Exploring Mental Wellbeing

Overview

This 55-minute lesson is designed for a Year 11 drama class of four students. The focus is on mental health and wellbeing, incorporating practical drama skills and linking to a contemporary play with relevant themes: "Next to Normal" by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt. This American rock musical explores mental illness, family dynamics, and emotional resilience, providing excellent material for student exploration without relying on commonly taught texts like Blood Brothers.

This lesson plan rigorously aligns with the National Curriculum for England (Drama KS4) particularly focusing on:

• Performing and presenting (NC Drama Programme of Study: develop and communicate ideas via performance).
• Responding and reviewing (understanding social, cultural, and historical contexts and how drama can explore human experience and emotion).
• Physical, vocal, and emotional skills development through varied drama methods and games.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will:

• L1: Demonstrate understanding of how drama can explore complex themes relating to mental health and wellbeing (NC KS4 Drama: Develop empathy and understanding through performance).
• L2: Use a range of physical and vocal skills to convey mood and character related to mental health challenges (NC KS4 Drama: Use voice and movement imaginatively and with control).
• L3: Collaborate in small groups to devise short improvised scenes inspired by Next to Normal, exploring mental health issues respectfully and sensitively (NC KS4 Drama: Work collectively to sustain roles and narratives).
• L4: Reflect on their own and peers’ performances, identifying effective ways drama can communicate messages about mental wellbeing (NC KS4 Drama: Analyse and evaluate their own and others’ work).

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National Curriculum Links

• Performing and Presenting: Use voice and movement to create and sustain roles to communicate thoughts, feelings, and ideas (NC KS4 Drama, Programme of Study).
• Responding and Reviewing: Understand a range of social and cultural influences and how drama explores human experience (NC KS4 Drama).
• Active and Passive Learning: Encourage physical engagement through active drama games and reflective discussion for cognitive engagement (Teacher’s guide to effective pedagogy in Drama).
• Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE): Promote awareness of mental health and emotional wellbeing through creative arts.

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Resources

• Excerpts or synopsis of Next to Normal scenes (prepared by teacher).
• Open space in the classroom or drama studio.
• Chairs, notepads, pens.
• Timer/stopwatch.
• Optional: Emotional expression cards (showing emotions such as anxiety, sadness, hope, confusion, anger).

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Lesson Sequence

1. Starter: Mindfulness and Emotional Check-in (5 minutes)

• Objective: Foster emotional readiness and encourage focus.
• Activity:
  • Students sit quietly in a circle.
  • Teacher guides a brief 2-minute mindfulness exercise focusing on breathing to centre attention.
  • Each student names one emotion they recognise today relating to wellbeing (no judgement or pressure).

2. Introduction to Next to Normal & Themes (10 minutes)

• Objective: Contextualise drama with mental health themes, stimulate empathy and exploration.
• Activity:
  • Teacher briefly summarises plot and major themes of Next to Normal, emphasizing mental health challenges like bipolar disorder, grief, and family strain.
  • Watch/read a short excerpt (teacher provides scripted dialogue or lyrics focusing on a character’s emotional state).
  • Group discussion: what emotions and struggles are characters expressing?

3. Active Warm-Up: Emotion Statues (8 minutes)

• Objective: Physicalise emotional states, develop expressive body language.
• Activity:
  • Teacher calls out mental health-related emotions (e.g., anxiety, hope, confusion, despair).
  • Students ‘freeze’ in a statue pose representing that emotion.
  • Class briefly guesses each emotion, then students gently ‘melt’ to relax.
  • Variation: Students create quick paired statues showing contrast (e.g., hope vs. despair).

4. Devising Improvised Scenes (20 minutes)

• Objective: Develop imaginative use of role-play and dialogue to explore mental health themes.
• Activity:
  • Divide class into pairs or groups of two. Each group devises a 3-4 minute improvised scene based on one theme/scenario inspired by Next to Normal, e.g.:
    • A character struggling to communicate internal battles.
    • A family member’s perspective on supporting someone with mental illness.
    • A turning point of hope or setback in recovery.
  • Encourage use of physicality, vocal expression, pauses, and symbolism.
  • Teacher circulates offering guidance on sensitivity and dramatic impact.

5. Performance and Reflective Feedback (10 minutes)

• Objective: Present devised scenes, practise analytical skills, and reinforce positive attitudes about mental health.
• Activity:
  • Groups perform their improvised pieces.
  • After each, the other students and teacher provide focused, constructive feedback against criteria:
    • Clarity of emotion and theme.
    • Physical and vocal expressiveness.
    • Respectful portrayal of mental health issues.
  • Teacher facilitates discussion: How did drama help us understand these experiences? What challenges arose in representing sensitive topics?

6. Cool-down and Personal Reflection (2 minutes)

• Students briefly jot down: one thing they learnt about mental health through drama, and one skill they want to improve (physical or vocal).

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Assessment Opportunities

• Formative: Observation during active warm-up and devising tasks assesses ability to use physical and vocal skills (L2).
• Summative: Peer and teacher feedback on improvised performances reviews understanding of themes and effective communication (L1, L3).
• Self-Assessment: Written reflections identify personal growth and awareness of wellbeing (L4).

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Differentiation

• Provide emotion cards or sentence starters for students who might find devising dialogue challenging.
• Allow alternative expressive methods (movement-only, soundscapes) for students less confident with speech.

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Extension Ideas

• Research and present other plays or scripted scenes dealing with mental health for deeper textual study.
• Develop a longer scripted or devised piece inspired by Next to Normal for assessment.

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By using a contemporary, relevant play and combining active drama techniques with reflective discussion, this lesson fosters empathetic understanding of mental health, aligns rigorously with the National Curriculum, and empowers students to communicate complex emotions creatively.