Activity 3.1: alien invasion

Introduction

Students re-imagine the alien character they created in Activity 1.2: aliens – the game. You and your students are encouraged to play this game again so that the alien characters re-emerge. The use of music in this activity is a great way to build tension, drama and even comedy.

Duration

20–30 minutes, depending on whether the game is played again

Resources

• Open space large enough for students to move comfortably and safely
• Music (for example, film scores from Star wars, Solaris or Planet of the apes)

• Activity stepsShow details

  Possible pre-text stimulus: A sudden news flash states that an alien spaceship has landed on earth. Investigators are sent to the site and arrive just in time to see the capsule door open and the aliens emerge ...

  1. Students work in small groups. Using a pre-text such as the one above, they create a short drama or role-play that explores this imaginative idea.
  2. Students can incorporate the introduction or pre-text above, or they could begin at the alien site and create what happens when the aliens emerge. The assumption is that if students have worked through a number of drama activities in this unit they will have a vocabulary of dramatic elements to draw on – character, story, voice, movement, space, blocking, freeze and soundscapes.
  3. The aim is to use their alien characters and enjoy the physicality of these imagined characters – how they walk and move, what sounds they make and how they communicate.
  2. Encourage students to explore other characters in the role-play – for example, an announcer, an investigation team and bystanders.
  3. You can further guide students in terms of narrative and any limitations.

  Note: these role-plays could be quite comic in order to shift the mood and atmosphere and allow students to explore comedy as a theatrical style.