Dramatic Dreamers Club
Report of the Fourth Session
Date: 23rd August 2025
Venue: AV Room
Facilitators: Pravesh sir and Prem sir of Swatantra Theatre
Classes Involved: VI to IX
No. of Students: 21
No. of Teachers: 4
Theme of Session 4: Voice and Breathing Techniques and Abilities of an Actor
Learning Objective:
To enable students to learn and then demonstrate effective breathing and voice techniques essential for an actor, including controlled diaphragmatic breathing, projection without strain, modulation of pitch and tone, and articulation, in order to enhance vocal expression and stage presence.
Session Highlights:
The fourth session of the Drama Club was conducted with a focus on “Abilities of an Actor” and their practical application. The session began with a theoretical exploration of the sixteen abilities essential for an actor’s growth and stage performance. Students were guided to understand that a script must be read 20 times, with each reading focusing on a particular ability such as rhythm, timing, pace, style, atmosphere, characterization, interaction, focus, and sustainability. Emphasis was placed on sustaining voice quality, accent, and body bearing throughout the performance, while also balancing characterization through internal traits, external appearance, and family background. The discussion highlighted that while an actor receives acclaim for a successful performance, responsibility falls on the director if the outcome is unsatisfactory.
Following the theory session, a series of engaging activities were conducted to build awareness, focus, and improvisation skills:
- Freeze Game – to inculcate body awareness and spatial control.
- Zip-Zap-Zoom Game – to develop focus, listening skills, and concentration, where students responded to numbered commands through different actions such as walking, dancing, sitting, or continuing a previous movement.
- Improvisation in Pairs – students enacted real-life conflict scenarios such as:
- a customer and shopkeeper disputing a GPay transaction,
- neighbours quarrelling over garbage,
- a patient blaming a doctor for hair loss caused by prescribed medicine, and
- two people fighting over a stolen suitcase on a railway platform.
- Group Activity – two groups performed a dramatized version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, reinforcing collaborative storytelling and the importance of credibility in performance.
The session was interactive and insightful, allowing students to not only grasp theoretical aspects of acting but also apply them in practice through structured activities. The focus remained on developing stage presence, enhancing concentration, and encouraging creativity.
Learning Outcome:
By the end of the session, students were able to identify and apply nine out of the 16 core abilities of an actor, that were dealt with today, rhythm-(to read the script with punctuation marks) timing– (with emotions), pace (speed), style (knock- knock- not copying anyone), atmosphere (mark the dialogue where you make mistakes or forget the lines or forget the movement), characterization– internal – behaviour, nature e.g. humble, kind, aggressive etc. external – body language, hair style, clothes, appearance, posture, height, face etc. and family background -rich or poor, army background, props, interaction (with co- actors, props, music, lights, audience), focus (on different words in a dialogue), sustainability (maintain or sustain the accent or voice quality or bearing of the body. E.g. speak from the nose or stomach etc.) The character has to be sustained throughout. They then practice for many months and finally perform on stage.
They demonstrated enhanced awareness, concentration, collaboration, and improvisation skills by engaging in games, pair tasks, and group performances, thereby strengthening their confidence and creativity for stage presentations.
Dr Bharati Kudchadker
Club-in-Charge
