GCSE Drama

In this course, students are prepared for AQA GCSE Drama (8261). The following units are studied sequentially across Years 10 and 11.

Unit Content

Introduction to GCSE Drama


 

In this unit, students are introduced to GCSE Drama through the study of a range of texts from a wide variety of playwrights. Building on their work at KS3, students learn about different styles of acting and preparation methods. The work of Stanislavski and Brecht is at the heart of this unit. Familiarity with these important practitioners' output and their influence on contemporary dramatic practice will later inform and inspire students' work during their controlled assessments.

Key texts:

  • Willy Russell: Our Day Out (1977)
  • Harold Pinter: The Birthday Party (1957)
  • Bertolt Brecht: The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1948)
  • Konstantin Stanislavski: An Actor Prepares (1936)
  • Henrik Ibsen: A Doll's House (1879)
  • Anton Chekov: The Seagull (1895)

Key knowledge developed:

  • Understanding the impact and importance of Stanislavski and Brecht's work and ideas on contemporary performance practice and performances
  • Knowing the characters, plot and themes of key plays from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Key skills developed:

  • How to deploy basic character skills effectively, drawing upon the conceptual frameworks studied in this unit
  • How to use a range of preparation and performance skills

Assessment: Students benefit from immediate oral feedback from the teacher in lessons. They receive peer feedback and have the opportunity to assess themselves according to established criteria.

Understanding Drama (1)

In this unit, students learn content for Sections A and B of the written exam, together worth 24% of the final grade. Their learning is focused on types of performance space and stage placement, and the key roles and responsibilities carried out by each person in the environment of a professional theatre. Building on the work they began in Year 9, students develop their knowledge and understanding of their set text, Blood Brothers.

Key text:

  • Willy Russell: Blood Brothers (1981)

Key knowledge developed:

  • Knowing a range of makers of drama and theatre and understanding their work
  • Knowing the lead characters, characteristics, context, plot and themes of Russell's play
  • Understanding a range of basic theatrical design concepts

Key skills developed:

  • How to articulate, in detail, how certain key moments from the set text could be staged and performed

Assessment: Students benefit from immediate oral feedback from the teacher in lessons. They receive peer feedback and have the opportunity to assess themselves according to established criteria. The learning in this unit is assessed ultimately in an externally set, externally marked written exam, taken at the end of the course.

Devising drama

This unit focuses on the first of two pieces of practical controlled assessment. Students work in groups to devise a performance that uses a wide range of skills, based on a specific stimulus provided by the teacher. The resulting practical work is accompanied by the student's written log which is also an assessed part of this component.

Key knowledge developed:

  • Knowing different styles of performance and the work of a variety of different practitioners

Key skills developed:

  • How to research dramatic ideas
  • How to develop and refine dramatic concepts
  • How to collaborate productively and successfully with others to realise a piece of devised drama
  • How to rehearse efficiently to develop work in progress
  • How to analyse and evaluate the process of creating devised drama

Assessment: Students benefit from immediate oral feedback from the teacher in lessons. They receive peer feedback and have the opportunity to assess themselves according to established criteria. The work created in this unit is internally marked and externally moderated, and is worth 40% of the overall grade.

Understanding Drama (2)
 

In this unit, students learn content for Section C of the written exam, worth 16% of the final grade. Students learn how to respond to a single question which requires them to describe how skills have been used in a particular theatrical context and to analyse the effectiveness of their use. Students' writing is focused on their experience of seeing a live performance. Each cohort sees a different play, with a recent example being Lolita Chakrabarti's adaptation of Yann Martel's Life of Pi.

Key knowledge developed:

  • Understanding how the play has been interpreted in the live production
  • Understanding the themes and messages the company might have been trying to communicate
  • Understanding the skills demonstrated by the performers
  • Understanding how meaning was communicated successfully to the audience by the performers

Key skills developed:

  • How to articulate, in detail, how a theatrical role is realised
  • How to analyse the choices that a professional performer makes in realising a role

Assessment: Students benefit from immediate oral feedback from the teacher in lessons. They receive peer feedback and have the opportunity to assess themselves according to established criteria. The learning in this unit is assessed ultimately in an externally set, externally marked written exam, taken at the end of the course.

Texts in Practice

In this unit, students rehearse and perform two extracts from a published play, chosen by the teacher. They learn to to apply the theatrical skills gained in earlier units in order to realise their artistic intentions in a live performance. Students' work is marked by the visiting examiner from AQA and is the second of the two practical controlled assessments. Again, students' practical work is accompanying by a written log in this unit.

Key text (varies each year depending on numbers in the cohort and other relevant factors):

  • Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse: Billy Liar (1960)

Key knowledge developed:

  • Understanding all the contributions necessary to create text-based drama in a live theatre context for an audience

Key skills developed:

  • How to interpret a script, create and communicate meaning, and realise artistic intention in the context of a text-based drama

Assesment: Students benefit from immediate oral feedback from the teacher in lessons. They receive peer feedback and have the opportunity to assess themselves according to established criteria. The work created in this unit is internally set and externally marked, and is worth 20% of the overall grade.

Understanding Drama (3)

In this unit, students consolidate all the knowledge and skills required to navigate their final exam successfully.

Key knowledge developed:

  • Knowing a range of makers of drama and theatre and understanding their work
  • Knowing the lead characters, characteristics, context, plot and themes of Willy Russell's play Blood Brothers
  • Understanding a range of basic theatrical design concepts
  • Understanding how plays can be interpreted in live production
  • Understanding how company's can communicate themes and messages through their productions
  • Understanding the skills demonstrated by the theatrical performers
  • Understanding how meaning can be communicated successfully to the audience by theatrical performers

Key skills developed:

  • How to articulate, in detail, how certain key moments from a set text could be staged and performed
  • How to articulate, in detail, how a theatrical role is realised
  • How to analyse the choices that a professional performer makes in realising a role

Assessment: Students' learning is asssessed in an externally set and marked written exam worth 40% of the final grade.