Course Content

If you love Drama and have a passion for performing and exploring theatre than this subject is for you. This new course will offer you the opportunity to explore drama as a practical art form in which ideas and meaning are communicated to an audience through choices of form, style and convention. You will be introduced to key practitioners, theoretical influences and influential playwrights practically whilst developing and building on your core practical performance skills. The subject content for GCSE Drama is divided into three components:

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1.Understanding drama (written exam) 40% (this is an open book written exam of 1¾ hours)

•Section A: multiple choice questions on knowledge and understanding of drama and theatre (4 marks)

•Section B: four questions on a given extract from the set play (chosen from a choice of six) (46 marks)

•Section C: one two part question (from a choice) on the work of theatre makers in a single live theatre production (30 marks)

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2.Devising drama - practical performance – (25%) and a supporting coursework portfolio (75%)

•You will have the opportunity of working in groups to create and perform an original devised drama performance

•Throughout this process of practical exploration you will also analyse the process you went through to create and evaluate your own work through a coursework portfolio.

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3.Texts in practice (practical performance to an audience) – 20%

•This is your opportunity to develop your performance or performance support (lighting, makeup, costume) skills. You will be performing two contrasting sections of a script to an external examiner and audience.

Drama offers you the opportunity to explore a range of creative as well as critical thinking skills while engaging and encouraging you to become an imaginative and confident performer or designer. It implements and instils key skills applicable to a variety of careers as you learn to present yourself in public with confidence. You will also learn to collaborate, communicate and negotiate with others, think analytically and evaluate effectively. You will gain the confidence to pursue your own ideas, reflect and refine your efforts. Whatever the future holds, you will emerge with a toolkit of transferable skills, applicable both in further studies and in the workplace.

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This course is for you if you intend to study AS or A-level Drama, as you will already have become familiar with studying whole set texts for the written papers. You will also have built solid foundations in reviewing a live theatre production and in interpreting key extracts.

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Drama students go on to pursue careers in Performing Arts , Entertainment Industry, Media, Politics, Teaching, Events Management etc. while Universities view Drama A level in conjunction with other appropriate subjects as acceptable for study in Medicine and Law.