Drama and Theatre Studies

Course summary

Drama improves your concentration, cultural knowledge, confidence, creativity, communication and collaboration – these are all important life skills which will serve you well as you move on to university study and your career. This is an active and thought-provoking subject which encourages you to think “outside the box” and to use your voice and movement skills to convey meaning. In addition to these practical skills, the A Level course develops your written communication and essay-writing skills and your ability to research and evaluate. In each unit, you are required to reflect and analyse in written format, in a reporting style, as well as to offer and justify opinions. We encourage autonomous learning, including research outside lessons and independent study on the topics we are covering in lessons – students are also expected to rehearse in their own time A workshop-based, active approach is used for most lessons. This is similar to the approach used at the university level, where independent thought and research are key to success. Most lessons are practical in the first year of the course – lessons are fast-paced and there will be a variety of tasks within any session. As far as possible, within the confines of the course structure, we try to treat students as professional training actors, designers and directors and all students take turns to lead lessons, directing their peers and developing leadership skills. The two-year course includes: • Practical exploration of character, text and the skills needed to create original performance work • An exciting Theatre Arts unit, where sound, costume lighting and set design are taught • The study of plays, key points in theatre history and theatre practitioners, including units on Ancient Greek Theatre, Elizabethan Theatre, Kneehigh, Frantic Assembly, ‘Equus’ by Peter Shaffer, and ‘The Tempest’ by William Shakespeare. • Performing solo and group work • Developing knowledge of the social, political, historical and cultural context of plays and playwrights (for\ example, the study of anti-psychiatry, normality, 1970s politics and worship as part of their study of ‘Equus’) • Improving characterisation skills • Devising original performances • Evaluating live theatre