5 reviews for Wheeller Plays Exemplified DVD

1. Rated 5 out of 5

   Lorena – March 28, 2016

   Got it! Thanks a lot again for helping me out!

2. Paul Mills – April 15, 2014

   Here’s something for your Department’s Christmas Stocking that will leave your pupils in no doubt about the magic of theatre! I really can’t praise the DVD enough. There’s quite simply nothing out there that I’m aware of that would demonstrate all the skills and techniques needed to help pupils realise the rich dramatic potential in a Mark Wheeller play. Tim Ford (director) & Pete Hallmann (producer) have collaborated with Mark to produce a DVD that has a stunning selection of beautifully directed and skillfully choreographed extracts. The concise introductions and explanatory comments from Mark Wheeller are likely to make your pupils want to take up playwrighting and will help you to inspire your pupils with the potential of both physical theatre techniques and the often-dreaded monologue. I am biased it’s true – I love Mark Wheeller’s plays. However, I challenge any teacher to watch this DVD and not agree that it stands alone as a multimedia teaching resource for Drama!
   Paul Mills, Head of Drama, Westgate School, Winchester UK

3. Kim Flintoff – April 15, 2014

   This is the second of two new DVDs that were provided as review copies by Maverick Musicals of Queensland. (http://www.mavmuse.com). The DVD comes from a series produced by Tim Ford (a professional theatre director) and uses young actors to showcase a variety of Drama work. In this case the focus of the work is the performance of text based works and uses the plays of Mark Wheeler as the vehicle.

   Mark Wheeler is one of the more popular contemporary playwrights in secondary education in the UK. At the time of production, Wheeler had 5 plays touring schools in the UK. Tucked away on the DVD under the “About Mark Wheeler” section is an interview with Wheeler as he discusses his career as a teacher and his work in developing works for young people.

   The DVD is intended for drama students preparing for examination performances and seeks to encourage students to consider non-realist performance forms. The DVD offers demonstrations of a range of theatre styles, performance techniques and devices which offer a broader range of theatrical techniques than are afforded by the “teenage soap” styles that often emerge when students attempt realistic forms.

   The pieces are professionally directed by Tim Ford and can be viewed as demonstrations of ways of working or as a performative glossary of styles that re seen in theatre production.

   Wheeler Plays Exemplified is divided into a series of chapters highlighting particular aspects of theatrical performance :

   • Structure and Pace; • Physical Theatre; • Précis Theatre; • Cheating into Emotion; • Use of Monologue; • Using projected images; and • Narration

   Structure and Pace uses excerpts from Too Much Punch for Judy and Hard to Swallow to examine the use of pace and the structure of a scene. Too much Punch for Judy is a documentary examination of issues relating to drink driving through the experiences of a young woman who killed her sister. The scene demonstrates how pace and mood can be controlled through a stylised performance. Very clear delivery and a good exposition of the devices makes this a reasonably effective effort. Hard to Swallow uses shifts in rhythm to highlight the development of a scene.

   Like the majority of scenes used this opening sequence is simply staged and well within the grasp of most high school drama students. A commentary by Mark Wheeler follows the demonstrations and he discusses the writerly process he engaged with in generating the scenes.

   Physical theatre (or “body propping” as the DVD calls it) demonstrates an ensemble approach to the creation of all aspects of scene and setting using only the bodies and voices of the actors. The strategy is used throughout the video but this section focuses on the technique and examines some of the developmental processes in making it an effective mechanism.

   Précis Theatre is Wheeler’s term for a stylised rapid-fire episodic approach to reveal a large amount narrative information in a short period of time. Cheating into Emotion is another technique written into Wheeler’s plays and involves an explicit statement of the emotional state of the character. The Use of Monologue offers four excerpts examining character exposition, facial expression, movement and ensemble support. Using Projected Images introduces the idea of Brechtian Alienation (verfremdungseffekt) and the use of documentary material – the examples used could just as easily come from pieces like Aftershocks, Laramie Project, and other drawn-from-life type plays. Narration offers six different methods of narrating a scene using mime, song, movement, language and flashback as the focal strategy.

   All in all, this is a well produced work and will find a useful place in many high school drama departments as well as Drama education departments in universities.
   Kim Flintoff B.A., Grad. Dip. Ed., M.Ed. PhD Candidate QUT Creative Industries: Performance Studies Sessional Lecturer/Tutor ECU School of Education and Arts: Contemporary Performance / Drama Education

4. Kenneth Taylor – April 15, 2014

   If you have ever taught or directed any of Mark Wheeler’s plays you will know how useful they are; you should buy this DVD.

   Maybe you have never taught any of Mark’s plays – then you should definitely buy this DVD! It has been skilfully compiled to illustrate a range of conventions that are useful in Drama classrooms. The extracts have been particularly well chosen and brilliantly directed to make clear and concise points. Between extracts Mark reveals his intentions as a playwright.

   The extracts serve to explain the conventions but also excite the viewer about the potential and creativity that lies within any script.

   It is easy to find the material you want with just a few clicks. This will make the DVD a valuable teaching aid; one where you cam select the convention you want to illustrate and focus just on that without further distractions.
   Kenneth Taylor (Drama UK)

5. Gill – April 15, 2014

   “Just been viewing the DVD using Mark Wheeller’s play extracts to exemplify various techniques used in his plays…. mint! Very useful and well structured and produced. I can see that some of my rather recalcitrant Year 11 and Year 10 students will be able to learn a great deal from this – energy in abundance for one thing! Precision is also an important aspect of using stylised theatre techniques – either verbally or physically and this DVD will also be very useful to illustrate the effect on their work of paying attention to these aspects of their performances.”
   Gill – (as posted on Drama UK)