Drama & Class Plays in Waldorf

Our Waldorf grades classes each produce a play every year, and teachers take advantage of these drama blocks to build on many capacities.

Engaging in drama allows Waldorf students to work with expressive capabilities and improve speech, and also to support imaginative thinking, self confidence, teamwork and social-emotional learning. Through drama, children explore new worlds, become people from different times and places, and learn about different ways of thinking. 

A young actor has a chance to see things from another’s perspective without judgment. Playing a different role also allows students to relate better to different situations, and to develop empathy. Practicing a class play builds emotional intelligence as students “live into” a variety of emotions, choices, behaviors, and personalities in a safe environment. They are able to work together in a supportive and collaborative way that can be quite profound, and the experience is carried with them for the rest of their lives.

In a Waldorf class play there are no auditions and everyone gets to play a part. In younger grades, teachers allow many students to try out lead roles and only cast the play towards the end of the block. For first graders, this is a group effort as they speak as one whole class for the first performance. This is especially important for more introverted students who do not gravitate towards the spotlight, because they get the valuable opportunity to take a risk they may not normally choose. It takes confidence to stand on stage and speak in front of an audience, yet through that undertaking, individuals can develop trust in themselves and others. A group of children has an opportunity to combine their creative ideas, abilities and artistic vision, and the result is the performance! 

Waldorf class plays leave students with a sense of deep accomplishment. The “afterglow” of a class play is often euphoric, and rests inside each student as a tender bud, which can later blossom into something much bigger. Confidence grows, the child may see themselves a little bit differently, and the group with which the experience took place is strengthened.

Let the show begin!