Anna Deavere Smith: The Use Of Solo Drama In The Class

Solo dramas, like the one I used in my classroom, are superb educator tools, allowing a teacher to take on a person or characters’ perspective and dramatically convey important facts or ideas to the students. Through the use of a monologue, a teacher can add a missing voice from a book, tell a story from the perspective of a historical character, or bring focus to a social issue (Kemeh, 2015). The monologue often comes from an unexpected viewpoint, giving a voice where there was not one before. The presenter is given the stage, uninterrupted, to offer up a new perspective. Students are able to imagine a situation more complexly, or even to imagine themselves as an active participant. Solo drama is not just for the classroom. Actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith is famous for her documentary-style plays. When she finds a topic to write about, she interviews a broad spectrum of people involved with the issue and turns the responses …show more content…
Students who engage in dramatic play have an outlet for physical and emotional energies that are so often written off as “classroom distractions.” Movement, which is limited during the day, is a boon during a dramatic activity. A student who needs to walk or wiggle will get that opportunity and be able to engage with their work physically – and as a bonus, those behaviors might not manifest themselves quite so often during the school day’s many quiet times. Furthermore, drama encourages students to engage in creative problem solving. The use of role-play, improvisation, and pantomime can all be used to coax children to utilize critical thinking skills. Teachers can lay out prompts for scenes that resemble scenarios that students might face. Students are able to come up with solutions in a fun, safe environment as they face challenges for the first time. In a situation where failure is not only allowed but encouraged, they will learn to navigate the way through a