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VAI S HNAVI , MARCI ANA & KE E T HA

SELECTION AND
ADAPTATION OF PLAY
Purpose & Importance Of Selection
And Adaptation Of Scripts For Young
Children
To provide opportunity for children to enjoy and
develop an appreciation for literature to help them in
further study
The adaptation of scripts follows the traditional story
lines with minor modifications, a little added humor
and age appropriate language, which make them
more exciting for the story.
To help students develop confidence, creativity and
love towards performing.
IMPORTANCE OF ADAPTATION OF
SCRIPTS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
To develop students imagination

To engage every child in the cast

Improve students interpersonal skills

To develop students hidden talent

Increase language proficiency

Boost students creativity

Easy for children to learn and perform
FEATURES OF A SCRIPT
Characters listed in the beginning
Setting, explains where, when and other
environmental details
Dialogue is not in quotation
Actions, stage directions are written in italics in
parentheses
Narrator describes what is going on
SCRIPT ADAPTATION
Scriptwriting: Adaptation Issues
Issues
Will you remove or combine characters?
Remove or combine so that audience can easily recognise the
characters (the part they play and the plot they are involved in)
Will you tighten the timescale of your script in relation of the
short story?
A story taking place over several days in several separate locations
can be reworked to take place in a single day and in doing s
become more dramatically effective, because the audience are
pulled into the continuous action of the drama

HOW TO ADAPT BOOKS TO SCRIPT
Instructions
Read the book few times
Able to recap in detail
Using 3- by- 5 cards, write the details of each scene
on a separate card
On more 3x5 cards, write down interesting lines of
dialogues written in the book
Lines that must be heard on screen

Remove unimportant scenes
CRITERIA OF CHOOSING PLAYS AND
DRAMA
CHOOSE PLAY TO FIT THE CAST SIZE
If directing a cast of twenty or more kids, make
certain that we do not choose a play where there
are only three characters with lines.
Thus, look for scripts which are suitable to be used
by a certain amount of students.
Choose plays written especially for ESL classrooms.
It should be short and repetitive and could involve
the participation of a group of students.

STORYLINE
The storyline should be simple.
The beginning, middle and ending part should be
clear.
THE LANGUAGE USED IN THE PLAY
Choose a play that does not use harsh words.
The sentences used should be simple and can be
understood by the students.
A teacher should not use texts which are beyond
learners understanding.
THE PLAYS ARE MAINLY ABOUT
CHILDREN
Many playwrights speak of the child world or the
child space.
A playwright who is unable to recall and on some
level understand his own childhood is unlikely to be
good at writing for young people.
The simplest way to keep a play rooted in the child
world is to have a child protagonist.
LENGTH
The length of the selected play should be suitable
with the level of the students.
A long play with a long script tend to make the
students feel bored and confused.
THE SCRIPT
Script selection should be based on students
potential. Select a script that challenges, but
doesnt overwhelm the students.

A too challenging script probably isnt the right
plan, and the weeks spent at rehearsal will bore,
rather than engage the students.
SUPPORT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Plays with emotions.
The play should contain more than one emotion so
that the students will be able to know when they
are supposed to be sad or happy so that they
could apply it in real life.
Meeting our students needs giving them a
chance to learn, grow and have new experiences.
MEET THE TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES
Include costumes, make-up, props lighting and
sound.
Select a play which requires props that can be
found easily.
MORAL VALUE
In teaching young learners, the infusion of moral
values is very important.
Select a play which contains moral values.
Teaching is not only about knowledge, it is also a
part of educating and nurturing the moral within the
students.