Drama asks you to do something no other class asks: to be seen trying. That only works in a room where trying is safe. This agreement is how we make it safe — and it binds everyone, including your teacher.
The two kinds of safety
Physical safety: no contact without agreement, rehearsed slowly first. Emotional safety: what someone offers in role is never used against them outside it.
What we agree to
- We start together and end together. The circle at the start of class is where the ensemble forms; be in it.
- Offers are gifts. When someone makes a choice in a scene, we work with it. Mockery — in the moment or later, in person or online — breaks the room.
- The audience works too. Watching is a job with skills of its own; see Watching Like an Artist.
- Stop means stop. Anyone can pause a scene at any time, no explanation owed. We reset and choose differently.
- Costumes and props are borrowed, not owned. They go back where they came from, in the state they arrived.
- Other people’s work is theirs. When we borrow a story, a script, or an idea, we say so — that is ethical practice, and it is also just respect between artists.
Why this is not just being nice
An ensemble that trusts itself takes bigger risks, and bigger risks make better drama. Every professional company works this way for the same reason we do: the work is only as brave as the room is safe. We talk about this properly in Why Trust Comes First.
- Read this page with a parent or guardian.
- Bring one norm you would add — we finalise the agreement together in Week 1 and it stays linked from every task.
Curriculum connection
C3.1
identify and follow safe and ethical practices in drama activities (e.g., find ways to ensure the emotional safety [trust] and physical safety of themselves and others, both onstage and offstage; identify and follow guidelines for avoiding plagiarism and for respecting/protecting their own and others’ intellectual property rights)
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C3.2
identify and apply the skills and attitudes needed to perform various tasks and responsibilities in producing drama works (e.g., demonstrate respect for others and use focused listening, negotiating, consensus-building, and collaborative skills in group work)
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