Drama at San Francisco Day School

The ability to play is with us from birth; acting for an audience evolves naturally out of playing.

At San Francisco Day School, students learn to play drama games as well as perform for large and small audiences at every grade level.

In grades K-5, informal drama activities have included:

• Puppet theater in the library
• Creative movement in music classes
• Skits for science class
• Skits for writer's workshop
• Performances of culture studies

In grades 6-8, students enter the Upper School Drama program, which focuses on the following aspects of theater studies:

• Performance skills
• Aesthetic evaluation (of plays seen and read)
• Generation of plays (through playwriting and improvisation)

Sixth graders attend weekly drama classes to study improvised acting as a vehicle for developing short performances for soirees, assemblies, and Greek Night. Seventh graders use contemporary and classic scripts to create short scenes performed at their soiree and in their drama classes.

In the first semester of eighth grade, students meet two to three times a week to refine their acting skills and nurture their aesthetic abilities. Throughout second semester, they prepare for their eighth grade play by studying playwriting, audition techniques, and scene development. When play rehearsal begins, all eighth graders have the opportunity to participate as actors, singers, writers, dancers, directors, choreographers, musicians, set designers, and lighting and sound technicians. Students graduate from SFDS having stretched their theatrical imaginations at each grade level; many continue this pursuit in high school and beyond!