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Grimm Tales Character Drama

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Grimm Tales Character Drama

A page from a Grimm-inspired tale has been torn out. Use the extract and drama clues below to investigate the characters, then devise and evaluate a short performance. Work individually first; performance tasks can be rehearsed with a group.

Read the scene

At dusk, Mara reached a cottage at the edge of the forest. A silver key lay on the doorstep. Before she could pick it up, the door opened a crack.\n\n“Leave it there,” called a voice from inside.\n\nMara recognised the voice of the old woodcutter, though he had vanished three days earlier.\n\n“I came to find you,” she said. “The village thinks you stole the winter stores.”\n\n“I took nothing,” he replied. The door opened wider. His hands were shaking. “But the person who did is standing behind you.”\n\nMara turned. Nobody was there. When she looked back, the cottage door had shut—and the key had disappeared.

Investigate the characters

Use evidence from the extract. More than one interpretation can be valid if you support it with clues.

1.What does Mara want when she arrives at the cottage? Choose the strongest answer.

To return the silver key
To find the woodcutter and confront the accusation
To ask for shelter from the rain
To prove that nobody is behind her

2.Identify one detail that suggests the woodcutter is frightened or anxious. Explain what the audience might infer.

3.The woodcutter says, “the person who did is standing behind you”. Give two different possible meanings for this line.

4.Select two performance choices that would build tension at the moment Mara turns around.

Mara turns slowly while the woodcutter freezes in the doorway
Both characters laugh loudly and walk offstage
A pause and a sudden change in lighting or focus
Mara speaks every line quickly without reacting

5.Hot-seat the woodcutter: write one probing question Mara could ask him, then give a plausible in-character answer using a clue from the scene.

Build a performance

Plan a 30–60 second scene that reveals a character’s objective and raises a question for the audience. You may stage the moment from the extract or create a missing moment just before it.

6.Choose a character and complete an objective: “I want , but is stopping me.”

7.Write two stage directions that show the woodcutter’s fear through movement, posture or gesture—not by naming the emotion.

8.Sketch a simple stage layout for your scene. Include the cottage door, Mara, the woodcutter and a position for the unseen presence. Add arrows to show one character’s movement.

Draw and label your stage positions and movement arrows.

9.Add one line of dialogue that could come just after the key disappears. Use punctuation to suggest how it should be spoken.

Evaluate and refine

Judge how effectively drama choices communicate meaning to an audience.

10.A performer delivers “I took nothing” with a steady voice but avoids eye contact and hides their hands. What contrasting impression might this create?

11.Give one specific piece of constructive feedback for a performance of this scene. Refer to a drama skill and explain its effect on the audience.

12.In two or three sentences, explain how improvising a missing moment could change the audience’s understanding of either Mara or the woodcutter.