Primary Classes – for ages 8–12
Philosophy and approach
Drama with a Difference was originally designed as an alternative to many young people’s drama schools that “manufacture” children. Our focus is as much on the journey as it is on the destination – process is just as important as performance.
Primary school aged children are not ready to learn the complex techniques of the professional actor. The “best” child actors are simply those that are most natural and believable.
Children need a place where they can rely on their imagination and instinct. Those who understand best how to work with children know that it is through improvisation that children do best.
For whatever reason children attend – because they want to be actors, for increased self esteem, overcoming shyness and/or making friends we find that most of the elements of the child are connected with his/her capacity to feel good and secure in front of other people. For example, although one can give children tongue twisters and other vocal exercises, the primary requirement is to allow the child to feel valued as an individual within the acting class.
For this reason, Drama with a Difference only employs teachers who really love and respect children and who genuinely want to work with them.
It is in childhood that the imagination is most powerful. Why is it then that so many children are beginning to lose this capacity at an early age?
There are many theories, the most common being the onslaught of technology which includes excessive hours on the computer and in front of the television. Children also play less in the streets and in a “gang” which once provided all kinds of social needs.
The pre-determined images that are created by adults to target children as consumers can dull the capacity for children to have original thoughts. These images are powerful and dictate meaning in a child’s life that can prevent them from coming up with characters and scenarios from their own imagination.
What young people require for their imaginations is a safe environment that respects each child’s uniqueness.
The value of a good imagination cannot be underestimated. Whatever area your child enters in later life, the imagination will play a vital role in his/her capacity for professional and/or personal growth.
It is, after all, the imagination that enables great thinking, problem solving and the development of new horizons.
We do not produce large shows where some children have the leads and others barely say a word. We encourage a wide variety of smaller scenes where everyone has roughly the same amount of time on stage.
Children and teenagers are encouraged to come up with their own ideas for scripts and character. They are taught how to work in a group, experiencing each another as co-creators, often inventing remarkable scenarios.
