TITLE OF THE PLAY: WHAT
A PARTY!
RECOMMENDED AGE
GROUP: LEVEL 4 (3 & 4 ESO STUDENTS)
CHARACTERS:
Frank
Joe, Frank’s father
Mary, Frank’s mother
Peter, Frank’s granddad
Margaret, Frank’s grandma
John, Frank’s brother
Susan, Frank’s sister
Frank’s friends: Mathew, Jane, Mike, Sally, Robert and
Becky.
SYNOPSIS:
Frank’s birthday is next
weekend and he wants to have a party with his friends and family but all of
them seem to have other plans. However, what Frank doesn’t know is that his
family and friends have a surprise for him, something he will never forget…
CHARACTER OBJECTIVES:
Frank: a cheerful teenager, he wants to have the best and
funniest party to celebrate his 15th birthday with his friends and family.
Joe: a professional designer, he wants to decorate the house
for his son’s surprise party.
Mary and Peter: they are great cooks, they want to prepare
all kinds of delicious food for Frank’s birthday celebration.
Margaret: she is a wonderful gardener, she will help Joe
with flowers and plants to decorate the place.
John: he is a DJ, he will record Frank’s favourite music for
the surprise party.
Susan: an expert in fashion, she will prepare the costumes.
Frank’s friends: they love their friend Frank and they will
help his family to prepare everything and keep the secret so that Frank can’t
guess anything.
SCENE BREAKDOWN:
Where? Frank’s house
When? A week before Frank’s birthday
What happens? All the family, but Frank, are together,
planning the surprise party for Frank and arranging not to let Frank know
anything about it.
SCENE 1: Joe, Mary, Peter, Margaret, John and Susan are
dividing the tasks to prepare the party. They also agree to phone Frank’s
friends so that they may help them and keep the secret .
SCENES 2 TO 7: In each scene, Frank asks the members of his
family help to prepare something for the party (he asks his mother and his
grandfather to prepare food, his father to decorate the lounge, his brother to
select the music…) but all of them pretend to be very busy doing other things
and give excuses not to help him.
SCENE 8: Frank is sad and goes to meet his friends to
explain to them that there won’t be a party because he can’t handle with
everything. They don’t seem to care about it because they tell him they have a
better plan. They are going to a fancy dress party and they ask him to go with
them, but he has to disguise as a mummy because they all will wear horror films
costumes.
SCENE 9: Saturday afternoon. Frank’s friends are all
disguised and they “help” Frank to get dressed as a mummy; they covered him
with toilet paper, even his face, so that he can’t see where they are going.
SCENE 10: They go to Frank’s house. Everyhting is ready for
the party. They take some toilet paper from Frank’s eyes and he can see all his
family and friends saying “surprise” “happy birthday” “we love you”. He is very
happy and all of them laugh, dance and have a great time.
Hi Arantxa! I really liked this play outline. On the whole, it doesn't seem to be much different from some role-plays we'd normally do with our students, but in this case, the story is much more developed and it seems to me more interesting and therefore more motivating for the students. The topic is appropriate for the recommended age group and I think that the play could be performed by larger classes by adding more of Frank's friends as characters. Good job!
ResponderEliminarHi, Yaiza, glad you liked it :-)
EliminarNice one here!!
ResponderEliminarI agree with Yaiza that it is easy for students of that level to get fully involved in the process of script writing by using everyday language that they have surely gone through in previous years.
The characters are good, but I would suggest to give some psychological tips for each so that students perform the dialogues from different perspectives.
All in all, it is a good and easy way to work drama in a large class full of teenagers!!
:-)
Hi Arantxa,
ResponderEliminarI liked your script a lot, especially the fact that most of the students can relate to the story ( I am sure that at this age they all have probably be involved in a situation like this) so they will bring their own feelings and emotions into the acting.
I also think that some of the scenes could be written as phone conversations or or even as WatsApp chats which could introduce an element teenagers are well acquainted with and might be motivating as well, as well as mimic if characters talk behind Frank's back in some of the scenes.
Great job!
Maribel Ramirez
Hi Arantxa,
ResponderEliminarWell done!! I think that students will have a lot of fun preparing and performing this play, probably some of them have already lived a similar situation! I am sure that they will not have any problem making it real. :)
Thanks, Cris, Maribel and Susana, for your suggestions :-)
ResponderEliminarI really like it! I think your outline is very easy to follow and suitable for the age level it is aimed at because the topic is related to the students’ experience and interests. I think students will have lots of fun acting it out because it can lead to funny situations. Furthermore, it will be easy for students to get into character. Well done! ;-)
ResponderEliminarThanks, Noelia :-)
ResponderEliminar