Drama is about much more than simply learning to act. It is the study of human emotion, action and motivation combined with the acquisition of performance skills that will prove vital in later life. Why is performance useful? Every time a businessman makes a presentation to his company board, every time a school teacher stands up in front of a class, every time a politician makes a speech they are performing. In order to perform it is necessary to learn to master and harness nervousness, to develop successful memorisation strategies, and to bend language to your will using the art of rhetoric. It is these skills that the Drama department aims to teach.

Our curriculum encompasses 6 key areas, called “strands”, they are: acting; dance and movement; improvisation; public speaking and debating; scriptwriting and dramatic strategies; and theatre craft and appreciation. Through a series of different topics pupils will develop skills in all of these areas, developing confidence in the use of their bodies and voices in performance and improving their use of the English language. By the time they leave Haileybury Astana, it is expected that all pupils will be capable of standing on stage and delivering a speech, participating in a debate or acting in a scene with confidence, fluency and charisma, all of which will help to equip them to take a leading role in their future careers.