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Component 3: Knowledge and Understanding of Drama

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you analyse and evaluate a live theatre performance you have seen in the Component 3 exam?

Evaluating live theatre on Component 3 (AO4): analysing and evaluating a live performance seen, including acting and design choices and their effect on the audience, with specific examples and a supported judgement.
How to analyse and evaluate a live theatre performance for CCEA GCSE Drama Component 3: recalling specific acting and design moments, explaining their effect on the audience, and reaching a supported judgement rather than just describing the show.
10 min answer →

How do you write about genre, style and the stylistic features of a play and its staging?

Knowledge and understanding of drama and theatre on Component 3 (AO3): the playwright's use of language, genre and style, theatrical forms and conventions, and the stylistic features of a text and its staging, with context.
Knowledge and understanding of drama for CCEA GCSE Drama Component 3: the playwright's use of language, genre and style, theatrical conventions and forms (naturalism, non-naturalism, physical theatre), and how to write about the stylistic features of a text and its staging with context.
11 min answer →

How do you answer a Component 3 question on your set text from the designer's perspective, using set, lighting, sound and costume?

Studying the set/performance text from the designer's perspective on Component 3 (AO1 and AO3): using set, lighting, sound and costume design to create atmosphere, signal meaning and support the action, justified by the text.
How to answer CCEA GCSE Drama Component 3 questions as a designer: using set, lighting, sound and costume to create atmosphere and meaning for the set text, with the vocabulary of each design area and how to justify a choice with the text.
11 min answer →

How do you answer a Component 3 question on your set text from the director's perspective?

Studying the set/performance text from the director's perspective on Component 3 (AO1 and AO3): a directorial concept, staging and stage positioning, and directing actors in a rehearsal of an extract to communicate the play's meaning.
How to answer CCEA GCSE Drama Component 3 questions as a director: forming a concept, staging and positioning actors, and directing performers in a rehearsal of an extract from the set text to bring out its meaning, with choices justified by the text.
10 min answer →

How do you answer a Component 3 question on your set text from the performer's perspective?

Studying the set/performance text from the performer's perspective on Component 3 (AO3): using vocal and physical skills, subtext and relationships to explain how you would play a role or extract, justified by the text.
How to answer CCEA GCSE Drama Component 3 questions on the set text as a performer: choosing vocal and physical skills, reading subtext and relationships, and justifying acting choices with evidence from the text to communicate character and meaning.
10 min answer →

What is the actor's toolkit of vocal and physical skills, and how do you write about using them to create a character?

The actor's vocal and physical skills on Component 3 (AO3): voice (pace, pitch, pause, tone, volume, accent, emphasis) and physicality (movement, gesture, posture, facial expression, eye contact, proxemics), and how to write about using them to communicate character and meaning.
The actor's vocal and physical toolkit for CCEA GCSE Drama Component 3: voice (pace, pitch, pause, tone, volume, accent) and physicality (movement, gesture, posture, facial expression, proxemics), and how to write about a specific choice and its effect on character and meaning.
10 min answer →