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RevisionRevision / N11UK · A-Levels
Drama and Theatre
A-Level Drama and Theatre is the study of theatre as a practical, collaborative art, approached from three distinct but connected viewpoints - those of the performer, the designer and the director. It is delivered here through the AQA A-level Drama and Theatre specification (7262) and set against the Ofqual subject-level conditions and requirements for GCE Drama and Theatre. Its three components carry the whole subject: Component 1 Drama and Theatre is an open-book written examination in which candidates study two complete play texts - one from List A (a play first performed before 1956) and one from List B (a modern play) - analysing how each could be interpreted and realised in performance from the perspectives of performer, designer and director, and evaluate the work of theatre makers in a single live production they have seen; Component 2 Creating Original Drama is a practical non-exam assessment in which a group devises an original piece influenced by the work and methodology of one prescribed practitioner, documented in an individual Working Notebook; and Component 3 Making Theatre is a practical non-exam assessment in which candidates explore three key extracts from three different plays and realise one of them in performance in the style of a prescribed practitioner, supported by a written reflective report. Underpinning all three is a shared body of knowledge - the methodologies of the theatre practitioners (such as Stanislavski and naturalism, Brecht and epic theatre, Artaud and the theatre of cruelty, Berkoff, Grotowski and poor theatre, Boal and forum theatre, and Meyerhold and biomechanics, alongside companies such as Complicite and Frantic Assembly), the genres, styles and theatrical conventions of world theatre, the design disciplines of lighting, sound, set, costume and puppets, and the vocabulary of the stage and its configurations. Because these notes cannot stage a production or reproduce a live performance, they teach the language, the method and the process of theatre-making: how to read a play text for performance, how to build a directorial concept and realise it through acting and design, how to apply a practitioner's methodology, how to devise original drama from a stimulus, how to document and reflect on a creative process, and how to analyse and evaluate live theatre - the transferable skills the three components assess. The set plays on Lists A and B are chosen by AQA and rotate across specification cycles, so these notes teach the analytical and practical method of studying a set play from the three perspectives rather than committing to particular titles.
0/75 Texts15 Chapters~305 min total
AQA 7262 (subject overview)Ofqual GCE Drama and Theatre subject contentAQA 7262 Component 1 (Drama and Theatre)AQA 7262 Component 2 (Creating Original Drama)AQA 7262 Component 3 (Making Theatre)AQA 7262 (working as performer, designer or director)+69 moreFoundationStandardAdvanced
Table of contents · 15 ChaptersT·15
- What A-level Drama and Theatre isText L·01 · Recommended start5 min
- Component 1: the written examinationText L·025 min
- Components 2 and 3: the practical non-exam assessmentsText L·034 min
- The three perspectives: performer, designer and directorText L·045 min
- The four assessment objectives and how to succeedText L·054 min
- Foundations: the three components
- Working as performer, designer or director
- Theatre practitioners and their methodologies
- Genres, styles and theatrical conventions
- Set play from List A
- Set play from List B
- Interpreting a play text for performance
- Live theatre evaluation
- Design elements: lighting, sound, set, costume (and puppets)
- Devising original drama
- Practitioner influence on devising
- Working Notebook
- Devised performance and realisation
- Text in performance: three key extracts
- Practitioner methodology and reflective report
- Component 1 - Drama and Theatre (written exam, open book)
- A written examination of 3 hours, worth 80 marks and 40% of the A-level, sat OPEN BOOK (candidates take clean copies of their set plays into the exam). It has three sections. The first two are built on the two set plays: one play chosen from List A (a play first performed before 1956) and one from List B (a modern play). Candidates study each set play as a piece to be realised in performance, analysing how a performer, a designer and a director could interpret and stage it - characterisation and vocal/physical choices, the design elements (lighting, sound, set, costume), and an overall directorial concept - and answer extended-response questions applying that thinking to specified moments of the play. The third section is a live theatre evaluation: one extended-response question on the work of theatre makers in a single live production the candidate has seen, analysing and evaluating how meaning was created for the audience. The paper assesses AO3 (knowledge and understanding of how drama and theatre is developed and performed) and AO4 (analysis and evaluation of the work of others).
- Component 2 - Creating Original Drama (practical, non-exam assessment)
- A practical non-exam assessment worth 60 marks and 30% of the A-level, marked by the centre and moderated by AQA. Working in a group, candidates devise an ORIGINAL piece of drama from a stimulus, and the process and the finished piece must be directly influenced by the work and methodology of ONE prescribed practitioner. The component is assessed in two linked parts: the Working Notebook, an individual written and illustrated record of the devising process (research, the practitioner's influence, the development and refinement of ideas, and evaluation of the student's own contribution), which carries the larger share of the marks; and the devised performance itself, in which the student performs, or realises a design or directorial role. It assesses AO1 (create and develop ideas to communicate meaning), AO2 (apply theatrical skills to realise intentions in live performance) and AO4 (analyse and evaluate their own work).
- Component 3 - Making Theatre (practical, non-exam assessment)
- A practical non-exam assessment worth 60 marks and 30% of the A-level, marked by AQA (a visiting examiner). Candidates practically explore and interpret THREE key extracts, each taken from a DIFFERENT play, and then realise ONE of the three (conventionally the third extract) as a final assessed performance or design realisation created in the style and using the methodology of a prescribed practitioner. The performance/realisation of the final extract carries the larger share of the marks; it is supported by a written reflective report in which the candidate analyses and evaluates their own theatrical development across all three extracts and the way the chosen practitioner's methodology shaped the realised piece. It assesses AO2 (apply theatrical skills in live performance), AO3 (knowledge and understanding of how theatre is developed and performed) and AO4 (analysis and evaluation of their own work).
- The three perspectives: performer, designer, director
- Throughout the A-level, drama is studied and made from three viewpoints. The PERFORMER creates and communicates a role through vocal skills (pitch, pace, pause, tone, volume, accent) and physical skills (movement, gesture, posture, facial expression, use of space and proxemics), building character and relationships. The DESIGNER shapes what the audience sees and hears through the design disciplines - lighting, sound, set (including staging configuration), costume, and, where relevant, puppets - each of which creates atmosphere, locates the action and communicates meaning. The DIRECTOR unifies the whole through an overall concept or interpretation, making decisions about staging, style, pace, the use of space and the guiding of performers and designers so that the production communicates a coherent vision. In the written exam, set plays are studied from all three perspectives; in the non-exam components, candidates specialise in a chosen role while collaborating with the others.
- Practitioners, styles and the nature of assessment
- A shared body of contextual knowledge underpins every component: the methodologies of the influential theatre practitioners and companies (studied as method rather than biography), the major genres, styles and theatrical conventions (naturalism, epic and political theatre, the theatre of cruelty, physical and devised theatre, verbatim, immersive and expressionist theatre), and the design and staging vocabulary of theatre. The A-level combines one open-book written examination (40%) with two practical non-exam assessments (Creating Original Drama, 30%, and Making Theatre, 30%), so the majority of the marks reward practical, creative and reflective work. It is a linear qualification, graded A*-E (U below E). Because AQA chooses and rotates the List A and List B set plays and specifies which practitioners are prescribed in a given cycle, these notes teach the transferable analytical and practical method rather than committing to particular set texts, and candidates should confirm the current set plays and prescribed practitioners against the live AQA 7262 specification.