Theatre Practitioners: overview of the influential practitioners studied in SQA Advanced Higher Drama
An overview of the influential theatre practitioners studied in SQA Advanced Higher Drama: Stanislavski's psychological realism, Brecht's epic theatre, and the physical and experimental tradition, and how to apply a practitioner's theory to performance and analysis.
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Theatre practitioners are the directors, theorists and companies whose ideas reshaped how theatre is made. SQA Advanced Higher Drama expects you to know the major traditions and to apply a practitioner's theory to your own performance and to the analysis of professional theatre. The dissertation must engage with at least one influential practitioner. This page maps the traditions and the skill of applying them.
The practitioners and traditions
- Studying influential practitioners
- Why the course studies practitioners as methods, the major traditions, and the skill of applying a theory rather than reciting a biography.
- Stanislavski and naturalism
- Psychological realism: given circumstances, the magic if, objectives and the through-line of action, the super-objective, emotion memory, units and beats.
- Brecht and epic theatre
- Critical awareness: the alienation effect, gestus, episodic structure, direct address, song, placards and visible theatricality, all serving the play's argument.
- Physical and experimental theatre
- Meaning through the body: Artaud's theatre of cruelty, Grotowski's poor theatre, Lecoq, Berkoff and devised ensemble physical theatre.
How to study practitioners
- Learn each theory in a sentence. If you can state a practitioner's core idea cleanly, you can apply it.
- Practise application. For each practitioner, work out what their theory makes you do in rehearsal and on stage.
- Use them as lenses. Analyse professional productions through a practitioner to sharpen your critical vocabulary.
- Choose one for the dissertation. The dissertation must engage with at least one influential practitioner, so know one in real depth.
For the official course specification
The SQA publishes the full Advanced Higher Drama course specification and coursework tasks at sqa.org.uk. The named practitioners here are illustrative; always confirm which practitioners your centre studies and the current requirements against the official documents.
Sources & how we know this
- Advanced Higher Drama course specification (C821 77) — SQA (2019)
- Advanced Higher Drama course overview and resources — SQA (2024)