Stanislavski, Boal & Brecht Scheme of Work

(ages 13-14)

This six-lesson unit introduces three major twentieth-century practitioners: Stanislavski, Boal and Brecht. Lessons pair short teacher-led starters with practical development work: character creation and Stanislavski’s Magic If, Theatre of the Oppressed improvisation and Forum Theatre workshopping, and Brechtian devising using frozen pictures, narration and gestus. Included resources are printed text excerpts, role-on-the-wall sheets, objective and situation cards, photograph prompts and self-assessment sheets. The unit is designed for Year 9 students and above and is adaptable for practical workshop lessons.

What Students Will Learn

Students will learn core practitioner techniques: Stanislavski’s System (Magic If, objectives, units of action, emotion memory) to develop believable character; Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed methods (situation cards, objective cards, Forum Theatre and Invisible Theatre concepts) for exploring conflict; and Brechtian devices (stereotype, frozen pictures, gestus, narration, alienation effect) to create episodic, narrated pieces. They will practise devising, improvisation, vocal and physical work, and evaluate work through plenaries and self-assessment.

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6 detailed lesson plansA complete, practical teaching sequence for the unit.
Lesson-by-lesson activity guidanceUse the unit structure, skills focus and classroom tasks without starting from scratch.
Linked classroom resourcesResources, Powerpoint Slides are included where they support the lesson sequence.

Week 1: Introducing Stanslavski's System
Introduces Stanislavski’s System with the Magic If to start character creation. Activities include imagination starter, mime countdown, and hot seating; homework is a Role on the Wall character sheet.
Week 2: Applying Stanslavski's System to Text
Applies objectives, units of action and emotion memory to a monologue from Strindberg. Students identify units of action, map emotional change and physically block the speech before class spotlights.
Resources Include
Resources
Monologue from Easter
Week 3: Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed
Introduces Theatre of the Oppressed through situation cards and whole-class roleplay. Pupils use team swaps and advisor roles to explore strategies for resolving a family scenario.
Resources Include
Resources
Situation CardsFamily Objective Cards
Week 4: Boal's Forum Theatre
Groups devise unresolved scenes from objective cards and workshop them via Forum Theatre. Audience sections advise characters and call 'Time out' to suggest new approaches and dialogue.
Week 5: Brecht's Epic Theatre
Introduces Epic Theatre using exaggerated warm-ups and stereotype tableaux. Groups use images to create frozen pictures, captions and narration to reveal 'humanity to humanity' and the alienation effect.
Resources Include
Powerpoint Slides
Situational Photographs
Week 6: Brecht (continued)
Develops Brechtian pieces by reading a Gandhi speech in varied styles, then finishing group work with gestus, slow motion, narration and self-assessment. Groups perform and evaluate Brechtian scenes.
Resources Include
Resources
Gandhi Speech