Drama and Theatre Studies

Course summary

A-level drama and Theatre studies is where live performance meets theoretical analysis. Practitioners and companies, theatrical styles and genres introduced at GCSE, are more extensively explored in this two-year course. Analysing and evaluating texts and studying the semiotics of stagecraft will inform the development of your practical skills. Performances are accompanied by coursework, so the creative process is documented with research and links to key theatrical thinkers. Writing essays on how to stage a script allows students to deepen their knowledge of dramaturgy. You will develop your knowledge of the social, historical and political context of the plays and playwrights studied, considering the perspectives of the Director, Designer and Actor in the theatre-making process. You will learn how to creatively collaborate in group and pair work to stage and perform extracts from a script. The opportunity to create your work comes at the end of Year 13 when you devise an original piece of theatre.