GCSE & A-Level Information

What is GCSE Drama all about?

GCSE Drama is all about understanding what it is like to put yourself in somebody else’s shoes.  You will have the experience and opportunity to play many different parts in imaginary situations.  You will be able to create your own work as well as look at plays written by different people.

The course is in three parts

Part one- This part of the course you will start to study in the summer term of Year 10.  You will use Drama to express your feelings and ideas about a range of issues and will e marked on

 

Part two- In this part of the course you will explore the play Road by Bolton playwright Jim Cartwright.  You will be able to see how the playwright expresses his ideas about themes and issues and you will explore ways of making that play work on stage.  You will have the opportunity to perform part of the play in front of a live audience.

 

In both part one and part two you will be marked on three areas:

 

Responding to ideas and issues in different contexts demonstrating an appropriate use of Drama to communicate meaning to others.

Developing and exploring ideas using appropriate forms to structure a piece of meaningful Drama

Evaluating the effectiveness of your own Drama work and the work of others and recognising the significance of historical, cultural and or social influences.

 

Both part one and part two are assessed by your Drama teacher.

 

Part three- You will work for approximately 12 weeks on a final performance and this can be created by yourselves i.e. devising or it can be an existing script.  This final performance is timed at 5 minutes per candidate, for example, if you are in a group of 5, 5x5=25minutes.

 

In part three you are marked only on your practical performance on the day.

 

Part three of the course is marked by an external examiner.

You will follow a practical scheme of work exploring ideas and issues from different times and cultures.  You will explore a play in detail from the points of view of a director, designer and performer.  You will work in groups to research, prepare and perform a piece of drama.

AS & A2 Drama

This is a multi-disciplinary course that provides you with opportunities to perform, devise, script write and direct.  Your knowledge and understanding of the industry will also develop through the exploration and analysis of written plays and live performances