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).

What this dot point is asking

For Component 3 you study two complete performance texts (for Sections A and B) and an extract from a third (for Section C). The two complete texts must represent different historical periods: one written before 1956 and one after 1956. Texts are chosen by centres from the Eduqas lists, and they should represent a range of social, historical and cultural contexts. Above all, each text is studied as a script for performance. This page sets out the requirements and how to study a set text, so confirm your centre's chosen texts and the current Eduqas lists.

The answer

The requirements

For Component 3 you study:

• Two complete performance texts for Sections A and B, representing different historical periods.
• An extract from a third, contrasting text for Section C (printed in the paper).

The texts together should represent a range of social, historical and cultural contexts.

The pre-1956 and post-1956 rule

Of the two complete texts, one must be written before 1956 and one after 1956. This rule guarantees historical contrast across the paper and shapes which text appears in Section A and which in Section B.

Choosing from the Eduqas lists

Texts are chosen by centres from the lists published by Eduqas, which are reviewed periodically. Example titles that have appeared across recent and forthcoming lists include pre-1956 texts such as Euripides' The Bacchae, Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, Lorca's Blood Wedding or Sowerby's Rutherford and Son, and post-1956 texts such as Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman or Wade's Home I'm Darling. Always confirm your centre's chosen texts and the current Eduqas list, because the examples here are illustrative only.

A candidate studying a pre-1956 text would not stop at its themes; they would work out how to stage its key moments, develop a directorial or design concept, understand its original performance conditions and context, and rehearse converting all of this into theatre-maker answers. That is how AO3 and AO4 are earned.

Try this

Q1. How many texts do you study for Component 3, and in what form? [2 marks]

• Cue. Two complete performance texts (for Sections A and B) and an extract from a third (for Section C).

Q2. State the pre-1956 and post-1956 rule. [2 marks]

• Cue. Of the two complete set texts, one must be written before 1956 and one after 1956, guaranteeing historical contrast.

Q3. Explain why studying a set text as a script for performance differs from studying it as literature. [8 marks]

• What the marker wants. The exam assesses how the text works in performance (AO3) and evaluation (AO4), so study converts plot, character and language into staging, vocal, physical and design possibilities and the text's performance conditions and context, tied to audience effect, rather than analysing themes as literature (AO3).

A note on application

This guide is AI-written and not individually human-reviewed. The set text lists and the period rule are set by Eduqas and reviewed periodically, and the example titles here are illustrative only, so always confirm your centre's chosen set texts and the current Eduqas list before revising.