OCR A-Level Drama and Theatre: Practitioners in Practice and devising, a complete overview

What the devising unit demands

Practitioners in Practice is the heart of OCR Drama and Theatre: the unit where you make original theatre, shaped by two practitioners, and document and evaluate the process. It is the largest component, and it rewards the creative process, the realisation and the evaluation together. This overview ties the skills it demands; each has its own dot-point page with practice questions.

The shape of the component

You study at least two practitioners or companies and one extract from a performance text, then create an original devised piece as a performer (H459/11 or 12) or designer (H459/13 or 14), documented and evaluated in a portfolio. It is worth 120 marks (40 percent), internally assessed and moderated by OCR, and its marks split approximately AO1 50, AO2 40, AO4 30. AO3 is not assessed. The portfolio therefore carries around 80 of the 120 marks alongside the performance.

The devising process

The journey runs from stimulus to performance: respond to the stimulus, research (subject and practitioners), explore and improvise to generate material, develop and select the strongest ideas, structure them into a coherent piece, and refine through rehearsal. The two practitioners shape every stage. The decisive AO1 work is developing and selecting ideas, not just generating them, and structuring deliberately so the piece communicates to an audience.

Exploring the extract

One extract from a performance text is explored through the practitioners' methods to generate ideas and techniques for the devised piece. It is a source, not the assessed outcome (which distinguishes this component from Exploring and Performing Texts). Applying the practitioners' techniques to a real scene connects their theory to practice and harvests original material for the devising.

The portfolio

The portfolio documents the practitioner research, the extract exploration, and the generation, development and selection of ideas, with reflective commentary, in OCR's permitted prose-and-recording combinations. It chiefly evidences AO1. An effective portfolio is selective and reflective, showing decisive creative choices and the practitioners' influence in practice, not a day-by-day diary.

The reflective report

The reflective report (the evaluation within the portfolio) judges how effectively the piece communicated to an audience, what succeeded and what was less effective, and what you would develop, and it evaluates your own contribution. It earns AO4. The decisive quality is honest, evidenced judgement: weigh successes against weaknesses and propose informed development, rather than describing the piece or praising it uncritically.

How the component is assessed

The component tests three objectives together:

• AO1 (around 50 marks). Creating and developing ideas, connecting practitioner theory to practice, evidenced chiefly in the portfolio.
• AO2 (around 40 marks). Applying skills to realise the devised piece in performance or design.
• AO4 (around 30 marks). Analysing and evaluating the work, in the reflective report.
• AO3 is not assessed here.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and applied questions on the devising unit. Attempt them, then check against the solutions.

1. State the marks, weighting and objectives of Practitioners in Practice. (3 marks)
2. What is the approximate mark split between AO1, AO2 and AO4? (2 marks)
3. List the stages of the devising process. (3 marks)
4. What is the decisive AO1 work in devising? (2 marks)
5. How is the extract used in this component? (2 marks)
6. What makes an effective portfolio? (2 marks)
7. What does the reflective report reward? (2 marks)
8. Which objective is NOT assessed in this component? (1 mark)