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.