Drama and Theatre Studies

Course summary

Component 1 - Understanding Drama and Theatre 40% of the qualification – Summer Term Year 2 Task: 3 hours written examination This component has three aspects: • Section A: Set Text – Antigone You will answer one extended response question (from a choice of two) on a specified character or theme of the text. You will have a choice of whether to answer from the perspective of an actor, director or designer. • Section B: Set Text – Our Country’s Good You will answer three short questions on an unseen extract of the text and must consider all aspects: performing, directing and designing. • Section C: Live Theatre Evaluation You will have a choice of four questions requiring you to analyse and evaluate one of the performances you have seen. We will give you a choice of at least two productions over the length of the course. Component 2 - Creating Original Drama 30% of the qualification – Spring Term Year 1 Task: Using one key piece of stimulus and a theatre practitioner as inspiration you will create a devised performance. Your work in this component will be internally assessed and externally moderated. This component is assessed in two ways: • The performance: You can choose a performer, director or a designer route here. This performance will take place in front of a live audience. (20 marks) • A portfolio: You will put together a portfolio to support this performance which can be written or typed (3000 words maximum) or a mix of recorded, visual or written evidence. This will outline the process of moving from original ideas and responding to the stimulus, through rehearsal and refinement to evaluation of the performance itself. Component 3 - Theatre Makers in Practice 30% of the qualification – usually Spring Term Year 2 Task: Explore three contrasting extracts from existing scripts as performer, director or designer (or a combination of all three). This component has two externally assessed elements: • A performance/design realisation of one key extract from a performance text. This could be a monologue, duologue or a group piece. • A reflective report of the process of moving from script to performance, detailing style and genre, context and the work and methodology of the practitioner. This can be written or typed (3000 words maximum) or a mix of recorded, visual or written evidence.