Drama is Communicating One’s Personality

Oftentimes, families come to The Gaia Centre, talking about how their child is very expressive, very confident and interactive. Yet, this is only at home, when the child is in their comfort zone, surrounded by familiar faces. The minute the child is in a public setting, they become a completely different person. Whether it is something like reciting a poem in front of the entire class or even being asked their name by a stranger, the same bold, expressive kid at home, now is meek and shy. Naturally, the family is concerned and keen on developing the child’s Communication Skills. They want the child to become bold, confident, to throw away their fear and inhibitions. Is this possible? Of course, but there are many paths to reach that ‘Confident Milestone’.

After the meeting with said family and child, they wish to enroll in a Communication Skills course. However, I sometimes offer them the Drama program. This can confuse them. What would my child gain by play-acting? How would role-playing help build their confidence? Isn’t this very different from Communication Skills? There is a list of benefits that Drama activities can have on the learner. Especially when it comes to helping their everyday communication skills.

Let’s take a look at them:

• Through Drama and Acting, the learners commit to exploring their thoughts, perceptions, emotions, confusions, fears and self-image. This allows them to develop a keen sense of awareness of their own personality, strengths and thereby visualize their performance goals.

• Both Acting & Communications skills require learners to have strong vocal modulation, body language and posture. A child may be scared to be bold and loud, but by taking on characters – for example, a brave dragon -the child drops their inhibitions and adorns the personality of the roles they are playing, along with the character’s body language and strong vocal power.

• Drama is all about developing the courage to face a crowd – to put yourself in front of an audience and do the best you can. Through gradual, gentle skill development, learners are encouraged to let go of their stage-fright and nervousness and learn to be comfortable with themselves.

• Learners become responsible individuals – whether they perform a simple poem, or be part of a full-length play – they learn the concept of commitment, team-work and diligence to perform come what may! When given such an opportunity, they seldom shy away. Their participation, in turn, drives their motivation, hard work and determination to perform well – for themselves and the team at large.

• They are exposed to the richness and diversity of the vast world of Literature. They develop reading skills, vocabulary, character analysis. This comes with an understanding of setting, context, and most importantly empathy towards the character’s feelings, thought processes, and relation to all aspects of the story.

• Acting allows learners to develop trust and friendship among their peers. This encourages them to take a leap of faith in becoming friends with strangers, to put aside their own inhibitions and become part of something larger than their own limitations. Performance crews share a strong bond of understanding, fun and reliance on each other, thereby improving overall social skills.

• The world of theatre is a complex one, full of obstacles and unexpected problems. For example, an actor forgets a line during a performance, or the door on the stage gets jammed, or a prop falls off. Yet. at all times, the learners are expected to creatively solve problems, to be quick and innovative with their solutions. The show must go on!

• Finally, acting trains the leaners to be open to feedback, to critical and constructive criticism, and accept direction to better their performance – forever working on improving themselves.

Communication Skills are vitally important but many a time, the learners may be too young to take on the technicality of a Communication Skills Course, or they may still need to explore themselves before they can take on public speaking, or new inter-personal exchanges. This is where Drama and Acting can be a stepping-stone towards becoming a confident, well-rounded individual. I can say with certainty, that the journey towards self-expression takes many forms.  A unique blend of Acting & Communicating can lay a path for many young minds to explore and excel in, becoming confident, passionate and ready to take on the world.