How does AQA Component 2, Creating Original Drama, work, and what is assessed in the devised piece and working notebook?
Component 2 Creating Original Drama, including devising an original piece influenced by one prescribed practitioner, specialising as performer, designer or director, the working notebook and devised performance, and how the marks and assessment objectives are distributed.
A house-style overview of AQA Component 2, Creating Original Drama, covering devising influenced by one prescribed practitioner, the choice of specialism, the working notebook and devised performance, and how the 60 marks and assessment objectives are distributed.
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What this dot point is asking
Component 2 is a practical, non-exam assessment (NEA), so this is a house-style overview of how it works rather than a body of examinable written knowledge. AQA wants you to understand the structure of Creating Original Drama, how the marks are split, and how the work is assessed, so you can plan and document a strong devised piece.
How Component 2 is structured
Creating Original Drama is the devising component. Working as a group, you create an original piece of theatre from a stimulus, and you must show the influence of one practitioner chosen from AQA's prescribed list. You specialise in a single role, performer, designer or director, for both the notebook and the performance, so your evidence is focused on your own contribution.
What is assessed and how the marks split
- Working notebook, 40 marks. Documents the process: research, the chosen practitioner's methodology, your developing ideas, your specialist decisions and your evaluation.
- Devised performance, 20 marks. The realised piece itself, assessed in your chosen specialism.
- Total, 60 marks, 30% of the A-level. Marked by the centre and moderated by AQA.
Because the notebook carries two thirds of the marks, the quality of your documentation and reflection matters as much as the performance.
The assessment objectives in Component 2
Component 2 chiefly assesses AO1 (create and develop ideas to communicate meaning, making connections between theory and practice) and AO2 (apply theatrical skills to realise artistic intentions in live performance). The notebook is where AO1 lives, capturing how ideas were created and developed from the practitioner's methodology; the performance is where AO2 is shown, in the realised theatrical skills of your specialism.
How to approach Component 2 well
Choose a practitioner whose methods genuinely suit your idea and your specialism, apply their specific techniques rather than gesturing at their style, and document every significant decision and its intended effect in the notebook as you go, including honest evaluation.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA notebook12 marksExplain how the methodology of your chosen practitioner influenced the creation of your devised piece. (Component 2 working notebook)Show worked answer →
The working notebook rewards a clear line from a named practitioner's methodology to your own creative decisions.
Name the practitioner and the specific techniques you used (for example Brechtian episodic structure and direct address, or Frantic Assembly building blocks and lifts), then explain how each shaped concrete choices in your piece: the structure, the staging, your specialist role, and the intended effect on the audience. Evaluate what worked and what you changed.
Markers reward an explicit, evidenced link between the practitioner's methods and your decisions, plus reflection on the process, not a general description of the plot.
AQA notebook8 marksEvaluate the effectiveness of one creative decision in your devised performance. (Component 2 working notebook)Show worked answer →
This rewards focused evaluation of a single decision in your specialist role.
Describe the decision precisely (a staging choice, a design element, a directorial idea), explain your intention and the practitioner influence behind it, then judge how successfully it created the intended meaning for the audience, using specific evidence from the performance and how you might refine it.
Markers reward a clear intention, the practitioner link, and an honest, evidenced evaluation rather than mere description.
Related dot points
- Component 3 Making Theatre, including the practical exploration of three extracts from three different plays, applying a prescribed practitioner's methodology to the assessed extract, the choice of specialism, the reflective report, and how the marks and assessment objectives are distributed.
A house-style overview of AQA Component 3, Making Theatre, covering the three extracts from three different plays, applying a prescribed practitioner's methodology to the assessed extract, the choice of specialism, the reflective report, and how the 60 marks and assessment objectives are distributed.
- Frantic Assembly and physical theatre, including ensemble physicality, building blocks and devising methods, choreographed movement and lifts, the integration of design and music, and storytelling led by the body.
A focused answer on Frantic Assembly and physical theatre for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre, covering ensemble physicality, building blocks and devising methods, choreographed movement and lifts, the integration of design and music, and storytelling led by the body.
- Brecht and epic theatre, including the alienation effect, gestus, episodic structure, direct address, placards and song, and how these devices encourage an audience to think critically rather than become emotionally absorbed.
A focused answer on Brecht and epic theatre for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre, covering the alienation effect, gestus, episodic structure, direct address, placards and song, and how these political devices encourage an audience to think critically rather than become emotionally absorbed.
- Genre and theatrical style, including tragedy, comedy, naturalism, non-naturalism, epic and physical theatre, and how a play's genre and style guide the choices of performers, directors and designers.
A focused answer on genre and theatrical style for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre, covering tragedy, comedy, naturalism and non-naturalism, epic and physical theatre, and how the chosen genre and style direct the work of performers, directors and designers.
- The roles and skills of theatre makers, including the playwright, director, performer, and set, lighting, sound and costume designers, and how their work combines to create meaning for an audience.
A focused answer on the roles and skills of theatre makers for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre, covering the playwright, director, performer and the set, lighting, sound and costume designers, and how their decisions combine to create meaning for an audience.
Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Drama and Theatre (7262) specification — AQA (2016)