GCSE Drama Written Paper - Section A

Describe what the piece was about; state the style, period and genre of the piece, the performance space and any technical or design elements used and your target audience. You should state whether your contribution was as actor, designer or technician. 

• Style 
• Period 
• Genre 
• Performance space 
• Technical or design elements 
• Target audience 
• Contribution (actor, designer or technician)

Description + Expansion 

Description = 'We performed in a minimalistic black box studio." 

Expansion = "Which allowed us to create scenarios using physical theatre." 

"We performed in a minimalistic black box studio which allowed us to create scenarios using physical theatre." 

Description = "Our target audience was 15 years and above."  

Expansion = "The play contained references to drugs and alcohol." 

"Our target audience was 15 years and above as the play contained references to drugs and alcohol." 

Explanation = How + Why 

Development of creative ideas. Your use of acting skills in rehearsals. 

You must distinguish between your characters personal objective and your group's aim. 

Personal objective/motivation for your character = what your character wants in a particular moment or scene. 

Group aim = What message are you trying to get across? What is the purpose of your piece? What are you trying to tell the audience? 

Give examples and focus on one acting skill (voice, movement, posture, gesture, facial expression etc.) for each example.

Analyse = Method + Effect 

Focus on performance techniques such as pace, energy, focus, transitions, characterisation and interaction, not line learning, personality clashes or rejected ideas. 

This is about the process not the final performance. How did the rehearsal technique change your acting skills? How did you alter your acting as a result of the rehearsal? 

Acting skills 

• Vocals - Use of pause/pitch/pace/tone/colume 
• Movement - Exaggeration/precision/pace/rhythm/proxemics
• Facial expressions - Naturalistic/exgerrated/specific emotions
• Gestures - Bold/conveys emotion/emphasizes words 
• Postures - Show status/age/attitude 

Evaluation = Reflect + Critique 

An evaluation of how you achieved your personal objective in the final performance. Focus on acting not the devising process. 

• Specific moment and what you were trying to achieve 
• Quotation/description of movement sequence 
• How you delivered it 
• Were you successful in creating your intended impact on the audience?