1

DRAMA GCSE Unit 1: Written exam

Student Support Booklet

Name___________________________

Highgate Wood School

This booklet should be used as a revision tool. Use it over the Easter holidays to prepare for your Unit 1 exam, which takes place on the 24th May. Make sure you complete the tasks, as they will help you feel confident about any question you might be asked in the exam itself. Please bring this booklet to EVERY Drama lesson after Easter.

2

Voice (pitch, pace, pause Facial expressions tempo, accent, tone, emphasis) Eyeline/focus Body Language Use of props Proxemics –

How close or far you are to other actors

Gesture Interaction with others Movement e.g Gait = walk Use of costume

Unit 1: Drama written exam

What on Earth am I writing about?!

Depending on the question, you could be writing about any of the elements above. In most answers you will refer to more than more than one of these elements, especially in Section B of the paper, which awards a maximum of 20 marks for each response. It is really important that you feel confident writing about your performance using Drama vocabulary. The next few pages will guide you through some of the key terms that you must be using in your answers.

3

DRAMA VOCAB: LEARN, LEARN, LEARN !!!

Technical Elements Set Lighting- fresnel, gel, gobo, spot light, general cover, barn door, Special FX Sound – diegetic and non-diegetic/ live/ recorded Puppetry Silhouette Screen Projection Props

Design Elements Costume Props Set Lighting – fresnel, gel, gobo, spot light, general cover, barn door, Sound - diegetic and non-diegetic/ live/ recorded Special FX Make Up Gauze Screen Projections

Acting Skills Voice Pitch / Pace/ Pause/ Accent/ dialect/ volume/ tone/ resonance/ articulation/ tempo Physicality – Body language/ posture/ pose/ poise/ Weight/ staccato/ legato/ Facial Expressions Proxemics Eye contact Gait Gestures Relationships

Stage Configurations Large studio space with a 2 tiered stage in an End On configuration Proscenium Arch Thrust Apron In the Round End on Thrust stage Arena Stage Raked stage

Style Stylised / symbolic Naturalistic Physical Theatre Comedic Satirical Genre Naturalism Realism Comedy – black comedy/ sit com/ rom com/ slapstick/ pastiche Horror Documentary Expressionism Mystery/ thriller/

General Words Upstage - Downstage Stage Left/Right Cues Rehearsal Refine / develop / stimulus Blocking / Space Atmosphere / mood / Reaction

Rehearsal Techniques Improvisation Hot Seating Experimenting Directing Audience Response Forum Theatre Still Images Read through Role on the Wall Character Profile

4

PACE INTONATION NASAL EMOTION ACCENT/DIALECT PITCH PAUSE LINE DELIVERY EMPHASIS STACCATO

Acting techniques: Use of Voice

Remember the word ‘Pineapples’ – you need to be referring to these elements of voice when describing how you used it. Then you need to link them the effect they had on the audience

Pineapples

5

FACIAL EXPRESSION

LEVELS ACTION GAIT POSTURE EYE CONTACT GESTURE SPACE

Acting Techniques: Use of physicality

Remember the words ‘Flag Pegs’ – you need to be referring to these elements of your physicality when describing how you used it. Then you need to link them the effect they had on the audience

Flag Pegs

6

Key words to explain/ analyse/evaluate your acting skills

Voice (pace, pitch, volume, tone, accent)

Facial Expressions

Body Language

Gesture

Proxemics / Movement

Scream

Wink

Shaking/nodding head

Raising hands

Moving forward

Shout

Cheerful

Shrug

Clenching fists

Moving away

Squeaky

Smile

Titled head

Wagging finger

Keeping same distance

Pause

Titled head

Drumming/tapping fingers

Pointing

Pushing away

Mumble

Frown

Slowly

Rubbing hands

Pulling towards

Stutter

Wide eyed

Open / Closed

Rubbing eyes

Invading personal space

Whisper

Down turned mouth

Slouched

Thumbs up/down

Backing off

Controlled

Eyebrows raised

Shoulders hunched

Biting nails

Circling

Slowly

Mouth wide open

Quickly

Hands on hips

Intimidating

Croaky

Eyes narrowed

Skipping

Hands behind back

Comforting

Quietly

Sad

Plodding

Stroking chin

Ignoring

Strong

Jaw tensed

Slow

Head in hands

Turning your back

Melodic

Upper lip curled

Running

Playing with hair

Grabbing clothing

Clear

Flared nostrils

Alert

Crossing arms

Fixed on the spot

Gibberish

Drooping eyelids

Brisk

Stroking

Stalking

Breathy

Rolling eyes

Leaning

Waving

Mirroring

Wheezy

Glare

Pacing

Scratching head

Approaching

Intonation

Stare

Kneeling

Throwing hands in the air

Challenging

7

Pineapples and Flag Pegs: putting it into practice

Try completing the following task, Acting Skills from Pineapples and Flag Pegs:

1. Choose a moment from your improvised performance. Describe that moment and explain what you wanted to achieve for the audience.

e.g. In one part of my performance my character was leaving for war and had to say goodbye to their family. We wanted to show how overwhelming these moments were and how war had such a huge impact on family relationships.

Your turn:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Choose a line that you delivered in this part of your performance.

e.g. As my character was saying goodbye to their sister, I said the line “Look after mother, she isn’t strong enough to do this without you.”

Your turn:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Choose 4 vocal acting skills from the Pineapples list and describe how you

used them to deliver this line. Try to pick out key words and focus on them. e.g. The tone of my voice was sombre and the pitch of my voice was low, to show how important this request was. I also paused before “strong enough”, to suggest that my character might be about to say something more serious about their mother’s state of mind. The emotions behind my voice were a mixture of sadness and guilt because they character was leaving their family behind and placing responsibility on their younger sibling.

(PTO)

8

Your turn:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

4. Now choose 4 physical acting skills from the Flag Pegs list and describe how you used them at the same moment in your performance. Try to pick out key words and focus on them.

e.g. As I spoke to my character’s sister I moved towards her and leant in, closely, almost speaking the words in her ear so that her mother wouldn’t hear. I also wrapped my arm around her to show her comfort and to demonstrate the bond between the two characters. Finally, when speaking the words “Without you” I stared straight into the sister’s eyes, to add emphasis to the line and show the weight of the situation. Your turn: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ FURTHER REVISION - See if you can do this for a number of different key moments in your improvised performance AND your scripted performance

9

Plutchik's Wheel of Emotion is a fantastic resource Use this to identify the precise emotions you have portrayed within your performances. You will be awarded more marks if you can use more sophisticated words than ‘Happy’ and ‘Sad’

10

Writing about the interaction with others on stage. Did your relationship with another character have a significant effect on the audience? How did you show this?

Describe a key relationship between your character and another character in the play ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What did you do as an actor to show this? (Pineapples and Flag Pegs) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11

Write about the atmosphere the scene created What feeling did the scene have? Write about the effect on the audience.

Did they react as you expected or were there moments they responded differently to what you had imagined? Was the audience silent? Shocked? Saddened?

What was the feeling of the scene? Why? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What impact did it have on the audience? Why? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12

The different aspects of Performance

When writing about your performance, you should be referring to four main areas: Explorative strategies, the medium(s) you have used, the elements of Drama and your stimuli

Explorative Strategies These are ways of using drama to explore topics, themes, issues, play texts and performance. The strategies you are most likely to use are:

Still image/freeze frame –the action is frozen like a photograph

Thought-tracking –when frozen you speak the thought in the character’s head

Narrating –you describe what is happening/how someone is thinking or feeling but from the outside

Hot-seating –you are in role and people ask you questions

Cross-cutting – cutting from scene to scene

Forum theatre – you watch a piece and then you step in and try to change it

Marking the moment –showing which are the key moments in a piece of drama

Flashback/forward – you show a scene of something which happened in the past/future

Soundscape – the creation of atmosphere through sounds

Role-play – taking on a role and acting like that person would

The Drama Medium These are the different ways in which dramatic meaning (ideas) are communicated to an audience. These include the use of:

Costume – all the clothes and accessories an actor wears to demonstrate meaning and/or character

Masks and make-up – masks are a form of covering the face. Make-up is the cosmetic paint, powder and colouring used on stage to make faces and expressions visible to the audience

Sound and music –this includes everything the audience hears

Lighting – the use of artificial light to create a range of effects and moods, or to direct the audience’s attention

Space and levels – using heights and proxemics to demonstrate meaning and relationships to the audience

Set and props – the set is the constructed or created setting in which a play takes place. The props are the items used during a performance

Movement, mime and gesture – movement is the physical action that happens on stage. Mime is when actors remain silent and convey meaning through actions. Gesture is a single movement, made by part of the body, such as a fist clenching

Voice –using vocal techniques such as pauses, pitch and tone

Spoken language – the choice of words used

13

The Elements of Drama These are the different parts of a dramatic performance that relate to the story being told, the themes being developed and the ways the characters are presented. The elements of drama include:

Action, plot and content –the story, characters and/or themes of the drama

Forms – the way the story is told, the characters portrayed, and/or themes depicted

Climax and anti-climax – building and/or releasing tension, and/or sense of expectation

Rhythm, pace and tempo –the rate at which the action moves along and the extent to which this

changes

Contrasts – e.g., stillness vs. activity, silence vs. noise

Characterisation – the means used to portray a role using vocal and physical skills

Conventions – the techniques typically used in drama

Symbols – the representational use of props, gestures, expressions, costume, lighting, and/or

setting. E.g. white costume to represent the innocence of a character

Forms of Stimuli Drama arises from many sources and roots. Many different things stimulate the imagination of those who make drama. These different stimuli include:

Poetry Music Images –e.g. paintings, pictures, photos

Play scripts Live theatre performances Television and film Newspaper and magazine articles Extracts from fiction and non-fiction texts Artefacts –e.g. objects, pictures, costumes, etc.

14

Section A: Write about your Improvised piece

• Remember when you are discussing acting to use pineapples and flag pegs (see the grid in this pack for extra words).

• Make sure you explain yourself clearly and justify your answers to get extra marks. Don’t just explain what you did, but why you did it and the effect it created.

• Remember the examiner does not know you or the practical work you have done.

Make their life easier by clearly and concisely explaining in a few sentences only what your piece was about or what section of the play you acted out. This should not take long, but will help the examiner visualise what you are writing about.

This section will always ask about a piece of work you have completed in class. You should write about your improvisation on ‘War’. There will be 4 questions each worth 10 marks. You must answer them all.

Question 1: DESCRIBE. You will need to be able to define your devised piece using the following: Drama Term Definition Title Give your piece a name. Style This is the style your performance is in. The easiest way to define your style is

whether it is naturalistic, non-naturalistic or ‘largely naturalistic with some non-naturalistic moments’. If your piece is non-linear, you could also describe it as ‘episodic’.

Period The time period you are performing the piece in. Is it ‘modern day’ or ‘1980s’ or ‘the 1600s’? (Or several time periods that you may need to define?)

Genre Think of genre as the categories in the library: Comedy, tragedy, drama, murder mystery, sci-fi, farce, historical/period drama etc. Most of your work tends to be a ‘drama’ which implies it is largely serious in tone.

Target audience Who is your play aimed at? And who is it suitable for? Why is it suitable for this audience?

Performance space

Where did you perform it? (Drama studio at school) What type of stage did you use? (thrust, traverse, in-the-round, proscenium arch etc)

Technical and design elements

Are there any specific design or technical elements you used – e.g. sound effects, particular lighting states or props?

Your contribution You are an ACTOR – but what part or parts are you playing? Give some basic information about your character.

Example of Exam Style Question: Q1 Describe what the piece was about; state the style, period and genre of the piece, the performance space and any technical or design elements you used and your target audience. You should state whether your contribution was as an actor, designer or technician.

15

Question 1 Practise: (Use the table on the previous page to help you fill this in. You should aim to memorise these responses for your final exam)

Write ONE paragraph describing your performance: (Title and who/what/where/when/why?) What style is your piece? (e.g. naturalistic, non-naturalistic, abstract, physical theatre…) What is/are the period(s) of your piece? What genre is your piece? Who are your target audience and why? What is your role in the performance? I am an actor and I play the role(s) of… Describe your performance space: (type of theatre and audience arrangement) Describe the design elements that are important to your performance:

16

THE MAGIC 8: Section A

You should include 8 performance techniques in every answer.

E.g. if the Q asks you about development or research, you might

say how researching (whatever your T.I.E stimulus was) helped

with characterisation. Then you must quote a line from your

piece (where the research was relevant) and go on to give 8

performance techniques you used as a result of the research.

So an example of the magic 8 technique would look like this –

Q2: Explain how you developed your role within this piece of practical work? Give at least one specific example of how you applied your skill as actor, designer or technician in preparation for performance.

My character’s function in the play was to show the moral contrast between two twins.

We developed the piece to have a strong moral message, highlighting my character’s

role in the murder. We researched newspaper articles on child killers and watched a

documentary on children that kill. One specific example of when I applied my skill as an

actor was when I said the line "don't look at me," I spoke in a low pitched whisper (1)

with a stammer (2) on “don't”. I lowered my eyes (3) and couldn't maintain eye contact

with the other actors on stage. I started to walk backwards (4) with a slow pace and

wide gait (5) until I reached my desk. As I lowered myself onto my chair, I put my head

in my hands (6) and scrunched my shoulders up to my ears. I crossed my legs to create

negative body language (7) then finally lifted my eyes to stare (8) at the audience,

unnerving them and achieving my aim of a creepy and eerie character fitting with our

theme of free choice between right and wrong.

Now write your own magic 8 answer to this question. You can do this for more than one character if you use multi-role in your performance. The next few pages will take you through some example questions and how to structure your answers.

17

Question 2: EXPLAIN

Explaining is all about the HOW and the WHY.

How have you done what you have done? Why have you done what you have done?

Each HOW needs a WHY - they work together in explanation. e.g.

• This is how my scene was put together and now I will explain why we did it in this way.

• I will explain how I developed my character and then why I chose to develop it this way.

• I will explain how I worked with my group and why we decided to work in this way.

Examples of Exam Style Questions Q2.

• Explain how your role developed in rehearsal. Use two examples in your answer.

• Explain how you aimed to communicate your role in performance. Use two

examples in your answer.

• Explain how you prepared to play your role in performance. Use two examples in your answer.

18

Question 2 Practise:

• Explain how you prepared to play your role in performance. Use two examples in your answer.

1. Start your answer by using the words in the question: I prepared for my role in the performance in a number of different ways.

2. THEN, write about your first example, a) describing what you did, b) how/why you did it, c) linking it directly to your performance (MAGIC 8 - the most marks!).

Firstly, a) I used hot-seating to help prepare my reaction to the death of my character’s son. b) My group asked me questions such as ‘How would you describe your relationship with your son, Tom?’ and ‘What is your happiest memory of spending time with Tom?’. This helped me in my performance because I was able to create a back story for my character which made it easier to imagine the close relationship that they had with their son and therefore understand how completely devastated they must have felt when their son was taken away from them. c) I then showed these emotions in my performance by dropping to the floor with my head in my hands and sobbing helplessly when my character found out the news about Tom’s death. I stayed kneeling on the floor, shaking, to show that my character was so upset they had no strength left to move. I hunched my shoulders and put my head in my hands, shaking and sobbing quietly. I also whimpered the line ‘It isn’t fair!” in a high pitched and cracked voice, emphasising the word “isn’t”. I then cried out “How could they take him away from me?!’, followed by loud sobs and increased shaking to show my character breaking down. You will then need to do the same thing with another example (and for as many examples as the question states) Your turn: a)I prepared for my role in the performance by….. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ b) I did this by…… ______________________________________________________________________________

19

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ c) I used this in my performance by…. To show… ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DON’T FORGET THE MAGIC 8!

20

Try answering a different ‘Explain’ question:

• Explain how you aimed to communicate your role in performance. Use two examples in your answer.

1. Start your answer by using the words in the question:

I aimed to communicate my role in the performance in a number of different ways.

1. THEN, write about your first example, a) describing what you did, b) how/why you did it, c) linking it directly to your performance.

Firstly, a)I wanted to show the audience that…. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b)To do this I used (you should write about specific dramatic techniques – Pineapples and Flag Pegs!)…Make sure you describe what you did __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ c)This showed the audience that… DON’T FORGET THE MAGIC 8! ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

21

Question 3 & 4: ANALYSE & EVALUATE

There are 3 main steps to analysis or evaluation:

1. Identify the FOCUS/AIM/INTENTION of your piece – E.g. if you are evaluating

the scene, what is the purpose of the scene – to develop the plot; to develop a character; to create a particular atmosphere?

2. Give it an overall evaluation – what is your opinion of how well you did – MARK

OUT OF 10. Examples of Exam Style Questions Q3.

• Analyse the improvements that you made during the rehearsal process. You should refer to at two specific occasions in your response.

• Analyse how successful you were in presenting your role to the audience.

You should refer to at two specific occasions in your response.

• Analyse how well you created a particular feeling or atmosphere in your performance. You should refer to at two specific examples in your response.

Examples of Exam Style Questions Q4.

• Evaluate the success of your contribution to the group performance as a whole. You should refer to two particular moments form the piece to support your answer.

• Evaluate how successful your final performance was in communicating your

ideas to the audience. You should refer to two particular examples to support your answer.

• Evaluate how successful your group were in developing a specific atmosphere

on stage in performance. You should refer to two particular examples to support your answer.

• Evaluate how well you came to realise your personal aims in performance.

You should refer to two particular examples to support your answer.

If you don’t do this, you will get very few marks for your answer (if any!)

3. Provide EXAMPLES and EVIDENCE to back up your

opinion.

22

Question 3 Practise Analyse how well you created a particular feeling or atmosphere in your performance. You should refer to at two specific examples in your response. Let’s try it out with one example:

1. Start your answer by using the words in the question: I was pleased with the way I created a tense atmosphere in my performance.

2. THEN, write about your first example stating the focus/aim/intention of the scene. An example of when I was successful at doing this was in a scene between my character and their father. Their relationship was very damaged because he had turned to drink and was abusing my characters mother. I wanted the tension to show how my character felt trapped because she didn’t want to engage with her father but she couldn’t speak out because of what her father might do to her, or her mother.

3. Give yourself an overall evaluation (and it would be helpful to give it a mark out of 10 so that you can link this to how well you think you did)

I feel that I was very successful in showing my character’s feelings towards her father through my actions and reactions. In doing so, I feel that the atmosphere was very tense and would mark myself 9/10 for this aspect of my performance.

4. Provide examples and evidence to back up your opinion (MAGIC 8!) To create this atmosphere I refused to look at my character’s father when he entered the room, staring at the book I was reading. When my father barked at me to get my attention, I slowly closed the book and very steadily moved my head to face him. I then delivered the line “Yes, father”. This was said calmly and quietly but in a monotone way, which effectively showed my characters ‘lack enthusiasm at talking to her father. When he asked me how my day at school was, I replied with the bare minimum, simply stating “Fine”, this time gritting my teeth slightly to show my discomfort at being in the room with him. Finally, when he patted the chair and asked me to sit with him I sniffed and curled my lip to show disgust at this request, stiffening my body and clenching my fists as if I had to do everything in my power to refrain from lashing out. I then

23

simply walked calmly past him and, without looking back, replied “Sorry father, I have homework to do”. Question 3 Practise: Try answering the same question as the example demonstrates in your Drama books or on paper. Time yourself 10 minutes (or 15 to start with, if 10 seems too scary!): Analyse how well you created a particular feeling or atmosphere in your performance. You should refer to at two specific examples in your response. For further practise, try the same process with different questions:

• Analyse the improvements that you made during the rehearsal process. You should refer to at two specific occasions in your response.

• Analyse how successful you were in presenting your role to the audience.

You should refer to at two specific occasions in your response.

24

Question 4 Practise Evaluate the success of your contribution to the group performance as a whole. You should refer to two particular moments form the piece to support your answer. Let’s try it out with one example:

1. Start your answer by using the words in the question: I was very pleased with the success of my contribution to the group performance as a whole, for a number of reasons.

2. THEN, write about your first example stating the focus/aim/intention of the scene. Firstly, I was pleased with my contribution to the battle scene in my piece in which we all used slow motion to draw the audience’s attention to the intensity of the scene and the emotions and reactions of the characters.

3. Give yourself an overall evaluation (and it would be helpful to give it a mark out of 10 so that you can link this to how well you think you did)

I feel that I was very successful in achieving the effect of my character moving in slow motion and clearly portraying their movements and emotions. If I had to rate my performance out of 10, I would give it an 8.

4. Provide examples and evidence to back up your opinion (MAGIC 8!)

In order to achieve success in this technique, I made sure that I paced my movements evenly. First of all I achieved this by using a metronome to time myself and then when my skills in slow motion improved I was able to count in my head so that I didn’t speed up and slow down. The counting technique also helped me stay in time with the rest of the group so that even though our movements were all slowed down, they were all at the same pace making the effect more powerful. I also used large, clear and exaggerated movements such as a big sweeping, beckoning gesture to the rest of the squad. This helped show the audience that we were all in danger and even though the pace of the scene was slowed down, it gave the audience a sense of the urgency our characters were experiencing. To develop this atmosphere further, I had a panicked expression on my face to show that the enemy were approaching. To do this, I widened my

25

eyes and mouthed the words “Quick!”, “Hurry!”, as if I was shouting out to the other men in my squad. Finally, when my character was shot in this scene, I showed the impact of the bullet my slowly caving my body inwards, and moving both hands towards my stomach. I let my knees give way and crumpled to the floor, reaching out to another soldier and spreading my fingers out in desperation. If I had an opportunity to improve on this performance element, I would exaggerate my movements even further to make the scene even more intense for the audience. Question 4 Practise Try answering the same question as the example demonstrates in your Drama books or on paper. Time yourself 10 minutes (or 15 to start with, if 10 seems too scary!):

• Evaluate the success of your contribution to the group performance as a whole. You should refer to two particular moments form the piece to support your answer.

For further practise, try the same process with different questions:

• Evaluate how successful your final performance was in communicating your ideas to the audience. You should refer to two particular examples to support your answer.

• Evaluate how successful your group were in developing a specific atmosphere

on stage in performance. You should refer to two particular examples to support your answer.

• Evaluate how well you came to realise your personal aims in performance.

You should refer to two particular examples to support your answer.

26

Section B

This section will ask you about a play that you have studied. You should write about the scenes you performed from your play. You MUST detail the name of the play, the name of the playwright and the section you performed at the beginning of your answer. There will be two questions and you must answer BOTH questions. Each question will be worth 20 marks. Read the question carefully – if it asks you about your work; make sure you write about your work rather than the group as a whole. Make sure you can: Explain the section of the play you performed concisely (as briefly but clearly as

possible) Explain the character your played concisely (name, age, relationship with others,

focus for the play) Explain the style of the play (this is where you will need to demonstrate

background knowledge of the playwright) Explain some of the main challenges of the scene

o For your group o For you personally

In rehearsal Think about how and why your group used certain rehearsal techniques to develop your work. What did you CHANGE or IMPROVE in your piece after using these techniques? It is not enough to tell the examiner you used them – but why and with what results?

Mime run – focus on developing movement, proxemics, enhancing non-verbal

communication Radio Play – focus on use of voice, intonation, tempo or clarity Hot Seating – developing knowledge of character and relationships Speed Run – ensure smooth scene changes and clear order of scenes Switching roles – explore how others might play your role and use their ideas Performing in a different genre Having a movement/action for every line Summarising scenes into Freeze frames

How many of these can you use to describe your acting? What other words could you add to the list to practise with?

27

Rehearsal Techniques Log See if you can write about 4 different rehearsal techniques in the table below. Look at the example to get an idea of what you could write about: Rehearsal technique

Why was it used How was it used How did it affect your performance (With an example)

Radio play To focus on the voice and intonation of my character, Gregor, in a scene when he is panicking because his family is removing his bedroom furniture and possessions as he continues to transform into a giant insect.

My group and I sat in a circle and carried out a line run, without any focus on movement or staging. Our sole focus was on making sure that the lines had the right emotion behind them and put across the right meaning. I focused on the line “If you empty my room I’ll forget who I am”

Through the radio play I realised that I wasn’t bringing enough expression into a really important line, which shows that Gregor is starting to lose control and fears he might never be himself again. To develop this, I increased the pitch of my voice and added a slight squeak to create sense of weakness to the character (whose begging is having no effect on the family). I also placed emphasis on the words “forget” to draw attention to his fear of this happening.

28

Rehearsal technique

Why was it used How was it used How did it affect your performance (With an example)

29

Writing about the interaction with others on stage.

Did your relationship with another character have a significant effect on the audience? How did you show this?

Describe a key relationship between your character and another character in the play ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What did you do as an actor to show this? (Pineapples and Flag Pegs) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

30

Write about the atmosphere the scene created What feeling did the scene have? Write about the effect on the audience.

Did they react as you expected or were there moments they responded differently to what you had imagined? Was the audience silent? Shocked? Saddened?

What was the feeling of the scene? Why? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What impact did it have on the audience? Why? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

31

Theory: Steven Berkoff

In Section B you need to show that you understand the style of your chosen play and the approaches and techniques of the playwright or practitioner that you are working with. Your Playwright (who is also known for his style of ‘Berkoffian’ theatre) is Steven Berkoff. Here are some key facts about Berkoff’s style. You should refer to these in your exam if you are asked about ‘chosen intentions’, ‘appropriate style’, ‘research’ or ‘interpretation’.

• Berkoff’s approach to theatre is incredibly physical

• His plays often feature a lot of ensemble work (a group working together to create the same meaning/portray the same thing)

• His strength lies in the power of the language as well as in the physical

interpretation of the text, bringing it to vivid life for his audience

• His style is non-naturalistic, often focusing on movement rather than voice.

• He believed in the importance of mime to add meaning and clarity to a text.

• He believed mime should be performed with high levels of accuracy and exactness

• The theory of Total Theatre is key to Berkoff. Total Theatre maintains that every aspect of theatre must have purpose: every movement, that is choreographed; to each line, that is learned perfectly; to each lighting effect, that is used to convey a mood or message; to each sound effect, that enhances the audience’s experience; to each prop that has a use.

• The aim of Total Theatre is to create extreme moods to give the audience an overwhelming experience and to shock, amuse, scare, or amaze them.

• As a result of Total Theatre, performances are often minimalist, with bare stages and little language so that the focus remains on the physical movement and not on all the effects or the creation of a scene.

32

Using Theory to write about performance

Could you write about the ways in which you have used Berkoff’s style to develop your interpretation of the play? Try doing this for the quote in the first box. Then, choose three more points from the theory page (31) to write about. Theory about the style

Example of what you did using this knowledge or research

What was the effect it had on the audience?

Berkoff’s style often focuses on movement rather than voice

33

Theory about the style

Example of what you did using this knowledge or research

What was the effect it had on the audience?

34

Section B: Text (Worth 20 marks each) Remember: these questions are worth double the number of marks than the questions in Section A. Your answers must be developed in much more detail, with reference to your intentions, processes and your understanding of the play. See if you can time yourself 20 minutes to answer a question. Use the examples of rehearsal technique and research based preparation you have collected (from page 28 and 32) Examples of Exam Style Questions First Question

• Explain what the main acting challenges were in playing your role in this extract of the play. Give clear details of the research, rehearsal and other preparation work to explain how you developed your chosen skill.

• Explain how you prepared for performance of the text taking into account the

playwright’s intentions and your group’s interpretation of the play.

• Explain how you developed your acting skills during rehearsals to create a style of performance appropriate to your studied play. Give details of your research, rehearsal and other preparation work relevant to your own role in the play

Second Question

• Analyse how well you achieved what you and the rest of the cast set out to do. Give clear details of your interpretation of the role or design choices, reasons for your approach and how well you worked with others.

• Analyse the success of your personal performance in final performance. Give

clear details of areas you were proud of in performance.

• Analyse your success in applying your own vocal and physical skills effectively within the final performance of at least one specific section of this extract.

35

THE MAGIC 8: Section B

You should include 8 performance techniques in every answer.

E.g. if the Q asks you about development or research, you might say

how researching helped with characterisation. Then you must quote

a line from your piece (where the research was relevant) and go on

to give 8 performance techniques you used as a result of the research. Section B (20 marks)

Explain how you developed both your vocal and your physical skills during rehearsals

to create a character that was appropriate to your group’s interpretation of the play

script.

Give clear details of your research, rehearsal and other preparation work that helped

you to understand and perform your character.

So an example of the magic 8 technique would look like this –

In order to successfully portray the teenage character of ‘Jo’ in Shelagh Delany’s ‘A

Taste of Honey’, I developed my vocal and physical skills in a variety of ways

throughout the rehearsal process. My character’s function in the play was to highlight

the difficulties of being a child in a single parent family in 1950’s Britain. The style of the

play was naturalistic, and the genre was kitchen sink Drama – so I used a lot of

Stanislavski techniques to develop a believable and naturalistic portrayal of Jo. A big

part of the preparation work was mastering the Manchurian accent - as the play is set in

Salford near Manchester. Watching YouTube tutorials on accent showed me to

elongate my vowel sounds and play with glottal stops to make my voice sound more

working class and of the region.

The kitchen sink Drama genre was famous for presenting class struggles and my group

and I wanted to show the tough nature of Jo as she battled against difficult

circumstances – which include becoming a single parent herself – following in her

mother’s footsteps. The main interpretation we focused on was the strained mother

36

daughter relationship: this is exacerbated by the arrival of character of Peter (mother

Helen’s new boyfriend), who instantly dislikes and resents Jo.

One example of how I used my vocal and physical skills was when I showed my

character’s discomfort and displeasure when first meeting Helen’s new boyfriend, Peter.

When Peter enters I visibly shrink back from him, (1) rounding my shoulders, (2)

lowering my head and bringing my (3) eye line to the floor away from my mother. On the

line "you can’t make me," I experimented with my (4) tone, playing with the line through

(5) gritted teeth, and also emphasizing the (6) volume of “you” to show my distrust of

this new man in my mother’s life. I chose to try it with a (7) stammer on “can't” to bring

out my character’s fear towards him. In the majority of this extract though,(8) I lead with

my chin and show my stubbornness and defiance towards the thought of a new father

figure. In order to develop my interpretation of Jo more fully, I used emotion memory –

a Stanislavski technique to help me get into the emotion of anger towards an adult. I

remember a recent argument with my mother and tapped into the way I felt. This helped

me present a more realistic ‘angry’ Jo. Also, in warm up activities, I experimented with

the 7 states of tension to physicalise the internal emotions I was experimenting with.

Stanislavski began with the removal of tension from the body through relaxation and

then he believed you could build a character once you had eliminated your own habits

and mannerisms externally. Internal focus and imagination – such as picturing the grotty

flat Jo shares with her mother Helen, helped me present a naturalistic version of Jo.