The portfolio of supporting evidence: documenting and reflecting on how the devised piece and your own contribution were created, developed and refined, as the chief evidence for AO1 (AO1 dominant).

What this dot point is asking

The portfolio of supporting evidence is the documented half of Component 1 and the chief evidence for AO1 (create and develop ideas). It records how the devised piece, and your own contribution to it, were created, developed and refined, and it reflects on the choices and their intended effect on the audience. It can be written, recorded or a mix of forms, but whatever the form, it rewards reflection on your own choices rather than a narration of the project. This dot point is about what the portfolio is for, what earns marks in it, and how to build one that evidences genuine development.

What the portfolio is for

The portfolio exists because much of the AO1 work, generating, selecting and developing ideas, happens in rehearsal and would otherwise leave no trace for a moderator. It captures the thinking behind the piece: why an idea was chosen, how it was developed, what was discarded and why. The performance shows the result, but the portfolio shows the journey, which is exactly what AO1 rewards. Treat it as the place where your creative decisions are made visible, not as a write-up bolted on at the end.

Reflection, not narration

This is the single biggest lever in the portfolio. A reflective entry names a decision, explains why it was taken, and judges its effect, so it shows an idea being developed deliberately. A narrative entry lists activities in order and shows nothing about your thinking. The test for any sentence is whether it reveals a choice and its reason: if it only says what happened, it is narration and earns little. Writing as you go, after each rehearsal, makes reflection natural, because the reasons are fresh; writing at the end forces you to invent reasons after the fact, which reads thin.

Keeping the focus on your contribution

The portfolio is individual, even though the piece is made as a group. The marks come from your ideas and choices, so the writing should foreground what you proposed, tried and developed, not a neutral account of what the group did. When a moment was a group decision, say what your part in it was. A portfolio written entirely in "we" makes it impossible for a moderator to credit your AO1 work, so balance the shared account with clear statements of your own contribution and its effect.

Examples in context

A student documenting a piece influenced by Brecht writes, for one rehearsal, that the group's first version played a scene of eviction for sympathy, but that she proposed adding a placard and a direct address to the audience so they would judge the landlord rather than only pity the family, in keeping with the alienation effect they had researched. She records that this changed the tone, that the group kept it, and that a later run confirmed the audience reacted with discomfort rather than tears. The entry names a decision, gives its reason, records its effect, and ties it to the investigated practitioner, which is exactly the reflective evidence AO1 rewards.

Try this

Q1. What is the portfolio the main evidence for? [1 mark]

• Cue. AO1, creating and developing ideas as part of the theatre-making process.

Q2. Give one difference between reflection and narration in a portfolio. [2 marks]

• Cue. Narration retells what happened in order; reflection records the choice made, the reason for it and its effect on the audience, which evidences developing ideas.

Q3. Using your portfolio, explain how your own ideas and contribution developed the devised piece. [10 marks]

• What the marker wants. A reflective account of your own choices traced over time (proposed, tried, kept or changed, why), tied to the intention and the audience, not a narration of what the group did or a description of the finished piece.