups.

• Form groups of 4/5 people. For today, you can create your own groups.
  
• Each group receives a simple location (from the teacher!)
  
• Each person has a  different status (from very high to very low).
• Everyone must clearly show
   their status using:  posture, gestures, and movement. 
  
• Time to rehearse: 15 min.

Locations: 
-  At a café

- Waiting for the bus

- In a classroom before the teacher arrives

- At a birthday party
- A fancy restaurant
- Airport check-in
- Police station

Lesson 2 Status

Today

Goals of this lesson:

You explore further what status is

You show status using posture, distance, and eye contact

You transform a tableau vivant into short action

Assignment in groups 

Divide into small groups of 3–4 students.

1. Together, come up with a location where people can have different status.

Examples: “At the schoolyard during break” or “In a royal palace.” Or "in prison". Etc.

2. Each group creates a frozen image that clearly shows the differences in status

(who has the high status, who has the low status).
Hold this image for at least 8 seconds, this is the start of your performance!

3. Bring the tableau to life!
Create a performance of 2-3 minutes, where everyones status stays the same!

Let op: ik kijk tijdens de les naar werkhouding (telt 2x)

Switch partners a few times with different combinations (high/high, low/low, high/low).

Warming up: 1-5-10

Status 1 → very low

(hunched over, small movements, eyes down)

Status 5 → neutral
(just you)

Status 10 → very high

(upright posture, calm movements, taking up space)

Switch partners a few times with different combinations (high/high, low/low, high/low).

Feedback

“Who had the highest status?”

"Who the lowest"?

“How could you tell?”

Switch partners a few times with different combinations (high/high, low/low, high/low).

Time for feedback!

Who was the highest status?  Who was the lowest?

Which details made it clear?

End of the lesson

What signals make high or low status clear?

Did anything surprise you about playing a different status?

Next week: please bring a notebook (schrift)

See you next lesson!

Lesson 3 status

The switch!

Devil wears prada-clip

Who do you think has the most power or control in this scene? Why?

How do you think body language can show who is in charge?

Today

Learning objective for today:
You will deepen your understanding of status in drama.

You will combine physicality with vocal choices and language to convey high or low status in a scene.

• Improv exercise + group assignment

The throne game

We put a throne in the center of the stage.

One student is the King or Queen – they have the highest status.

3–4 students are servants (start at very low status)

Start acting (improv)

When a servant walks behind the throne and is out of the King/Queen’s sight, they secretly transform into high status.

As soon as the servant comes back into the King/Queen’s line of sight, they must instantly drop back to low status.

Assignment

Setup: groups of 2. Choose a situation (next slide) to work with. Assign each character a different status level (low/high) 
Task: create a 1–2 min scene showing clear status relationships using both physical techniques as your voice (text!)
 Extra option:  change the status hierarchy (e.g., the servant becomes the most powerful). Do think of a good reason for the switch!

Situations 
(or create your own!)

• Job Interview from Hell
• Family Dinner with Secrets
• Classroom Power Struggle
• Restaurant Chaos
• Hospital Emergency Room
• Celebrity Meet & Greet
• Detective Interrogation

Next week

Make groups for the test + start test assignment

Lesson 4 status

Test assignment

Start test assignment 'status'. 

Lesson goals

You understand:

• What the performance task is
• What is expected of you (werkhouding!)
• How you will be assessed (rubric criteria)
  
  At the end of the lesson, there will be time to share what you have created so far.
  
  

Reminder: test assignment 'status'. 

You will perform a short scene in groups (4-5 people):

• Your scene must clearly show status shifts between characters.
• The audience should be able to clearly see who has high status and who has low status, and when that changes.
• The scene must have a clear story.
• You must stay in character.
• You must use the stage space intentionally.

Workattitude

In this subject, your work attitude is extremely important.

It will count twice in your final assessment.

•  You start working immediately.
• You stay focused during rehearsal time.
• You contribute ideas.
• You listen to your group members.
• You solve problems respectfully.
• You use rehearsal time effectively.

Especially for b2a

-
- Impersonating someone is only allowed in a positive way and must be done using different “fake” names.

- Everyone must have a meaningful role in the performance with enough lines; this is a shared group responsibility.

Rehearsal time