DramaQ&A by dot point

Characterisation and acting: building a believable character through motivation, status, relationships, objectives and subtext, sustaining the role with focus and concentration, and responding truthfully to others on stage.

Interpreting text through genre, form, structure and style: recognising how dramatic conventions, staging form and theatrical style shape meaning and guide performance and production choices.

Voice and movement as the actor's core expressive skills: using pace, pitch, pause, tone, projection, posture, gait, gesture and stillness to communicate character and meaning to an audience.

Performance analysis (Question Paper Section 2, 20 marks): analysing and evaluating a live theatre performance you have seen, describing acting and production choices and judging their effectiveness for the audience with supporting evidence.

The design roles: how set, lighting, sound, costume, make-up and props are used deliberately to create setting, atmosphere, mood, period and character, and to support the production's interpretation for an audience.

The director's role: forming a directorial concept and interpretation, shaping performances and stage pictures, and unifying acting, set, lighting, sound and costume so the whole production communicates one vision to an audience.

Answering as an actor or designer: justifying acting choices (voice, movement, characterisation, subtext) or design choices (set, lighting, sound, costume, make-up, props) for the studied text to communicate the task's focus to an audience.

Answering as a director: setting out a directorial concept for the studied text and justifying staging choices (blocking, proxemics, stage pictures and the direction of actors) that communicate the task's focus to an audience.

The text-in-context question (Question Paper Section 1, 20 marks): one extended response on a prescribed studied text, written from the perspective of a director, actor or designer making and justifying production choices.

The performance coursework (60 marks): an overview of the two-section practical assessment, preparation for performance and the performance itself, presented in an acting or production role and assessed on the deliberate use and control of skills to communicate to an audience.