TITLE “SHAME”
Inspired by this poem about bullying:
RECOMMENDED AGE GROUP/LEVEL
3º, 4º ESO = level 4
SYNOPSIS
A 15-year-old girl or boy returns home from school feeling guilty for having taken part in the taunting of a new pupil. At home, the mother/father notices he or she is upset and enquires as to the reason for it. She or he reveals that s/he participated in teasing and name-calling of the newcomer.
S/he recalls the arrival of the new student, how the teasing began and how the bullying escalated and the new pupil reacted (depicted as a flashback).
S/he admits to feeling remorse and uncertainty as to how to act in school the following day. The mother/father discloses her/his experience of having been picked on as a youngster, and they discuss how to deal with the situation.
S/he goes to school next day and faces her/his own friends, then the new student. (How she handles them will be determined by the “real” pupils in my classes who will need to anticipate and script: 1) the mother`s advice 2) the protagonist`s decision 3) the friends` responses and 4) the new student`s reaction.
CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS AND OBJECTIVES
Motormouth: the main character whose ironic nickname is based on the fact s/he is the quiet one in the group. Her/his main objective is to be and remain fully accepted by the more extrovert members of her/his friendship group, and has discovered that staying out of the limelight facilitates this.
Chief: the dominant member of the friendship group and, apparently, the most confident as s/he feels admired whenever giving orders, etc, and believes that her/his leadership is needed by the others. Likes to ask questions.
Giggles: as the nickname explicitly suggests, s/he seemingly never takes anything seriously and is always cracking jokes. Likes to speak in funny voices and give everyone and everything silly nicknames.
Alex: the new arrival. A normal girl or boy with nothing obviously strange or weak about her/his personality except for looking a bit lost and nervous.
Mum/Dad: Motormouth’s parent wants her/him to accept responsibility, be sympathetic and attempt to solve the situation.
SCENES
1: Motormouth’s kitchen
Motormouth enters her kitchen on returning home from school. Her/his mother/father offers to prepare her/his favourite snack. Her/his lack of enthusiasm is noticed and the mother/father enquires as to what is wrong. Motormouth at first denies there is a problem. However, on being pressed by an unconvinced parent, reluctantly and slowly reveals that “something” happened at school. Further questioning reveals that s/he feels guilty for having taken part in picking on someone new.
2: Flashback to School Playground
Chief is telling Motormouth and Giggles what s/he did last night. The other two express admiration. Giggles spots a new student arriving and instantly jokes about a “Noob”. Alex asks them for directions to a classroom. Instead, Chief begins to tease her/him (about appearance, clothes, hairstyle, school backpack), quickly joined by a laughing Giggles, and eventually backed up by Motormouth, too. Alex becomes increasingly unhappy and is eventually driven away.
3 Motormouth’s Sitting-Room
S/he admits to feeling terrible and not wanting to go to school the next day as s/he has no idea how to act with the new student. The mother/father asks her/him to consider how the new student might feel. Motormouth offers some opinions about this, and is then surprised that mother/father contributes far more. The parent discloses that s/he had also suffered such a situation at school. They discuss different ways that Motormouth can redeem herself. (This will be determined by the “real” pupils in teaching groups.)
4 School Bus the next morning
Motormouth talks to Chief and Giggles about the incident with Alex and her/his later discussion at home. They debate how to address the situation. (This will be determined by the “real” pupils in teaching groups.)
5 School corridor
Motormouth, accompanied by Chief and Giggles, approaches Alex. The outcome of this will be scripted by students.
ADDITIONAL / RELEVANT INFORMATION
Classes will be divided into groups of five via a teacher-led system to avoid mere friendship groupings. The outline is conceived to give students the freedom to come up with solutions to what is a situation that they should all be able to identify with.
I have chosen commenting this play outline because not only the topic but also the level are the same as my outline.
ReplyDeleteAnswering the questions proposed, it can be ideal for the age group (14-16 years old), that is to say, they are mature enough to reflect on the consequences of bullying and help other children from doint it.
They can collaborate making up the script and after its performance it would be great if a group of specialists could come to speak about this topic with our students.
As Irene comments previously many teenagers are victims of bullying and to represent this topic through drama can be very original. They won't forget it!!
Congrats Irene!!!
Thanks for such positive and helpful comments, Fatima. In particular, your idea about experts coming to the class is excellent and well worth applying.
ReplyDeleteI think this outline is perfect for teenagers because it allows them not only to practise their English but also to dive deep into complex emotional issues and how to deal with them.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like the most about this play outline is that is allows students to include their own ideas and to actively participate in the development of the story. I'll surely include something like this in my future play outlines, especially for the upper levels, 3 and 4. By involving students in the creation of the story, we increase motivation and creativity, plus we'll certainly get to see different story outcomes.
Oops, typo! I meant to write "IT allows students..." instead of not "is allows students...".
DeleteSince my play outline is also aimed at 4th ESO students, I considered it appropriate to comment on your play outline. First of all, let me say that I find it particularly interesting and educational to tackle the issue of bullying, since it is, sadly, a problem most of us have faced at some point in our teaching careers. By dealing with such a complex issue, students will be able to see the problem of bullying from different angles and will always learn a positive lesson. Perhaps it´d be a good idea to end the play with a final reflection on the part of the students, in the form of short sentences related to this big problem written on sheets of paper or recited orally.
ReplyDeleteI particularly loved the design of your outline with the image and the poem.
Great job!
I think you have chosen a very good theme, I like also the way you have planned to developed the story , from my point of view it is very appropiate for a group of this age, because It can they think about this issue, and try to avoid this kind of behaviours.
ReplyDeletePersonally speaking, This play could be perfectly developed for a theatre competition, goog job, I like it very much!!!!!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIrene, I love your outline based on the poem about bullying. It's appropriate for high school students as some of them, unfortunately, become victims of this bad behavior. Acting in a play that tackles this issue can make young students identify with the victim and prevent such and similar practices from happening. I also like your idea of making students write their own outcome. In this way you can make them think more about the problem and explore solutions they can give to it, as bullying is a serious problem in many schools. Such a good way to fight against it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great idea!