Drama Skills: SQA Higher Drama acting and interpretation quiz quiz

Lighting and sound

Voice and movement

Set and costume

Script and props

Posture, gait, gesture, stillness

Pace, pitch, pause, projection

Set, lighting, sound, costume

Status, objective, motivation, subtext

It lets the actor rest during a long scene without being noticed

It means the actor has forgotten the next move in the scene

It is only ever used at the very end of a performance

It is a deliberate, controlled choice that holds focus and builds tension

The highest possible energy and volume throughout the scene

The largest number of different gestures the actor can fit in

The longest speeches delivered without any pauses at all

The deliberate use and control of skills to communicate meaning

The single emotion the character feels in every scene

What the character wants across the whole play

The number of lines the character speaks in the play

The costume the character wears for the final scene

Because objectives are easier to remember than emotions are

Because emotions are never allowed in a Higher performance

Because objectives mean the actor can ignore the other performers

Because it gives the actor something active to do and lets behaviour change

The meaning beneath the words that the line does not state

The stage directions printed in italics in the script

The summary of the plot written on the programme

The lighting plan that runs underneath the scene

Quick speech, small gestures and giving ground

Constant fidgeting and frequent changes of position

Stillness, space, a measured voice and steady eye contact

Always speaking from the lowest level on the stage

Believable, motivated behaviour behind a fourth wall

Direct address to the audience

Visible scene changes and placards

Narration and song interrupting the action

A detailed realistic set and a hidden fourth wall

Direct address, narration, song and openly theatrical staging

Only subtle, lifelike acting with no comment on the action

Lighting that always imitates real light sources

So the performance can be as long as possible

So the actors can avoid having to rehearse

So the production is coherent and the conventions are honoured

So the audience cannot tell which play is being performed

Linking the style to too many performance choices

Naming the playwright of the studied text

Defining the style but never using it to justify choices

Describing the effect a choice has on the audience

Focus and concentration, staying in role even while not speaking

Speaking continuously so there are never any silences

Changing the characterisation in every new scene

Performing only the lines and ignoring the other actors

It builds cause and effect in order so tension accumulates

It rearranges time so the audience must assemble the meaning

It removes all conflict from the play

It prevents the audience from following the plot