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Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): complete guide to the components, set texts and exams

A complete guide to Pearson Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (specification 9DR0). Covers the three components, the Devising coursework, the Text in Performance practical, the Theatre Makers in Practice written exam, the set practitioners and theatre companies, live theatre evaluation, and how to study each part for top grades.

Browse guides →Syllabus dot points (31)

Pearson Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (specification 9DR0) is a two-year linear course assessed through three components: one written exam and two practical or coursework projects. This page is the index: below is a map of the three components, the written exam structure, the set practitioners and companies, and how to study each part.

The three Drama and Theatre components

The qualification is built from three components that together balance original creation, scripted performance and written analysis.

Component 1: Devising
Coursework worth 40%. You devise an original piece of theatre from a set stimulus, influenced by the work and methodology of one prescribed practitioner and using an extract from a performance text as a starting point. The work is marked by your centre and moderated by Pearson, and is supported by a written portfolio documenting the creative process and an evaluation of the final piece.
Component 2: Text in Performance
A practical worth 20%, assessed live by a visiting Pearson examiner. You perform a key extract from one performance text as part of a group, and a monologue or duologue from a second, contrasting text. It rewards interpretation of published scripts and the application of performance and design skills in front of an audience.
Component 3: Theatre Makers in Practice
A written exam worth 40%. It has three sections: a live theatre evaluation of a production you have seen, a performance text explored as a theatre maker (performer and designer), and an extended response reimagining a complete performance text for a contemporary audience in the light of a chosen practitioner.

What this study library covers

This library focuses on the knowledge and skills that underpin all three components, organised into eight modules of dot-point pages.

Drama and theatre skills
The roles of theatre makers, vocal and physical performance skills, staging configurations and conventions, and the design elements of set, lighting, sound and costume. This is the shared vocabulary you use everywhere.
Practitioners and theatre companies
The methodologies of Stanislavski, Brecht, Artaud, Berkoff, Frantic Assembly and Complicite, which shape Component 1 and Section C of the written exam.
The set texts
How to approach a performance text, use social, cultural and historical context, read a text through its genre and style, and build a whole-text evidence bank for the closed sections of the exam.
Performance and design realisation
How to realise a text as a performer, a director and a designer, and how to justify creative choices in terms of their effect on an audience.
Live theatre evaluation
How to analyse live performance, evaluate the choices made by actors and designers, and structure a strong Section A response using your own notes.
Devising from a stimulus
How to respond to a stimulus, devise in the style of a practitioner, document the process in the portfolio, and evaluate the finished piece.
Interpreting a text as a maker
How to reimagine a complete performance text for a contemporary audience, apply a practitioner as an interpretive lens, and write the extended Section C response.
Exam technique
The structure of the Component 3 paper, the command words and mark schemes, and how to plan and time the written exam.

Exam and assessment structure

Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre is assessed by one written paper and two practical or coursework components.

  • Component 1: Devising - coursework, 40%, marked by the centre and moderated by Pearson, supported by a portfolio and an evaluation. You devise from a stimulus, influenced by one practitioner.
  • Component 2: Text in Performance - practical, 20%, assessed live by a visiting Pearson examiner. A group extract from one text plus a monologue or duologue from a second text.
  • Component 3: Theatre Makers in Practice - written exam, 2 hours 30 minutes, 80 marks, 40%. Section A live theatre evaluation (with your own notes), Section B a performance text as performer and designer, Section C a complete text reimagined through a practitioner.

The Section B and Section C parts of the written exam are closed-book, so your set texts must be revised from memory; Section A allows your own notes on the live production.

How to study Drama and Theatre

Drama rewards precise vocabulary, deep textual knowledge, and the ability to think as a theatre maker.

  1. Work from the assessment objectives. AO1 (create and develop ideas), AO2 (apply theatrical skills to realise intentions), AO3 (demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how theatre is developed and performed) and AO4 (analyse and evaluate live theatre) shape every mark scheme.
  2. Know your texts three ways. Rehearse reading each set text as a performer, a director and a designer, because the written exam demands all three perspectives.
  3. Keep live theatre notes. Section A rewards precise remembered detail, so record a production carefully and shape your notes for the exam.
  4. Learn one practitioner precisely. Use the correct terminology and link theory to practical technique, because you apply a practitioner in Component 1 and Section C.
  5. Build a vocabulary of staging and design. Configurations, lighting, sound and costume terms must be automatic and used to support analysis and justification.

The eight modules, dot point by dot point

Each module has specification-level answer pages with worked exam questions and cross-links, plus a deep-dive overview guide. Browse the full set at /a-level-edexcel/drama/syllabus.

For the official specification

Pearson publishes the full specification (9DR0), past papers, mark schemes and the set-text and practitioner lists at qualifications.pearson.com. Always revise from the current specification and Pearson's own past papers, because question style, the set-text list and the practitioner list are board-specific.

Drama guides

In-depth written guides with paired practice quizzes.

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Drama practice quizzes

Multiple-choice drills with worked answer explanations. Your scores stay on this device.

The A-LEVEL-EDEXCEL system, explained

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Common questions about Drama

How is Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0) structured?
Edexcel Drama and Theatre is a two-year linear course assessed through three components. Component 1, Devising, is coursework worth 40% in which you devise an original piece from a stimulus, influenced by the work of one practitioner and using a chosen performance text as a starting point, supported by a portfolio and an evaluation. Component 2, Text in Performance, is a practical worth 20% assessed by a visiting examiner, in which you perform a group extract and a monologue or duologue from a second, different text. Component 3, Theatre Makers in Practice, is a written exam worth 40% covering live theatre evaluation, a performance text explored as a theatre maker, and a complete text reimagined in light of a practitioner.
What is in the Component 3 written exam?
Component 3, Theatre Makers in Practice, is a written exam lasting 2 hours 30 minutes and worth 80 marks (40% of the A-level). Section A is a live theatre evaluation of a production you have seen, answered with your own notes (it is open book for that section). Section B explores a performance text from the page-to-stage list as a performer and as a designer, realising an extract for a contemporary audience. Section C is an extended response on a complete performance text reimagined for a contemporary audience in the light of a chosen practitioner such as Brecht, Stanislavski, Artaud, Berkoff, Frantic Assembly or Complicite.
Who are the set practitioners and theatre companies?
Edexcel expects you to apply the methodology of an influential practitioner or company to your own theatre making. The most commonly studied are Konstantin Stanislavski (naturalism and psychological realism), Bertolt Brecht (epic theatre and the alienation effect), Antonin Artaud (the Theatre of Cruelty), Steven Berkoff (total and physical theatre), Frantic Assembly (contemporary physical devising) and Complicite (collaborative, visual, devised theatre). You apply one practitioner in Component 1 and use a practitioner as the interpretive frame for Section C of the written exam.
How is live theatre evaluation assessed in Edexcel Drama?
Section A of the Component 3 written exam asks you to analyse and evaluate a live theatre production you have seen during the course, focusing on how performers and designers created meaning for an audience. For this section you may bring in your own notes about the production, so it is effectively open book, but the notes must be your own and limited in length. Markers reward precise description of what happened on stage, analysis of the intended effect, and a clear evaluation of how successful each choice was.
What is the difference between Component 1 and Component 2?
Component 1, Devising, is original work: you create a new piece from a stimulus, shaped by one practitioner and a performance text, and it is marked by your centre and moderated by Pearson alongside a portfolio and evaluation. Component 2, Text in Performance, is scripted work assessed live by a visiting Pearson examiner: you perform a key extract from one text as part of a group and a monologue or duologue from a second, different text. Component 1 rewards creative process and reflection; Component 2 rewards interpretation and performance of published scripts.
How should I revise Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre?
Work from the assessment objectives and the specification. For the written exam, learn your page-to-stage text and your complete text in depth and rehearse interpreting them as a performer, director and designer, and keep detailed, revisable notes on a live production for Section A. Secure the methodology of your chosen practitioner so you can apply it precisely in Component 1 and Section C. For the practical components, log your devising and rehearsal decisions clearly because the written portfolio and evaluation carry marks, and build a precise vocabulary of staging, design and practitioner terminology.