Drama and Theatre Studies

Course summary

Enjoyment of Drama and Theatre A Level is dependent upon putting aside your inhibitions and working effectively as part of a team. You will learn skills and techniques associated with different styles of drama and theatre and study a variety of play texts. An enthusiasm for performing and watching the performance of others is essential. OCR’s A Level in Drama and Theatre has been designed to be a practical, engaging and creative specification for you to study. It will provide opportunities to interrogate the work of others, to explore drama as a practical art form and to work independently to create your own drama performances. Practitioners in practice: Students will create their own devised performance based on and influenced by the work of others. This must include: 1. The study of two centre chosen practitioners; 2. The study/exploration of an extract from a relevant supporting text (chosen by the centre); In addition to the performance, students will be marked on an accompanying research report and portfolio with evidence of the process. Performing texts: Students will produce a performance based on a text chosen by the centre, which will assess their performance skills. Students will be required to produce an accompanying concept document which outlines their intentions for the performance. Analysing performance: Students will be assessed on their knowledge and understanding and their ability to analyse and evaluate. Section A: Students explore extracts from two different texts from a set list based on a chosen theme given by the exam board. Section B: This section asks the students to review a performance they have seen on their course. They will be assessed on their ability to analyse and evaluate. Deconstructing texts: This component requires students to study a set text in detail. The paper will contain questions about directorial decisions for the text and assesses students’ knowledge and understanding of how drama and theatre is created and developed for performance.