DramaQ&A by dot point

Answering as a theatre maker and open-book technique: realising the text in performance (specific staging and design choices tied to audience effect) rather than writing literary criticism, and using the clean open-book copy for accuracy and precise reference, not reading on the day (AO3 and AO4).

Command words and mark tariffs: reading command words (explain, analyse, evaluate, justify) and the marks available to judge the depth, focus and objective of an answer, so structured questions and essays are pitched correctly (AO3 and AO4).

Structuring an evaluative essay: building the Section B essay around one directorial or design concept, sequencing evidence from across the play, and weaving evaluation and audience effect throughout so the answer is coherent and judged, not descriptive (AO3 and AO4).

Timing and exam strategy: dividing the 2 hours 30 minutes across the three sections in proportion to their marks, planning before writing, citing the text precisely, and leaving checking time, so knowledge is converted into complete theatre-maker answers (AO3 and AO4).

Analysing live theatre: watching professional productions (the specification requires viewing live theatre), recording specific moments of performance and design, and analysing their effect on the audience to inform practical work and written answers (AO3 and AO4).

Lighting and sound design: the lighting toolkit (state, angle, colour, intensity, transitions, focus) and the sound toolkit (music, effects, silence, live or recorded, volume, source), described precisely and justified by their effect on the audience (AO2 and AO3).

Set and costume design: the set toolkit (stage configuration, structures, levels, key images, the world of the play) and the costume toolkit (silhouette, period, colour, condition, materials), described precisely and justified by their effect on the audience (AO2 and AO3).

Vocal and physical performance skills: the vocal toolkit (pitch, pace, pause, tone, volume, accent) and physical toolkit (posture, gesture, movement, stillness, levels, proximity, facial expression), described precisely and applied to realise meaning and audience effect (AO2 and AO3).

Antonin Artaud and the Theatre of Cruelty: sensory assault through light, sound, movement and image, non-verbal communication, ritual and repetition, and breaking the actor-audience barrier, applied to overwhelm an audience below reason in Component 1 or Component 2 (AO1 and AO2).

Steven Berkoff and stylised total theatre: heightened physicality and mime, exaggeration and grotesque caricature, the ensemble as set and chorus, direct address and rhythmic, poetic delivery, applied to a reinterpretation or devised piece (AO1 and AO2).

Bertolt Brecht and epic theatre: the alienation effect (Verfremdung), gestus, episodic structure, placards, song, direct address and visible technique, applied to make an audience think critically about society in Component 1 or Component 2 (AO1 and AO2).

Choosing a practitioner for each component: selecting one practitioner or company for the Component 1 reinterpretation and a different one for the Component 2 devised piece, matching method to material, and applying each coherently across the whole piece (AO1 and AO2).

Physical, devised and immersive theatre companies: Frantic Assembly and Complicite (collaborative, movement-led storytelling), Kneehigh (storytelling theatre), Punchdrunk (immersive, site-responsive work) and DV8 (verbatim physical theatre), and how to apply their methods to a reinterpretation or devised piece (AO1 and AO2).

Konstantin Stanislavski and psychological realism: the system of given circumstances, objectives and units, the magic if, emotion memory and the through-line, applied to create truthful, motivated performance in Component 1 or Component 2 (AO1 and AO2).

Section A structured questions: answering shorter, structured questions on one complete set text by realising specific moments in performance (vocal, physical, spatial and design choices) and justifying them by audience effect, open book with a clean copy (AO3 and AO4).

Section B the essay: a single extended essay on a second complete set text from a different period, building a sustained directorial or design concept across the whole play and justifying staging choices by audience effect, open book with a clean copy (AO3 and AO4).

Section C the set extract: answering a question on an extract from a third contrasting text, printed in the paper, by realising the extract in performance with specific staging and design choices justified by audience effect (AO3 and AO4).

Staging a set text as performer, director and designer: writing about a set text from the three theatre-maker perspectives, making specific vocal and physical, conceptual, and design choices, and tying each to the audience to satisfy AO3 and AO4 in the exam.

The set texts and the pre-1956 and post-1956 rule: studying two complete performance texts (one written before 1956, one after) for Sections A and B plus an extract for Section C, choosing from the Eduqas lists, and studying each text as a script for performance (AO3 and AO4).

Component 3 Text in Performance: a 2 hour 30 minute written exam in three sections on two complete set texts (one pre-1956, one post-1956) and an extract from a third, answered as a theatre maker, assessing AO3 and AO4 across 120 marks (40 per cent).

Devising from the set stimulus: interpreting the WJEC stimulus, generating and shaping original material through a different practitioner's working methods, and developing it into a coherent devised performance with a clear intention for the audience (AO1 and AO2).

Text in Action assessment: external assessment by a visiting examiner who marks the two live performances, the performer and designer routes, and how the process and evaluation report combines with the practical work across AO1, AO2 and AO4.

The process and evaluation report for Component 2: documenting how the devised piece was created and developed, and analysing and evaluating your own work and the work of others, connecting theory and practice, so the written evidence supports AO1 and AO4.

The scripted extract from a professional text: choosing and performing an extract from a professionally commissioned or produced text in a style contrasting with the devised piece, realising a clear interpretation as a performer or designer (AO1 and AO2).

Component 2 Text in Action: two performances from a WJEC stimulus (a devised piece influenced by a different practitioner and an extract from a professionally produced text in a contrasting style) plus a process and evaluation report, assessed by a visiting examiner (AO1, AO2 and AO4).

The assessment objectives and weightings: AO1 (create and develop), AO2 (apply skills in performance), AO3 (knowledge of how theatre is made), AO4 (analyse and evaluate), their headline weightings, and how each is distributed across the three components.

Performer and designer routes in the Theatre Workshop: choosing to realise the reinterpretation through acting (vocal and physical skills) or through a design discipline (set, costume, lighting or sound), and meeting the same practitioner-led brief in either role (AO2).

Reinterpreting an extract through a practitioner: turning a chosen practitioner's working methods into concrete vocal, physical, spatial and design choices that reshape how the extract communicates, sustained coherently across the piece (AO1 and AO2).

The creative log for Component 1: documenting research into the practitioner, the development of the reinterpretation, and a reflective evaluation of the process and outcome, so the written evidence supports AO1, the researching, developing and reflecting strand.

Component 1 Theatre Workshop: a practical reinterpretation of an extract from a text in the style of one chosen practitioner or company, performed or designed, with a creative log, internally assessed and externally moderated (AO1 and AO2).