AS & A2 Drama & Theatre Studies
Course Content
The course is designed to encourage candidates to experience Drama and Theatre Studies from both a practical and theoretical viewpoint. Students are challenged to work imaginatively and creatively by producing performance work from written texts, and by devising their own performance work, using different dramatic forms, as a response to a theme e.g. Isolation. They will study texts from several periods of theatre history, which range from Greek theatre to modern day. Students will also be encouraged to work as a director, developing technical ideas such as lighting, design, sound and stage movement for a production. They will be encouraged to understand the nature and development of the theatre, and the relationship between the theatre and the society which creates it. In the past, useful links with theatre studies have been observed by students studying Art and English in particular.
What is expected?
Students will always work in groups (of up to 4) when preparing projects. Groups are encouraged to explore and experiment with theatrical ideas which are of interest to them personally. Visiting plays and attending workshops as an essential element in helping them to develop a variety of ideas, broadening their theatrical vocabulary, for use in their own work. A great deal of emphasis is placed on personal initiative and self-motivated study. As with GCSE Drama, this is a demanding, but very rewarding course, in which enthusiasm, energy and commitment are essential requirements.
Assessment
Assessment takes place through 4 units of work spread equally over 2 years. (Weightings are expressed in terms of the full 'A' level)
AS - Year 12 - DA1 Performance (20%) DA2 Written Papers (30%)
A2 - Year 13 - DA3 Performance (30%) DA4 Written Papers (20%)
Where can it lead?
Many businesses, colleges and careers now acknowledge the need for students to have a broad and rounded education. The practical and theoretical aspects of this course will allow students to develop communication, collaborative learning an problem solving key skills. Social skills, role play skills and self presentation skills are now an essential requirement in many fields of work, particularly those occupations which bring you into contact with other people, such as teacher, nurse, doctor, police work and public relations. Drama or theatre work as a career encompasses a very broad area of media work, varying from using Drama as therapy in prisons to being a film star. The choice is yours!
Extra-curricular activities
Students are invited to join the many theatre trips and workshops which ar run throughout the school, and they are encouraged to take part in some form in the school production which takes place each year. Where at all possible, the department will support and facilitate the use of departmental resources to allow the students to develop any performance-related ideas od their own as extra curricular projects. Students should aim to become involved with as many performance projects as possible, both inside and outside of school.
