OCR GCSE Drama set text study overview quiz quiz

One prescribed set text studied as a script, 50 marks

A review of a live theatre production seen during the course, 30 marks

A devised piece performed and documented by the candidate, 60 marks

An unseen dramatic extract analysed for the first time, 20 marks

As a novel to analyse purely for theme, narrative voice and figurative language

As a script for the stage, read in terms of performance, staging and design

As a poem to memorise quotations from and scan for rhythm and rhyme scheme

As a historical document studied only for the social context of its period

Author, literary critic and general reader

Actor, paying audience member and senior examiner

Performer, director, designer

Writer, commercial producer and stage manager

You can take an annotated copy of the text into the exam to consult

You only need to memorise a short bank of key quotations from the play

It means the questions on the paper are answered in multiple choice format

Structure, key moments, characters and style must be recalled from memory

When it informs a performance, staging or design choice and the audience's understanding

When it is recited as plain historical fact at the start of the answer, before any practical choices

When it forms the longest paragraph and dominates the rest of the written answer

When it lists the dates and events of the playwright's life and times in full

There is no real difference, since both simply explain what the character is feeling in the scene

Describing says what the character is like; answering as a performer makes vocal and physical choices that communicate it

Answering as a performer just means writing a longer and more detailed version of the same character description, with extra adjectives added

Describing the character is a task only ever set for the designer, never for the performer

Some generally spooky lighting to set an unsettling mood

Some quiet sad music playing softly underneath the whole of the scene

A low cold side-light that snaps to darkness on the final line

Some nice period costumes that look attractive on the actors

Only the lighting states, leaving space, movement and positioning to the others

Memorising and accurately reciting the most important quotations from across the whole of the play

Giving a clear plot summary of the scene and the events leading up to it

Staging: use of space, positioning, levels, movement and pace to communicate the scene's meaning

Coherence: the choices add up to one clear reading of the scene

The sheer length of the answer, regardless of what the choices add up to

Cramming in as many different design elements as possible into the answer

Deliberately avoiding technical terminology so the writing stays simple

Reading the command word carefully before you begin to plan your answer

Answering in the wrong role, or mismatching the answer's depth to the mark tariff

Using accurate theatrical terminology to name your performance and design choices

Pacing your writing by the marks so each part gets a fair share of the time