Investigating a practitioner or genre: choosing and researching the working methods, conventions and style of a practitioner or genre, and applying them to give the devised piece a coherent theatrical language (AO1, AO3).

What this dot point is asking

Eduqas Component 1 expects you to investigate a practitioner or genre and let it shape your devised piece. This is what gives the piece a coherent theatrical language rather than a random mix of ideas. You choose a practitioner (such as Stanislavski, Brecht, Artaud, Berkoff or a company such as Frantic Assembly) or a genre or style (such as naturalism, physical theatre, epic theatre or verbatim), research how it makes theatre, and apply its methods and conventions. The investigation feeds both AO1 (developing ideas) and AO3 (knowledge of how theatre is made), and it is documented in the portfolio. Always confirm any prescribed list with your centre, because Eduqas leaves the choice to the centre.

Choosing a practitioner or genre

The choice should serve your intention, not the other way round. If you want the audience to be moved by a believable family story, a naturalistic or Stanislavskian approach fits; if you want them to think critically about an issue, an epic-theatre or Brechtian approach fits; if you want a striking, movement-led piece about a relationship, a physical-theatre company such as Frantic Assembly fits. Choosing a practitioner because it matches what you want to say to the audience keeps the whole piece coherent. Choosing one at random, then forcing the piece to fit, produces a confused result and a portfolio that cannot explain its choices.

Researching the working methods

Research the methods you can actually use, not a general biography. The portfolio rewards understanding of how the practitioner makes theatre, applied to your own work, so focus on the conventions and techniques you can put on their feet in rehearsal. A few methods understood well and used deliberately are worth far more than a long list copied from a website. Note which technique you tried, what it produced, and whether you kept it, because that is the evidence of genuine investigation.

Applying it to the piece

The investigation only earns full marks when the methods reach the stage. A Brechtian influence should show in real choices: an actor stepping out to address the audience, a placard announcing a scene, a song interrupting the action, an episodic structure that stops the audience getting comfortable. A Stanislavskian influence should show in detailed, truthful performances built from objectives and given circumstances. The audience should be able to feel the style even without knowing its name, because the conventions are doing visible work.

Examples in context

A group wanting the audience to question how a community treats outsiders investigates Brecht. They research the alienation effect, gestus and episodic structure, then apply them: an actor narrates directly to the audience between scenes, a placard names each episode, and a repeated gestus (a turned back) shows exclusion physically. The portfolio records which conventions they tried, what each produced, and why episodic structure suited a piece that wanted the audience to judge rather than simply feel. The investigation is visible on stage and explained by its effect, which is what AO1 and AO3 reward.

Try this

Q1. What is the difference between a practitioner and a genre? [2 marks]

• Cue. A practitioner is a named theatre maker with recognised working methods; a genre or style is a recognised way of making theatre such as naturalism or physical theatre.

Q2. Why should the practitioner suit the intention? [2 marks]

• Cue. Because the methods must serve what you want the audience to feel or think; a mismatched practitioner forces the piece and makes it incoherent.

Q3. Explain how the working methods of your chosen practitioner or genre influenced the devised piece. [8 marks]

• What the marker wants. A named practitioner or genre, two or three of its defining methods, each tied to a specific choice in the piece and its effect on the audience, showing the influence was applied, not just researched.