Skip to content ↓

Drama and Theatre Studies

Year 7

We build a Drama ‘Toolbox’ of making, performing and responding skills, to assist students when they perform practically as an individual or within a group. This armoury will be linked to a variety of social ideas, dramatic styles and forms of theatre. This includes creating a television-style magazine show, exploring characterisation and play structure through melodrama, physical theatre & a miniature musical of Shakespeare's Tempest. Termly homework will be projects that are intrinsically linked to the practical work they are developing including research, reflection and script based tasks.

Year 8

We develop and foster the imagination through devising & stimuli. This includes building character, exploring dramatic structure, mood & atmosphere as well as developing verbal presentation skills. The content includes detective and ghost stories, a reworking of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Genre Mash-Ups & an Introduction to Improvisation. Termly homework will be projects developed throughout their practical development including written reflections of their development and script writing activities.

Year 9

Students have a practical exploration of theatre history, design skills, performance styles and theatre as a social commentary. This journey includes modules in Stage Make-Up, Shaking Up Shakespeare, Five Minute Films, Surrealism and Verbatim/Documentary Theatre. We also include the practical study and reworking of key extracts of Shakespeare's Macbeth. Termly homework will be projects helping to develop their own creative ideas in regards to performance and design in order to open them up to the various potential paths of study in Drama at a GCSE level.  


GCSE (Years 10 & 11): Exam Board Edexcel.

Aims of Subject

Offers students 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. 

Students will create, perform and respond to drama informed by their theoretical knowledge of drama and theatre. 

To develop's pupils' knowledge and understanding of what makes effective Drama by studying practitioners and watching and evaluating productions.

To develop pupils' own skills in regards to design, characterisation and direction.  

Content and Assessment Overview

Component 1:  Devising Drama  40% of qualification.

  • 20% writing and performing your play in the theatre. This will include directing, acting, set design, costume, lighting and marketing.

  • 20% script and portfolio addressing your play's development. You will create your own play in a group based around an exciting number of stimuli given to you by us. You will type up a portfolio of 2000 words that will include how you created your play, your influences, research and evaluation of your play.

Component 2: A performance from a Scripted Play. 20% of qualification.

Students will perform in, or design key elements for two key extracts of a script or a shortened version of a play, performed for an external examiner. 

Component 3:  Written examination: 40% of qualification.

The exam is 1 hour 30 minutes in length and is comprised of 2 compulsory sections - 

  • Section A: Study of a set text - From a choice of 6 well known plays and playwrights. 
  • Section B: Live theatre production - A commentary on a piece of live theatre they have experienced during their GCSE studies.

Course Description

Students will gain experience of acting, encountering a range of stimuli as a basis for dramatic exploration, and explore other theatrical skills such as make-up, costume, set design and lighting.  Self-devised work will be an important part of the course, as will frequent visits to the theatre.  Throughout, students will learn how to review their own work and that of others with a positive critical awareness, using appropriate specialist terminology.  They will learn to identify thematic and technical links between theatre of different genres, periods and cultures.

How will the course help me?

In Drama you need imagination as well as an ability to create work in a group. This is a kinaesthetic and problem solving subject that requires you to be a team player, prepared to work with anyone and develop leadership skills. This will help anyone who wants responsibility in any field with the confidence to manage, organise and help people. It is also designed for individuals who want to go into the arts whether it is working for the BBC, designing, script writing or performing. Ultimately drama is about the study of people and finding brilliant and creative ways of showing humanity.  

Homework:

You will have an hour a week completing a drama diary as well as play writing, research, reviewing plays and performances, learning lines and building an extensive theatrical knowledge that includes acting, directing, set design and costume.

How your family can help?

They can help with line learning, discussions around topics we cover and encouraging your son or daughter to be confident expressing ideas vocally.

For more information please contact Mrs A. Swan (Head of Drama)