Quick questions on Section A structured questions - WJEC A-Level Drama and Theatre Component 3

As a performer you work with the voice and the body. Vocal choices include pace, pitch, pause, tone, volume, emphasis and accent; physical choices include posture, gesture, facial expression, movement, levels and the use of stillness. The discipline is to be specific (a two-second pause before a particular word; a step back on a particular line) and to name the effect each creates (tension, vulnerability, threat). Layer the choices so they build to a single intended impression.

As a director you make decisions about the whole stage picture: where the actors are (proxemics), the stage form (end-on, thrust, in-the-round, traverse), levels and focus, and how the audience's eye is led. You direct the moment, so you also shape what the performers do, but your distinctive contribution is the spatial and visual composition and how it guides the audience's reading of the scene.

As a designer you choose set, costume, lighting and sound. Lighting choices include angle, colour, intensity, state and transition; sound includes cues, their source, level and timing; set and costume include period, materials, colour and the meaning they carry. Use accurate technical vocabulary and tie every design choice to an effect on the audience and to the meaning of the moment.

Suppose the question asks how you would play a moment of dawning fear in one of your set texts. A weak answer says the character "feels scared and the audience feels tense". A strong answer makes layered choices: the actor drops the vocal volume to a near-whisper and slows the pace so each word is isolated, holds a two-second stillness before turning towards the threat, then takes a single involuntary half-step back on the key line.

"Dramatic lighting" and "scary music" earn little. Give the angle, colour and state of the light and the cue, source and timing of the sound.

With a clean copy in front of you, cite the exact moment. Vague references throw away the advantage.

What is the difference between Section A and Section B? [2 marks]

Name three vocal choices and three physical choices a performer could specify. [3 marks]

As a designer, explain how you would use lighting and sound for a tense moment from a set text. [8 marks]