English Drama AG
Grades 8 and 9
Goetheschule, Essen Bredeney
Julie Stearns, Director/Project Manager
The English Drama AG, founded in October 2011, is bursting with enthusiastic young theater talents! The combination of speaking English and playing theater is the perfect recipe for learning, inspiration and meeting new challenges which will ultimately not only improve the pupils’ language skills, but also provide them with an unforgettable creative experience.
As the director, I am keen to guide the creative process as well as look out for potential opportunities for pupils to show their work on stages in-and outside of the school.
This school year, the English Drama AG has chosen A Midsummer Night’s Dream as their final project. We will begin the process of putting on a play with the first few weeks and months, focusing on the basics: acting, concentration, voice, language, etc. The aim is to perform the play on the large stage in the auditorium in June.
At the moment, we meet weekly on Fridays between 2.30 and 4 pm in the Forum.
PLAY! – Theatre Workshop for the Oberstufe
PLAY! – Theatre Workshop for the Oberstufe
Acting in English: Workshops for The Upper Level Classes (10-13)
Goetheschule Gymnasium, Essen-Bredeney
Julie Stearns, Director/Project Manager
Concept
The concept of PLAY! for the upper level pupils is based on the following aims:Creative language learning and application processIntroduction of basic acting training Improvement of overall self-confidence, presence, speech skillsOutlet of a variety of artistic expression: writing, singing, dancing, actingIndividual expression of personal style through texts, performanceA positive and successful experience (learning process and final performance)Team dynamic, trust, support, personal responsibility
Through a regular series of quarterly workshops, upper level pupils have the chance to experience an intensive period of time in which they are exposed to an emersion in the English language (speaking, reading writing) as well as a variety of games, exercises and tasks which have the aim of the development of original texts from the pupils and the performance of these texts. A long-term goal of the workshops can be a final larger-scale performance of an original play written and performed in English by the participants in the workshops.
Methods
The methods which are used to develop and encourage the creative processes of the pupils are inspired by my training (improvisation, voice, breathing, body) and also elements from Stanislavsky (acting) modern dance/Pina Bausch(authentic movement and fusion of body and emotion).
The creative process includes the following phases:Focus, concentration and trustSpace, movement, imaginationCreative writing exercisesPartner work, scene developmentGroup work, story linesBasic direction (stage movement, character, etc)Performance
Structure
The structure of each workshop is based on a two-day session, Friday from 4-7pm to Saturday 10am to 3pm in the forum. The first session we focus on the first phase: introduction exercises which create an atmosphere of self-expression and trust. We then move on to a series of impulses (photos, texts, etc) in which the pupils will have the chance to write short texts. On the second day the second phase begins; the texts become the basis of the scene work that develops into a larger story.
The Director
Julie was born in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. She began acting in high school and continued to study and perform in college. She studied improvisation and acting at The Northeastern Theater Conservatory in Pennsylvania. There she also worked for TNT’s theatre company behind the scenes in production and technical work.
In 1995 she moved to Dorsten, Germany, where she founded the Little Society Theater. She taught acting at "Stars Up" school for performing arts.
Aside from her work as a freelance actress and director, she also works as a part-time lecturer at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Folkwang University and as a Theaterpädagogin at the Fachhochschule Düsseldorf. In 2003 she founded the student-based English-speaking drama group only connect! She was a guest actress at the Westfälisches Landestheater, where she participated in performances of Shakespeare’s The Tempest (2005) and in her own play for primary school children co-written together with director Peter Adrian Krahl called The Dreaming Tree, which continues to play throughout in the Ruhrgebiet area.
Julie is working as an artist for Landesprogramm Kultur und Schule NRW in Düsseldorf. She also offers courses in theater in English at the Volkshochschule in Krefeld.
www.juliestearns.com
