Waiting for Godot
A drama resource for years 12–13 based on the play by Samuel Beckett
by Lisa Sharp of TEAM Solutions and Jacques Strauss, in association with Auckland Theatre Company and the Ministry of Education
Jump to > Introduction | Contents
Introduction
This drama teaching and learning resource was developed around the play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. It is based on the resource kit for teachers produced by the Auckland College of Education and the Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) Education Unit for teachers and students attending the ATC's production of Waiting for Godot in 2002.
Overall, it gives a comprehensive picture of how a professional drama production is mounted. Although some of the resource is specific to this production, overall it provides valuable and often generic resources and classroom activities for those who have not seen that production.
The resource includes:
- background material on the playwright, the play, and relevant dramatic forms
- interviews with the actors and designers
- related learning activities.
Using this resource
Teachers will find these materials and activities valuable both for studying this play, and as a comparison and template
for studying other plays and productions, and for learning about performance practice.
For example, teachers may decide to:
- use the information and activities on theatre of the absurd and existentialism when studying dramatic form
- adapt the learning activities about exploring roles and status when teaching practical drama in the classroom
- refer to the interviews and activities on the development of set and costume design in the context of a class production.
Structure of resource
This resource is divided into five sections, of which the first explains how this resource relates to The Arts in the New Zealand
Curriculum and NCEA. The other four sections contain resource material and related learning activities, some of which include work on specific extracts from the script of the play. Details of these extracts are provided on the 'Script extracts' page.
Options to print all of this material are given on each page.
Contents
- Curriculum links – lists the relevant strands and achievement objectives from levels 7 and 8 of The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum, and the relevant levels 2 and 3 achievement standards from the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).
- The writer – provides information on
Samuel Beckett and his work, which includes a discussion about the meaning (or lack there of) of the play.
Activities: Writer - World of the play – provides resource
material about existentialism and the development of the theatre of the absurd.
Activities: World of the play - Actors and their roles – reports interviews with the ATC actors about their roles in the play, how they developed their
characters, and how they prepare for performance.
Activities: Actors and their roles - Design – reports interviews with the designers of the set and costumes for the ATC production.
Activities: Design - Script extracts links and references
References
Beckett, Samuel (1956, 1985 reprint). Waiting for Godot. London and Boston: Faber and Faber. Note: The page numbers for script extracts in this resource refer to this edition.
Blakey, J. (1976). Waiting for Godot – Notes. Toronto: Coles Publishing Ltd.
Esslin, M. (Ed.), (1965). Samuel Beckett – a collection of critical essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Publishers. Note: Includes essay by Gunther Anders.
Fletcher, J. and Spurling, J. (1972). Beckett: a study of his plays. London: Eyre Methuen Publishers.
Fletcher, B., Fletcher, J., Smith, B. and Bachem, W. (1978). A student's guide to the plays of Samuel Beckett. London and Boston: Faber and Faber.
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