What is Frantic Assembly's approach to physical theatre and devising, and how does choreographed movement tell a story?
Frantic Assembly and physical theatre for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: choreographed movement married to text, devising methods such as Building Blocks and chair duets, the emphasis on dynamic ensemble physicality, and how to use movement to express emotion and narrative (AO1, AO2, AO3).
A focused answer on Frantic Assembly and physical theatre for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): choreographed movement married to text, devising methods such as Building Blocks and chair duets, dynamic ensemble physicality, and how to use movement to express emotion and narrative.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
Edexcel expects you to understand Frantic Assembly's contemporary approach to physical theatre and devising so you can apply it: in Component 1, where their working methods are an ideal devising engine, and in Section C, where you may interpret a text through their style. Frantic Assembly is the most modern of the commonly set practitioners and is especially useful because its methods are concrete, teachable processes for generating movement.
The aim: emotion through movement
Frantic Assembly's distinctive contribution is to fuse the emotional truth of text-based theatre with the expressive power of choreographed movement. Unlike a purely abstract dance, their physicality stays anchored to character and story: a lift, a fall or a sequence of contact work expresses what a character feels and what passes between two people. The company is also known for making physical theatre accessible through clear, repeatable processes, which is why its methods are so widely taught.
The key methods and features
- Building Blocks. A devising method for generating movement: performers create short movement phrases, then copy, reorder, layer and develop them to build longer choreographed sequences from simple material.
- Chair duets and contact work. Signature exercises using lifts, counterbalance and shared weight to physicalise a relationship, showing trust, control, tenderness or conflict through how two bodies move together.
- Marrying movement to text. Choreography is integrated with spoken scenes and naturalistic emotion, not separated into "dance breaks"; movement carries the subtext under the words.
- Dynamic, trusting ensemble. An athletic, well-rehearsed group whose physical trust makes the lifts and contact work possible.
- Atmospheric design. Strong contemporary sound and music, expressive lighting, and a fluid, often abstract set the performers move and reconfigure.
Frantic Assembly in design and staging
The company's productions pair physical performance with bold contemporary design: a driving sound and music score, atmospheric and dynamic lighting that sculpts the moving bodies, and a flexible set (panels, walls, furniture) the ensemble manipulates as part of the choreography. The staging is contemporary and fluid rather than illusionistic. When you interpret a text through Frantic Assembly, movement, sound and a transformable set work together to tell the story physically.
Frantic Assembly in the practitioner spectrum
Frantic Assembly extends the physical, ensemble line (Artaud, Berkoff) into a contemporary, emotionally grounded form, but keeps a strong connection to naturalistic feeling that the earlier physical practitioners reject. This makes it a flexible choice: it can sit closer to or further from naturalism depending on the piece. Contrasting its emotionally anchored movement with Brecht's distancing or Stanislavski's inner work is a productive Section C move.
Why Frantic Assembly matters
Frantic Assembly gives you concrete, reliable tools for generating original movement, which makes it one of the most practical practitioners for Component 1 devising, and a contemporary, emotionally rich interpretive frame for Section C. Securing its methods gives you a movement vocabulary you can apply to almost any stimulus or text.
A note on the sources
This guide is AI-written and not individually human-reviewed. Confirm the company's methods and emphasis against current Pearson Edexcel materials and your set practitioner notes. The approach here transfers across texts and into your own devising.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 202014 marksExplore how you would apply the working methods of Frantic Assembly to a devised piece for a contemporary audience. (Component 1 / Component 3, Section C)Show worked answer →
A response on applying Frantic Assembly's methodology, marked on AO1 (creating and developing) and AO3 (knowledge of how theatre is developed and performed).
Explain the devising process: generate movement through their signature methods (Building Blocks to create and reorder movement sequences, chair duets and lifts to express relationship physically), then marry that choreography to text and naturalistic emotion so movement carries subtext the words do not say. Use a dynamic, trusting ensemble, atmospheric sound and lighting, and a fluid set the performers move. Tie the physical vocabulary to the emotional story.
Markers reward accurate named methods (Building Blocks, chair duets), the marriage of movement and text, and a clear sense of how choreography expresses emotion and narrative for a contemporary audience.
Edexcel 20188 marksExplain how physical theatre techniques can be used to express a relationship between two characters without dialogue. (Component 1)Show worked answer →
Explain the technique: choreographed contact work, lifts, counterbalance and shared weight (as in Frantic Assembly's chair duets) physicalise a relationship, so the give and take of trust, control, tenderness or conflict is shown through how the bodies move together.
Give the effect: movement expresses the subtext and emotional dynamic directly to the audience, often more powerfully than words, and can compress a whole relationship into a short physical sequence.
Markers reward a concrete physical technique, the link to relationship and emotion, and the wordless audience effect.
Related dot points
- Berkoff and total theatre for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: stylised physicality and exaggeration, mime and the creation of objects and environments with the body, ensemble work, heightened vocal delivery and rhythm, caricature and direct address, and how to apply this anti-naturalistic style (AO1, AO2, AO3).
A focused answer on Steven Berkoff and total theatre for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): stylised physicality and exaggeration, mime and body-as-object, ensemble work, heightened vocal delivery and rhythm, caricature and direct address, and how to apply this anti-naturalistic physical style.
- Complicite and devised theatre for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: collaborative devising, the ensemble and physical storytelling, the transformation of objects, bodies and space, the integration of multimedia and visual imagery, and how to apply this imaginative, devised style (AO1, AO2, AO3).
A focused answer on Complicite and devised theatre for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): collaborative devising, the ensemble and physical storytelling, the transformation of objects, bodies and space, the use of multimedia and visual imagery, and how to apply this imaginative devised style.
- Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: total, sensory theatre, the assault on the senses, breaking the actor-audience separation, ritual, lighting, sound and movement over text, and how to apply these ideas to create an overwhelming, visceral experience (AO1, AO2, AO3).
A focused answer on Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): total sensory theatre, the assault on the senses, dissolving the actor-audience separation, ritual, and the dominance of light, sound and movement over text, with how to apply these ideas in devising and interpretation.
- Devising in the style of a practitioner for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: choosing a practitioner, applying their methodology and techniques to generate and shape devised material, using a performance text as a starting point, and keeping the influence genuine rather than decorative (AO1, AO2, AO3).
A focused answer on devising in the style of a practitioner for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): choosing a practitioner, applying their methodology and techniques to generate and shape devised material, using a performance text as a starting point, and keeping the practitioner influence genuine throughout Component 1.
- Responding to a stimulus for Edexcel Drama and Theatre: interpreting a stimulus, generating ideas through research, improvisation and theatrical exploration, finding a focus and intention, and turning a starting point into original devised material (AO1).
A focused answer on responding to a stimulus for Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0): interpreting a stimulus, generating ideas through research, improvisation and theatrical exploration, finding a focus and intention, and turning a starting point into original devised material for Component 1.
Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel A-Level Drama and Theatre (9DR0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2016)