OCR A-Level Drama and Theatre: Exploring and Performing Texts overview quiz quiz

A non-exam scripted performance of an extract from one whole text (60 marks, 20 percent)

A written examination on one studied set text, answered under timed conditions in the exam hall

A devised ensemble piece created in response to a given stimulus and assessed on originality

A written and illustrated review of a live professional theatre production seen during the course

AO3 and AO4, with AO4 dominant

AO1 and AO2, with AO2 dominant

AO1 and AO4, evenly weighted

AO2 and AO3, with AO3 dominant

The supporting documentation submitted alongside the practical work

A written whole-text essay on the play's themes and theatrical context

The live realisation of the extract (performance or design)

The written evaluation of how the realisation met the stated intentions

It does not matter, since only the chosen extract is ever assessed by the moderator on the day

You are required to stage and perform the entire play from start to finish for the moderator

Only the extract itself is studied; the rest of the play is irrelevant background you can ignore

The extract must be realised within an understanding of the play's style, genre, context and arc

Over-investing in the documentation and under-rehearsing the realisation

Choosing an extract that is too short to show any genuine range or skill in the role

Spending too long studying the whole play before settling on a final interpretation

Performing the realised extract in front of an audience rather than to the moderator alone

By verbally describing the character's inner feelings and motivations to the moderator beforehand

Through controlled, motivated vocal and physical choices and a developing characterisation

By summarising the plot of the play and explaining where the extract sits within the story

By naming the playwright and outlining the historical context in which the play was first written

A static, photo-realistic look that stays exactly the same throughout the whole extract

The most expensive and elaborate set the centre can possibly afford to build for the piece

A coherent, dynamic design that supports the performers and communicates the extract's meaning

A striking design that is admired purely for its own sake but is unrelated to the staged performance

A detailed scene-by-scene plot summary of the whole play from which the chosen extract is taken

A diary-style list of every rehearsal activity the group completed in chronological order with dates

A written and illustrated review of another company's professional production of the same play seen earlier in the course

A statement of intentions: your interpretation and the key choices that realise it, tied to audience effect

Documentation that promises effects the realisation does not deliver undercuts the work

They do not need to match at all, because the two parts are marked entirely separately

Only to make the documentation appear longer and more thorough to the moderator who reads it

Because the moderator reads only the documentation and never actually watches the live realisation

By an external written examination sat at the end of the course under timed conditions

Internally assessed by the centre and moderated by OCR

By the student self-assessing their own performance against the published mark scheme

By a public audience vote taken at the end of the live performance evening

The shortest extract available, so that there is less material to rehearse and perfect

Any random scene, since the specific extract chosen makes no real difference to the marks

One that lets you demonstrate genuine skill and range in your role

One with no vocal or physical demands, to keep the realisation as safe and simple as possible

AO1 (create and develop ideas) and AO2 (apply theatrical skills to realise intentions)

AO2 (apply theatrical skills) and AO4 (analyse and evaluate the work of others critically)

AO1 (create and develop ideas) and AO3 (demonstrate knowledge of how drama is performed)

AO3 (knowledge of how theatre is performed) and AO4 (analyse and evaluate)