Theatre is an ever evolving collaborative art form which has been, and continues to be moulded by playwrights and theatrical practitioners who challenge accepted conventions and methodologies.
This component requires students to explore the interrelationship between performance text and influential theatre practitioner(s).
Students will be required to practically and theoretically explore a text, examining original performance contexts and applying practitioner methodology and associated theatrical conventions. They will explore in workshops and performances, and subsequently analyse and evaluate this theatre-making process. The knowledge and understanding acquired though the practical exploration of performance text and practitioner will be applied to the rehearsal, interpretation and performance.
Students will develop exploratory and performance skills and gain knowledge and understanding of text and theatre practice. This is crucial to their engagement with professional artistic work and an understanding of drama and theatre.
Content There are two sections in this component.
Section A has three areas of focus.
Exploring and interpreting one key extract from a performance text and applying the methods of a practitioner. A group performance/design realisation of this key extract. Analysing and evaluating the exploration process and the key extract performance.
Section B has one area of focus.
A monologue or a duologue performance/design realisation from one key extract from a different performance text.
Students can study this component either as a performer or as a designer or combine these roles.
The design roles are:
costume design lighting design set design Sound design.
Component 2 Overview
Theatre is a collaborative art form and it is important that students have a clear understanding of how different creative ideas are put into practice. This component focuses on the work of theatre makers and the various theatrical choices that are made by key members of the creative and production team in order to communicate ideas to an audience.
Students will interpret, analyse and evaluate their experience of a live theatre performance and the skills they use to deconstruct specific elements will help inform their own choices as theatre makers. Students will analyse and evaluate the ways directors, performers and designers create impact and meaning through dramatic and theatrical elements.
Students will practically explore a complete performance text as theatre makers and consider how it might be interpreted and realised from ‘page to stage’.
Content
There are two areas to be covered:
A live theatre evaluation.
Page to stage: realisation of a complete performance text.
A LEVEL DRAMA OVERVIEW
Unit 3: Exploration of Dramatic Performance This unit requires you to devise, create, perform and evaluate an original piece of theatre. Internally assessed and externally moderated. It is worth 40% of your total A2 mark. Performance: Wednesday 30th November 7pm. SWED completed throughout December and finalised over Christmas.
Unit 4: Theatre Text in Context Externally assessed 2 ½ hour written exam worth 60% of your A2 mark Friday 23rd June 2017 Section A and B will be on Lysistrata by Aristophanes. You will be allowed to take your annotated script into the exam. Section C will consider the original performance conditions of a play from 1564-1720. You will be allowed to take research notes into the exam-1000 word limit.
A2 written homework set on a weekly basis, usually set on a Thursday and collected in on Monday. Much of the homework undertaken in Drama is research and practical group work which is organic and on-going.
A2 and AS Drama Trips Sept 2016 – January 2017
Wed 28th Sept 2016 A Streetcar Named Desire Royal Exchange Theatre 7pm A2 (plus a couple for AS) £19
Wed 2nd Nov 2016 Little Shop of Horrors The Palace Theatre 7pm AS (plus some for A2) £15
Wed 9th Nov 2016 Things I know to be True Lowry theatre 7:30pm A2 (plus a couple for AS) £12
Wed 23rd Nov 2016 Love’s Labour’s Lost The Opera House 7pm A2 (plus a couple for AS) £10
Wed 30th Nov 2016 A2 Artaud Exam Performing Arts Theatre 6:30pm AS Free to AS
Wed 25th Jan 2017 Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time Lowry Theatre 7pm AS and A2 £20
Experiencing, learning from and evaluating live theatre is an essential part of the drama course. Please ensure you put these dates in your diary and pay for your tickets as soon as the letters are issued.