OCR GCSE Drama live theatre evaluation overview quiz quiz

A set-text study worth 50 marks, in which you analyse the play you have read

A devised performance worth 60 marks, created by the student and their group

A multiple-choice test worth 10 marks, covering the technical drama terms

An extended evaluation of one live production, 30 marks (10 AO3, 20 AO4)

It must be different from the Section A set text

It must be exactly the same play as the set text studied in Section A of the exam

It must be a musical with songs, rather than a straight spoken play without them

It must be performed by the student's own class as part of their practical work

Notes can be taken straight into the exam and copied out word for word in the answer

The exam is closed book, so the evaluation relies entirely on recalled, specific evidence

The examiner watches the very same production too, so they can check your description

It completely replaces the need to evaluate at all, so the notes are all that you have to write

What the character is feeling inside, retelling their emotions throughout the scene

The plot of the production, going through all of the events of the story in the right order

The specific vocal, physical and interpretive choices the actor made and their effect

The price of the ticket and whether the show was good value for the money paid

They are exactly the same thing, so the two words can be used interchangeably here

Analysis is simply the shorter of the two tasks and just means writing a little bit less detail down each time

Evaluation only ever applies to the design elements, never to the actors performances

Analysis identifies the choice and effect; evaluation judges how successfully it worked, with evidence

A single low-angle cold blue light threw long shadows and dimmed on the final line

The lighting was effective and really helped to make the whole scene work very well

There was scary lighting in the dark scene that made the whole audience feel afraid

The set looked really nice and was clearly very expensive and well made throughout

It has no real effect on the audience and is just a practical decision about space

It shapes the audience's relationship to the action, sightlines and atmosphere

It only ever matters for musicals and makes no difference to a straight spoken play

It changes the actual words of the script and the lines that the actors have to say

The order in which the scenes are placed in the play and how each one follows on from the last one

The lighting plan that sets out exactly where each lantern is hung and pointed

The overall interpretation a production is built on, guiding the performance and design choices

The number of actors in the cast and how many parts each one of them has to play

It is long, running for several hours so the audience gets plenty for their money

It uses as many different design elements as it possibly can all at the same time

It has a famous cast of well-known actors that the audience will recognise at once

Its performance and design choices all serve one concept

Joining analysis (AO3) to judgement (AO4) in every point, with evidence

Writing as much as you possibly can so the examiner has plenty of words to mark

Describing the whole plot of the production first before you say anything else at all

Avoiding all technical terminology so that your writing stays simple and very clear