OCR GCSE Drama techniques and terminology overview quiz quiz

There is no difference at all between the two of them, so the two terms mean exactly the same thing

A technique develops drama in rehearsal; a device appears in the finished piece for the audience

A device is only ever used during the devising process and never in a final performance

A technique is only ever used in the written exam paper and never on the stage at all

A frozen still picture of a single moment, held by the actors without any movement

A change of the staging configuration, such as switching right over to a thrust or a traverse stage

A character's backstory, motivation and point of view, built by questioning a performer in role

A lighting state that sets the mood of the scene by changing the colour and angle

It dims the lights at the end of a scene so the stage slowly fades into a blackout

It freezes a single moment into a still picture that the actors hold without moving

It changes the genre of the whole piece, turning a tragedy into a comedy partway

It rapidly switches between two scenes to draw a comparison or build tension

Highlights a key beat by slowing or freezing it so the audience registers its importance

Ends the play by bringing the whole piece to its final close and dropping the stage curtain

Introduces a narrator who steps forward to tell the audience what is happening next

Sets the staging configuration, deciding whether the stage is in the round or thrust

Stylised, exaggerated movement and a bare stage with no realistic set at all

Believable acting, a realistic set and motivated movement

Direct address to the audience and an episodic structure of separate short scenes

Symbolic objects only, used to stand for ideas rather than to look like real things

A realistic box set that looks just like a real room with its fourth wall removed

Motivated, lifelike dialogue only, spoken as though the audience were not even there

Direct address and episodic structure to make the audience think

A proscenium arch framing the stage and clearly separating the actors from the crowd

A framed separation with the audience watching only from one single side of the stage

The audience seated on two opposite sides of the stage, looking across at each other

No audience at all, with the actors performing the whole piece to an empty auditorium

The audience on all sides, creating intimacy and exposure

There is no upstage to hide in, so blocking must keep turning to avoid shutting out part of the audience

There is far too much upstage space to fill, so the actors look lost on the large stage

Only one single person is able to watch the performance at any one time from their seat

The lighting can never be changed at all once the show has started, so it stays exactly the same throughout

They are exactly the same thing as one another, so the two words can simply be swapped around freely whenever you happen to need them

An element is a quality a moment can have (tension, focus, contrast); a medium is a means to create it (space, levels, silence)

An element is only ever used in the design of a piece and never in any of the acting at all

A medium is only ever used in the written exam paper and never on the stage in performance

Bright, even lighting across the whole stage together with lots of fast, cheerful chatter

A simple change of costume into something brighter to lift the mood of the whole scene

A held silence, stillness and a slow closing of the space between characters

A narrator's calm summary that steps in and quietly explains what is going to happen next