A-level DRAMA AND THEATRE STUDIES DRAM2 Presentation of an Extract from a Play Report on the Examination 2240 June 2016 Version: 1.0
Further copies of this Report are available from aqa.org.uk Copyright 2016 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. AQA retains the copyright on all its publications. However, registered schools/colleges for AQA are permitted to copy material from this booklet for their own internal use, with the following important exception: AQA cannot give permission to schools/colleges to photocopy any material that is acknowledged to a third party even for internal use within the centre.
REPORT ON THE EXAMINATION A-LEVEL DRAMA AND THEATRE STUDIES 2240 JUNE 2016 Administration The last full cohort of AS students completed their practical unit in this series. The vast majority of centres adhered to all the requirements in terms of administration, before, during and after the moderation itself. Telephone calls from moderators were returned quickly and forms DTSV 2 and 3 returned in time. Most teachers sent the scripts/extracts to their moderators at the specified time, although there were exceptions and occasionally moderators discovered that students were performing prohibited texts when it was too late for them to do anything about it. On the day of the examination itself, moderators were generally pleased to be provided with a quiet and private room in which to look at the Supporting Notes. Occasionally proceedings did not go as smoothly and whilst issues may have been more excusable in new centres or with teachers new to the specification, moderators were surprised to note how often even highly experienced teachers seemed to have relaxed their focus this year. The most common mistakes involved centres which had not checked their centre s calendar before arranging moderation dates and then expected to be able to change their date after the 31 st December cut off point allowed for such changes to be made. There were also more instances this year of moderators arriving to find that not all of the Supporting Notes had been marked or the forms completed for Preparation and Development and the Supporting Notes. There were also a surprising number of teachers this year who had allowed their students to contravene the rubric in the specification. Moderators were always dismayed to see on form DTSV3 that a group would be presenting a set text from the set text lists for DRAM1 or 3 for their DRAM 2 examination or that a text had been chosen from the same period or genre/style as the text they were studying for DRAM 1. For DRAM 4 there were examples of groups using nonexaminees, which is not permitted unless there is only one candidate. Supporting Notes The vast majority of sets of Supporting Notes were word processed and met the 500 700 word parameters for each section, although there were still some candidates who wrote well over the upper limit and therefore penalised themselves because what they had written was neither precise or concise. More rarely, some sections were well under length therefore not allowing the candidate to meet all the requirements of the section. The best notes were well expressed and gave a sense of real engagement with both the practitioner and the chosen extract so that the moderator had a very good idea of what they were about to see in performance. In Section 1, candidates outlined the practitioner's theatrical purpose and the means by which they aimed to achieve that purpose. The very best revealed a secure understanding of the philosophy underpinning the practitioner's ideas. Where specific theatrical methods were mentioned, the best candidates defined related terms with clarity, often linking them to their own work. If acting they focused on the acting and rehearsal techniques of the practitioner. Having done this, the best notes then justified the choice of extract 3 of 10
in terms of how it allowed them to apply the techniques of the practitioner, referring to specific features such as the structure and style of the play and the language of the text. In Section 2, the best work identified specific aims for the audience, often relating to the writer's intentions as well as the aims of the group's interpretation. Often the intentions and interpretation of the text were closely interlinked with precise exemplification of how they were actually staging the extract. Good work was also evidenced by explanations of staging, setting and costuming plus interpretative ideas as well as blocking. Candidates have a lot to do in Section 3, yet the best candidates were able to give balanced attention to all the requirements, never forgetting the practitioner. In assessing the piece, they considered their whole production in terms of whether the practitioner would recognise it as something of their own and if acting, gave precise examples of how they had used both vocal and physical skills to realise their roles. Weaker notes revealed a superficial knowledge and understanding of the theatrical purpose and methodology of the practitioner for example reducing Frantic Assembly's methods to 'chair duets' and 'hymns hands' and Berkoff to 'white make up' and 'ensemble'. Sometimes these terms were not even explained and there was an over-reliance on Wikipedia. In addition, some students included too much practitioner biography and too much on the plot and themes of the play from which the extract had been taken. In Section 2, weak work often repeated what had already been written in Section 1 or revealed a lack of understanding of the play. Moderators sometimes finished reading this section with almost no idea of what they were to see on stage because no explanation had been given about how the group were interpreting the play. In Section 3, weak students may have written well over 700 words but did not actually mention vocal or physical skills at all if acting, or instead of assessing the effectiveness of the piece, merely repeated what audience members had said about an earlier performance. Sometimes the practitioner s ideas about acting were not mentioned. On the other hand, in weaker work, candidates wrote extensively about health and safety even if they did not even mention the part they were playing. Presentations The most popular practitioners this year were Frantic Assembly, Katie Mitchell, Berkoff and Stafford Clark with a wide variety of texts used to illustrate their ideas and practice. More centres tackled 21 st century plays this year with a focus on plays such as Bull, Leaves, By the Bog of Cats, That Face, The Country and Di, Viv and Rose. The plays of Sarah Kane continued to be very popular, if not always successfully executed, and The Memory of Water was seen on a weekly basis by most moderators. For groups to achieve the highest marks it has always been essential that a text has been chosen that enables them to readily apply a range of the practitioner s stylistic methods. The best work did this so that the final product was full of the practitioner's methods. If groups only had a superficial knowledge and understanding of the practitioner's style, it was evident in the performance itself. Sometimes groups imposed their practitioner onto a text irrespective of the writer's intentions or the social context and meaning of the play. This happened mostly with Artaud and Berkoff where the 4 of 10
text itself often seemed to have been largely disregarded. The result was often that groups achieved very high marks for AO1 because they had created work that was completely Berkoffian or Artaudian thus meeting the criteria, but because they had ignored the text did not achieve so highly for AO3. Most groups revealed an excellent understanding of their chosen text and characters with costumes, props, lighting, set and sound used to convey an appropriate context with outstanding attention to detail, such as the group performing A Memory of Water who created a suitable setting through the judicious use of set dressing and props to fully realise the ambience of a mature woman's bedroom. Moderators saw a number of very intense and well-crafted pieces based in Naturalism/Realism using Katie Mitchell or Max Stafford Clark as practitioner, with candidates demonstrating impressive control of pace and emotional range. Numerous interpretations of The Positive Hour and Like A Virgin were seen where one of these practitioners ideas had been applied. There was also a very impressive A Streetcar Named Desire with well sustained southern accents and a convincingly fragile Blanche, suggesting Katie Mitchell s approach to nuanced characterisation and active listening occurring throughout to create a compelling and intense piece of work. A group performing Blackout by Davey Anderson had gone to the trouble of inviting a native Glaswegian in as a dialogue coach which resulted in a truly authentic rendering of the text. A group performing extracts from The Caucasian Chalk Circle managed to convey Brechtian performance techniques very effectively using an actor with a single violin to underscore songs and, in between scenes, an unselfconscious sense of actors rearranging the set for the next scene before then visibly adopting their roles. This was done quite simply and unassumingly but gave a very truthful sense of applying Brecht. Although some very good work was witnessed this year by moderators not all presentations were successful. Some groups appeared to have chosen plays that were beyond their skills or understanding. For example, whilst Coriolanus is a brave choice and one that can easily stand a Berkoffian treatment, if the candidates do not actually understand what they are saying they will not be able to communicate the text to the audience. Other weaknesses included having some props and not others (completely inappropriate if using Brecht), awkward positioning of furniture therefore impeding the traffic of the stage and, in the very weakest work, inability to remember their lines. However, it is pleasing to report that almost all groups were very eager to share their work with the moderator regardless of the merits or demerits of their work. Directing This was not a popular option this year although some very good work was seen. Directing candidates had often been at pains to interpret the material and some showed great flair in their transposition of settings. A particularly arresting extract from The Changeling was relocated to gangland Chicago and a charming A Comedy of Errors was given a 1920 s treatment. In both these performances the directing candidate had carefully selected appropriate props, costumes and music which helped to transport the audience to another world. 5 of 10
Moderators frequently report a lack of pace in performances, but it was noticeable this year that groups who had chosen to work with a focused directing candidate produced more varied performances in terms of pace. Unsurprisingly, students appear to discover that it is easier to hone the moments of climax and reflection if one member of the group is standing outside the action. The most successful directors had a wide ranging knowledge of the theatrical potential of the piece chosen, continuing to research and explore the material throughout rehearsals; they also ensured the actors were well informed about background material, the implication and interpretation of individual lines and references, as well as having clear, practical intentions when conducting the rehearsals. Not all directors managed to show a sense of how their ideas progressed in theatrical terms during the course of the rehearsals or that they had made their cast aware of the way ideas needed to be performed; for example a moment to be played in a precisely focused spotlight will only work if the actors have been shown where to stand to ensure their faces, not their feet, are fully lit. Unfortunately, there were some examples of weaker directing students, where it appeared candidates had chosen the skill because their acting skills and/or design skills were limited. This often became obvious when reading the Supporting Notes where thin prompt copies indicated a lack of engagement with the work as well as a lack of understanding of the role of a director. Acting As always, this was by far the most popular skill with some outstanding work witnessed by moderators. Very good work was exhibited by candidates who were able to lose themselves completely in their role achieving a highly appropriate practitioner's style. Given the number of candidates who offer this skill, it is not surprising that the work seen has covered a wide range of ability in performance. There have been extracts of Berkoff texts, such as Brighton Beach Scumbags, that contained performances with such a strong command of his techniques combined with the confidence to tackle his performance style that the results were outstanding. Others had a more confused approach, for example taking an extract from Bond s Eleven Vests with Brecht as the selected practitioner and then producing very strong performances but in a largely naturalistic style. The need to match the skills with the approach of the selected practitioner is very important if the candidates are to do themselves justice in this practical element. Many students displayed excellent physical and vocal control with many appearing older than their years such was the maturity of understanding evident in their playing. Through their use of vocal skills, the best actors were able to change the mood of the whole scene through slight changes to pace and pitch, which revealed a sensitivity to the language in the text. For example whilst there were many students this year playing Teresa in A Memory of Water, only a few were able to achieve her age through the adoption of an 'older' voice by deepening it slightly. Another student playing Dr Jekyll was even able to adopt a 'period' voice through the use of clipped delivery with a more rapid pace as well as an authentic Edinburgh accent. Others married excellent vocal skills with physical precision such as a candidate playing Cassandra in The Trojan Women whose focus was truly terrifying and who even seemed to be acting with her teeth! In the same piece, Hecuba achieved the right level of queenly grandeur through her physical presence and upright posture. 6 of 10
In less successful work acting candidates had poor articulation or projection. Lines were delivered with repeated cadences, which became monotonous to listen to. Physical actions were not controlled with repeated mannerisms and lack of focus when not speaking. If playing more than one role weaker actors were not able to differentiate enough between them and if required to speak directly to the audience found it difficult to actually look at them. Some candidates were not able to achieve the right style of acting and resorted to either overplaying or underplaying in naturalistic pieces. The very weakest candidates appeared not to know their lines properly and stumbled frequently. These same students were often guilty of looking round at others in the group to see what they should be doing. In such cases moderators were left wondering why the candidate had chosen this skill if they could not even achieve the basic requirements of it. Mask Design This is not a skill for the faint hearted and it doesn t lend itself to all styles of theatre. There were, however, some candidates whose handling of the craft was very impressive indeed. The spectators were taken aback when, during a performance of Romeo and Juliet, the maskers burst onto the stage resplendent in grotesque masks which were reminiscent of medieval gargoyles. The juxtaposition of the hideous black and red masks and Juliet s white dress was particularly arresting. Elsewhere the masks were simply not practical and were very badly made. The Sins in Faustus were given masks which restricted speech and hindered movement and in one instance the candidate had simply applied decoration to masks which the moderator had seen used in the centre before. Set Design The creation of some set designs was very impressive, suggesting a good theatrical understanding and an approach to the play which showed understanding of the text but also brought a creative and inventive eye to the piece. Most pleasing this year was the quality of the models which were presented as part of the Supporting Notes. It was apparent that the candidates involved had used their models as a way of developing and refining their designs rather than viewing them as purely decorative items and the Supporting Notes often recorded the way in which set design ideas were communicated to the rest of the group through the model. Most of the models were sturdily constructed and carefully scaled. It was easy to see how useful they had been during negotiations within the group. Sadly, not all set design candidates were able to replicate this quality when constructing their full size set design in performance. In some cases, the planned design was just too ambitious and proved too costly, so it was a much diminished version of the original idea which was eventually presented to the audience. Elsewhere, there was a lack of skill and precision in the execution of the idea; doors which didn t open, rugs which threatened the well-being of the performers. In some cases a lack of care was evident in the selection of props and set dressing. Attention to detail was often the difference between the more successful designs and those which had less impact. It is easy for one item to destroy much valuable work; even a piece of paper needs to reflect the period in which it is being used and a book on set should be carefully chosen 7 of 10
There was some imaginative use of inexpensive fabric. In one production of Trojan Women multiple lengths of cheap white voile were used to create drapes, archways and canopies. The pale colour facilitated a myriad of lighting effects and the gentle texture softened the harsh lines of an otherwise sterile performance space. Some good use of projection showed understanding of the effect and the skill. Unfortunately, some effects were disrupted by Microsoft logos being seen because of the tendency of the equipment to return to its home page if not operated for a time. Costume Design Candidates who offer costume are required to make only one costume from scratch and oversee the others but many chose to make more than one this year even though they did not have to. Similarly they are permitted to use a different practitioner from the actors but many chose not to when they might have fared better if they had used an influential designer instead of a director. However, like the actors they do have to take both the practitioner and the text into account when making their artistic decisions. Consequently if a designer ignores information in the text that a character is in their fifties, blind and uses a stick, they will not achieve the highest marks for understanding of that text no matter how consonant the design is for the practitioner, if none of these items are evident. Occasionally costume designers revealed a restricted knowledge of the practitioner if they dressed their actors in black outfits which were performed against a black background and assumed this was Berkoffian style. It also revealed a lack of appreciation of the use of colour in a design. A costume design candidate should work just as hard as an acting candidate who has often spent 40 hours in the studio. Some of the work presented for the exam this year did not evidence this volume of effort. A performance of Teechers in which the actors are wearing their school uniforms can hardly be described as a creative approach to the task. Despite this there were some very adventurous designs, especially if expressionist plays were chosen. Some were very well made indeed for example the wedding dress that consisted of a corset and hooped underskirt only. A range of plays had specific demands which were well met by their designers. Plays such as The Maids, Metamorphosis and Mermaids were just some of the performances which were more successful because of the work of the design candidate. The designs which were less helpful were often the ones where there was insufficient thought given as to how to costume the cast as a whole, meaning that one performer appeared more appropriate and even more important than the others. Technical Elements These skills continue to increase in popularity with lighting slightly more popular than sound. There were some very exciting and technically challenging designs. Lighting The best lighting candidates showed a real understanding of what effects can be achieved but, most especially, clearly worked with the group, recognising their role was to facilitate not to upstage. Some of the best moments were not immediately obvious but the subliminal effect was 8 of 10
powerful. Use of colour varied from powerful, subtle background effects, to the over use of an enormous palette of shades which were not coherent with the mood of the scene. Random changes can be very distracting for an audience and sometimes even for the actors. A knowledge of lanterns was sometimes quite extensive and went well beyond simply naming the devices; the particular quality of light and focus was precisely defined and implemented by the better candidates. For example, one candidate discovered that his group were doing Brecht as their practitioner which seemed to offer him little opportunity for lighting beyond the obvious bright light but through meticulous research he found that Meyerhold's ideas, such as the visibility of the workings of the lights, were compatible with the Brecht play they were doing and hence was able to design lighting that was not only highly appropriate for the play but also challenged him technically with no compromise to what the actors were doing. Another candidate was clearly influenced by the Berkoff productions Metamorphosis and The Trial to produce expressionist lighting for The Trojan Women. The design included downstage uplighting to create giant shadows on the upstage gauze thereby enhancing the violent images created by the actors. At other points the student had used smoke through which they passed violet and orange light to create a battle scene and its aftermath. Such lighting always enhanced the performance as long as the actors were equally well lit. Sound Although sound was not quite so popular, this was mainly because plays had been selected which did not offer the same level of challenge. Sound used in Frantic Assembly pieces often used music very well, but little else was afforded to the designer to demonstrate mixing and recording skills. The accuracy/authenticity of some sound effects was dubious and only the references in the Supporting Notes made it clear that this was a heartbeat, not a ticking clock, and that street noises were intended to locate the piece in the 19 th Century. There were some wonderful sound effects however, particularly from candidates who had used Kneehigh to explore their chosen text. It appears that the way in which Kneehigh sometimes combine music and specific effects has proved inspirational to many candidates. In one production of Tristran and Yesult all eight performers were required to play a musical instrument at some point. The sound design candidate had composed a bluesy score and had integrated certain sound effects. Footsteps, slamming doors, even one elongated smacking kiss were all created live on the musical instruments. It was delightful to observe sound making such a wonderful contribution to the performance. Just occasionally it was obvious that the sound design candidate hadn t spent enough time rehearsing with the group. There were some carefully chosen musical sequences which drowned out the sound of the actors voices. This was a great pity. An audience can make an enormous difference to the acoustics of a performance space and it is beholden upon the sound designer to ensure that volume is set at exactly the right level. In a play text there is often some reference made and guidance given to the sound effect needed and its quality and duration. Beyond the stage directions, the performance was often enhanced by the inclusion of sound to create atmosphere, background, period and much more. These sounds 9 of 10
can be achieved with relatively little specialist equipment so long as the intention is clear and the experimentation is focused on specific demands. What is needed is creativity and this was sometimes extremely evident, contributing as much as any of the performers to the total effect of the piece. Some of the candidates offering this skill would do well to listen to the whole soundscape achieved by a sound designer in a professional production perhaps listening to this specifically in a YouTube clip, Digital Theatre or a Live Link. Mark Ranges and Award of Grades Grade boundaries and cumulative percentage grades are available on the Results Statistics page of the AQA Website. Converting Marks into UMS marks Convert raw marks into Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) marks by using the link below. UMS conversion calculator 10 of 10