We put Pretend Play (also known as ‘imaginative’, ‘role’, or ‘make-believe’ play) at the heart of our programme.
By creating different roles and acting out situations, children (consciously or subconsciously) express themselves by revealing thoughts, ideas and feelings. When overseen by a professional teacher within a structured class setting, Pretend Play can be used to build confidence and improve overall wellbeing.
Welcome to Dramatis – a Sussex based drama school that harnesses the power of Pretend Play.
We recognise your child might not be looking for stage stardom – but does enjoy doing impersonations, writing stories or imagining they are someone, something or somewhere else. We champion your child’s innate creative ideas (using drama games and exercises) and help develop them into structured stories and characters.
Our progressive teaching style will empower your child to use their own thoughts and ideas, rather than follow a script. As a result, they will have a lot of fun (and take great pride in) creating their own Devised Performances. During this creative process, they will also develop essential Life Skills such as communication, decision-making and empathy.
As Principal, Suzy Duxbury, explains –
“We create a safe and nurturing environment so that children can absorb themselves in Pretend Play. By championing our pupils’ imaginations and encouraging them to really explore stories and characters, they learn new ways to understand their thoughts and feelings and bring their creative ideas to life through their own Devised work”.
To ensure structure, we follow the Trinity College syllabus and each term pupils work towards creating a Devised Performance (based on a set theme) that is either filmed or shown to a small audience.
We also run Holiday Workshops to keep children entertained during the school breaks. Themed around popular films and musicals, they incorporate music and movement alongside pretend play, to ensure children have plenty of fun whilst devising their own performance with new friends.
Dramatis Lessons and Holiday Workshops currently run in Bognor Regis and Hove. The non-pressurised and nurturing environment means they suit children of all temperaments – whether shy and reserved or confident and communicative, your child will find a welcoming home at Dramatis Drama School.
