Drama & Theatre

We are passionate about our subject and strongly believe that Drama, Theatre and the Performing Arts are a vital part of our school’s curriculum, and in fact, any healthy society.

Whilst we recognise that most of our students will not go on to be professional actors, they will benefit from the teamwork, empathy and confidence that Drama will teach them – we also aim to ensure that they have fun! In their Drama lessons, students will learn about how theatre has developed and changed through the ages, whist developing a variety of performance skills working individually, as part of a small group and as a whole class. We aim to show them how important dramatic performance can be, and how the theatre has influenced audiences throughout history.

We would like our students to develop a lifelong love of the performing arts in general and theatre in particular. In addition to performance skills, Drama gives students a vast number of transferable life skills, including presentation skills, team building, improved communication skills, understanding and empathy, problem-solving capability, self-confidence and resilience.

The Core Concepts

Stemming from the concept of Meaning through performance:

Students will learn Performance skills, developing a knowledge and understanding of theatre practitioners and different genres, forms and styles of practical work. This will fall into both unscripted (improvised and devised) and scripted work, with the latter tying into both theatre history and English literature.
Students will learn about key stages in theatre history, both in terms of the performance styles and techniques, and the society of the time, with the intent of broadening knowledge of the role of theatre throughout the ages, from Ancient Greece onwards.
Students will explore the role of the audience, both from the perspective of the theatre maker in terms of how to manipulate performance work to create specific impacts, and from the perspective of the audience itself, in terms of reviewing and evaluating the work of their peers, and of other performers.

Key Stage 3

Year 7 - Basic skills and concepts

Unit 1 - Character Creation (Basic Performance Skills) & Naturalistic Characterisation (Practitioner: Stanisavski)

Students will learn and develop some of the basic performance techniques needed to create and sustain a believable character working individually, and collaboratively with their peers in a variety of small groups.
Students will learn to identify and define the skills used in their own character creation, and to evaluate the strengths in the performances of others.

Unit 2 – Creating Comedy – The Christmas Play

Students will begin to learn and understand how to create comic performances.
Working with the idea of the primary school Christmas Play, students will use the basic performance skills learnt in the previous unit, but this time with caricature based roles to create comedy.
Students will learn to identify and define the skills used in their own character creation, and to evaluate the strengths in the performances of others

Unit 3 – Non-naturalistic Theatre (Basic Performance Skills 2)

Students will learn and develop the skills which will enable them to Create, Rehearse and Perform a piece of theatre which contains a range of non-naturalistic styles and techniques.
Students will learn to identify, explain and evaluate their own use of non-naturalistic techniques, and to evaluate the strengths in the performances of others.

Unit 4 – Theatre History (Elizabethan Theatre)

Students will learn about the conventions of Elizabethan Theatre, and the role that it played within society, looking particularly at the differences between the theatre of Shakespeare’s time, and modern-day performances.
Students will create, rehearse and perform work based on Shakespearean plot lines, utilising lines and extracts from his plays.
Students will learn to identify and define the skills used in their own work, and to evaluate the strengths in the performances of others

Unit 5 – Introduction to Script (Basic Performance Skills 3)

Working with short scenes and script extracts, students will learn the fundamental concepts of script work
Students will create and perform a selection of pieces, taking short and simple performances from page to stage utilising stage directions along with ideas of context and back story.
Students will learn to identify and define the skills used in their own character creation, and to evaluate the strengths in the performances of others

Unit 6 – Working with Script 1

Students will utilise the characterisation skills from unit 1, and the skills learnt in unit 5 whilst working with a longer, more complex script.
Across a class, students will create, rehearse and perform a one act scripted piece, with small groups each taking on one part of the play as a whole.
Students will learn to identify and define the skills used in their own character creation, and to evaluate the strengths in the performances of others

Year 8 - Broadening knowledge and Developing Skills

Unit 1 – Character Creation - The Great Game of Power (Expanding understanding of Physical and Vocal Skills) Practitioner: Boal

Building on the characterisation skills learnt in Year 7, students will focus on physical skills to show the power and status of their characters, learning how small changes can alter audience perception hugely
Starting with the principles of image theatre, students will create and sustain characters focusing on their status within the hierarchy of the scenario they are working within.
Students will continue to identify, define and evaluate the skills used in their own character creation, to evaluate the strengths in the performances of others, and they will learn to identify areas for improvement in both.

Unit 2 – Developing Comedy – using Heighted Characters and Caricature

Building on the skills learnt in Unit 2 of Year 7, students will learn and develop the skills needed to create and use a range of heightened characters for comic effect in performance
Students will identify and define the skills and techniques are needed to create a successful caricature or heightened character within a performance, using key vocabulary with accuracy.
Students will continue to evaluate their own performance work, and the performances of other groups, identifying strengths, and (when directed) weaknesses.

Unit 3 – Theatre History – Greek Theatre (Where it all began)

Students will learn about the conventions of Greek Theatre, and the role that it played within society, looking particularly at the differences between the theatre of Ancient Greece, and modern-day performances.
Students will create, rehearse and perform work utilising the performance conventions of Greek Theatre, focusing on the role of the Chorus in particular. Performances will be based on both modernised versions the original plots, and utilising lines and extracts from Euripides, Aristophanes and Aeschylus.
Students will continue to evaluate their own performance work, and the performances of other groups, identifying strengths, and (when directed) weaknesses

Unit 4 – Working with Script 2 - Using Verbatim theatre

Drawing on the skills gained in Year 7, students will work with verbatim scripts, learning the techniques needed to take real stories in the words of the people involved from page to stage successfully
Students will begin to learn the power of performance work in giving voice to people who might otherwise remain unheard, and the power of theatre as an educational tool.
Students will learn to identify, define and evaluate the skills used in their own character creation, to evaluate the strengths in the performances of others and to identify areas for improvement in both.

Unit 5 – Verbatim Theatre – devising (practitioner: Mark Wheeller)

Drawing strongly on the knowledge developed in the previous unit of work, and using all the skills developed so far, students will:

Identify a theme or an issue which interests them, and devise, rehearse and perform their own piece of verbatim theatre.
Explore how different performance styles and techniques can alter the impact work has on an audience
Experience the process of creating an extended piece of devised work.

Students will continue to identify, define and evaluate the skills used in the creation of their own work, and to evaluate the strengths in the performances of their peers.

Year 9 - Refining and Polishing techniques

Unit 1 – Character Creation – Emotional Truth
Creating Emotional Truth and Empathy (Practitioner: Stanislavski)

Students will learn and develop more advanced characterisation skills such as emotion memory, which will build on all the characterisation skills learnt in Year 7 and Year 8.
Students will work collaboratively and individually to create and sustain an emotionally realistic character, using a variety of dramatic skills both in rehearsal and performance.
Students will learn to identify, define and evaluate the skills and techniques needed to create an emotionally truthful character within a performance, using key vocabulary with accuracy.

Unit 2 – Theatre history – Commedia dell Arte

Students will learn about the conventions of Commedia dell Arte, and the role that it played within society, looking particularly at the differences between the travelling performers of the 17^th and 18^th Century, and modern-day performances, and including television comedy.
Building on the skills learnt in Year 8, Students will create, rehearse and perform work utilising the performance conventions of Commedia, focusing on the role of the stock characters in creating comedy.
Students will continue to evaluate their own performance work, and the performances of other groups, identifying strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement.

Unit 3 – Script Work 3
(Practitioner: Brecht)

Students will utilise the characterisation skills and the skills learnt working with script from previous units to work with a full-length play text.
Students will learn about the work and theories of Brecht as a social/political commentator and theatre practitioner.
Students will learn to recognise the importance of social/political context, the potential power of theatrical performance to convey a message to an audience, and to utilise this when working page to stage
Students will create, rehearse and perform extracts from the script, demonstrating an awareness of context, and of the play as a whole within their portrayal.
Students will learn to identify and define the skills used in their own performances, and to evaluate the performances of others.

Key Stage 4

Students will follow the Pearson Edexcel Drama GCSE Course

Pearson Edexcel GCSE Drama Component 1: Devising (40% of the final mark)

What's assessed?

Creation, development and performance of a devised piece of theatre (small group work)
Written portfolio analysing and evaluating the devising process and performance

Assessment Method: Internal (teacher) assessment, external (exam board) moderation.

Component 2: Performance from Text (20% of the final mark)

What’s assessed?

Two pieces of scripted performance taken from an extract of the same script. The performances can be monologues, duologues or group scenes, or any combination of the three.

Assessment Method: Performances assessed by an external examiner

(NB Students can be assessed as either actors, or designers for Component 1 and/or Component 2)

Component 3: Theatre Makers in Practice (40% of the final mark)

What’s assessed?

Section A: Bringing Texts to Life (45 marks)

Knowledge and understanding of a set text, from the perspective of an actor, a designer, and a director

Section B: Live Theatre Evaluation (15 marks)

Analysis and Evaluation of a live theatre performance seen during the course.

Assessment Method: Written Examination, lasting 1hr 45 minutes.

Key Stage 5

Students will follow the Pearson Edexcel Drama & Theatre A Level Course

Component 1: Devising (40% of the final mark)

What’s assessed?

Creation, development and performance of an original devised performance piece, using one key extract from a performance text and a theatre practitioner as stimuli.
Written portfolio analysing and evaluating the process of devising and refining, and performance.

Assessment Method: Internal (teacher) assessment, external (exam board) moderation.

Component 2: Performance from Text (20% of the final mark)

What’s assessed?

A group performance/design realisation of one key extract from a performance text.
A monologue or duologue performance/design realisation from one key extract from a different performance text.

Assessment Method: Performances assessed by an external examiner

(NB Students can be assessed as either actors, or designers for Component 1 and/or Component 2)

Component 3: Theatre Makers in Practice (40% of the final mark)

What’s assessed?

Section A: Live Theatre Evaluation (20 marks)

Students answer one extended response question from a choice of two requiring them to analyse and evaluate a live theatre performance they have seen

Section B: Page to Stage: Realising a Performance Text (36 marks)

Students answer two extended response questions based on an unseen extract from a set text they have studied. Answering from the perspective of a performer and a designer, students will demonstrate how they, as theatre makers, intend to realise the extract in performance.

Section C: Interpreting a Performance Text (24 marks)

Students will answer one extended response question from a choice of two based on an unseen section from their chosen performance text, demonstrating how their re-imagined production concept will communicate ideas to a contemporary audience.
Students will also need to outline how the work of their chosen theatre practitioner has influenced their overall production concept and demonstrate an awareness of the performance text in its original performance conditions.

Assessment Method: Written Examination, lasting 2hrs 30 minutes.