Drama and Theatre Studies Name of Student

Bridging work for new starters 2020

Course: Drama and Theatre Studies

Name of student:

Bridging Work

This booklet contains a number of tasks that students are expected to complete to a good standard in order to be able to be enrolled in this subject. Please complete these tasks on A4 paper (or Drama journal/notebook, as per the task instructions) and bring them with you to your enrolment interview. The work handed in should be:  written in full sentences with no copying and pasting from external sources.  have all tasks completed  have students full names on each sheet  multiple sheet should be connected together

This booklet also contains significant additional information and a range of optional tasks. We would encourage you to complete all the tasks but you do not need to bring any optional tasks to your enrolment interview.

Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo

Trojan Women by Euripides

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Simon Stephens

Contents Page no. Welcome and introduction 3 – 4 Set Text research 5 Theatre practitioner and company research 6 Live Theatre 7 Wider Reading 8 Further Reading 9 - 12 HE & Careers 13 Glossary 14

Welcome to Drama and Theatre Studies

A level Drama and Theatre Studies is an exciting and inspiring course which prepares you for further study in Higher Education. A-Level Drama and Theatre also provides transferable skills such as confidence, group-work, organisation and management of workload, useful in any chosen career path. This highly practical course provides you with the opportunity to work as either performers and/or designers on three different performances.

What the course covers

You will study five different plays. The texts chosen will represent a range of genres and practitioners and social, historical and cultural contexts. The course is examined over three Components: Component 1: Theatre Workshop Internally assessed ● You take part in the creation, development and performance of a piece of theatre 20% based on a reinterpretation of an extract from a play text. of your A Level ● The piece must be developed using the techniques and working methods of either an influential theatre practitioner or a recognised theatre company. externally ● You will produce: moderated o A realisation of the performance or design o A creative log. ASSESSED: Feb/March of Y12* TBC

Component 2: Text in action Externally assessed ● Take part in the development and performance of two pieces of theatre based on a by a visiting stimulus supplied by the board: examiner 1. A devised piece using the techniques and working methods of either an 40% influential theatre practitioner or a recognised theatre company (a different of your A Level practitioner or company to that chosen for Component 1) 2. An extract from a text in a different style chosen by you. ● You will realise your performance live for the visiting examiner. ● You will produce a process and evaluation report within one week of completion of the practical work. ASSESSED: Spring of Y13 *TBC

Component 3: Text in performance Written exam ● Sections A and B: Two questions, based on two different texts: The Trojan Women 2h 30mins (Euripides) and Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Dario Fo). You will have clean 40% copies of the books in the exam. of your A Level ● Section C: Questions based on an extract from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon, adapted by Simon Stephens). You won’t have the book in the exam but you will know which extract is to be used in advance. ASSESSED: June Y13

For more information about the course visit the Eduqas website: https://www.eduqas.co.uk/qualifications/drama-and-theatre-as-a-level/#tab_overview

Resources and equipment

Your Drama lessons will combine practical and theoretical study. You should be ready to work actively and physically, so your sixth form smart business dress will often be too restrictive. Be ready to change into the following:

● Loose fitting trousers or joggers

● Soft shoes, jazz shoes or clean pumps/trainers (otherwise expect to be in your socks)

You will require the following equipment:

● Two A4 ring binders, one for Components 1 and 2 and another for Component 3

● Dividers for your ring binders

● A drama journal/notebook- we will give you an exercise book in your first lesson but you can get your own if you wish.

● A Live Theatre journal/notebook – you must get one of these and start filling it out during the summer (see task (3) )

Your summer tasks are as follows:

(1) Set Texts Begin by researching the set texts. Compile your detailed research in your Comp 3 folder. Remember - doing research as an A Level student requires you to work harder and dig deeper than you ever did for GCSE. You also need to understand what you are finding out about, so don’t assume that copying and pasting material will help you. Read it and understand it. If you don’t understand something, then contact me for help.

Use the following websites: Trojan Women: https://shckyneton.libguides.com/c.php?g=914289&p=6587245 Accidental Death of an Anarchist: https://www.gradesaver.com/accidental-death-of-an-anarchist Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-time: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zqwq7ty/revision/1

For each play, work through the check list:  Who wrote the play, when was it written and when was it first performed  When was the first performance, location, style and context  Information on the playwright’s life and how that influenced his writing  Find some examples of how the plays have been staged at different times, including how casting and ethnicity have been used.  Find out about the themes of the play in some detail, trying to use textual examples if possible:

Trojan Women o Social mores (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mores) o The cost of war o Fate, fortune and the Gods o Duty, obligation and integrity o Men and women o Suffering o Dread o Hope o Revenge

Accidental Death Of An Anarchist o Reform versus Revolution. o Fear and Submission. In the late 1960s/early 1970s, Italy experienced a great deal of social unrest. o Corruption. o Madness. o Truth and Illusion. o Layers of Reality. o Class Oppression

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time o Family o Honesty and Trust 5

o Braving the Unknown o Autism

(2) Theatre practitioner or theatre company research Knowledge and understanding of practitioners underpins the whole course. You will need to choose your own practitioners and apply them to the practical and theoretical work in all three components.

Choose one practitioner from list A and another practitioner or company from list B

List A - dead, white men List B - contemporary

● Stanislavski ● Steven Berkoff ● Brecht ● Frantic Assembly ● Artaud ● Paper Birds ● Katie Mitchell ● Emma Rice

Use a variety of sources, books, videos and websites to complete these sections:

1. Write a biography of the person, company or individuals in the company 2. Look into the social, historical, cultural and political context that their work existed or exists in: List A - dead, white men List B - contemporary

● Social - what was society like at that ● Social - what is society like, what time cultural concerns or themes are shaping ● Historical - what major events shaped their work? the age ● Historical - what recent world events ● Cultural - what artistic, cultural, literary might be influencing their work? and theatrical trends were prevalent ● Cultural - current trends ● Political - the government and politics ● Political - the political landscape which of the time shaped their work

3. Conventions of their theatrical style or genre 4. Contemporaneous and contemporary productions of their work - how has their work been received? Find reviews and accounts. 5. What other practitioners influenced them and who was influenced in turn by their work? 6. Rehearsal techniques, devising methods and exercises they use.

Present your findings as an A3 poster. It should have clear headings and include relevant pictures, imagery, text and keywords. Be Creative!

(3) Live Theatre Every aspect of the Eduqas A-Level Drama and Theatre studies course requires you to reference and have knowledge of how you’ve been inspired or influenced by live theatre you have seen. We will go to see at least one piece of actual Live Theatre each year but you will need to see much more in order to gain the higher band marks. Use the link and login details below to watch AT LEAST one piece of Live Theatre every week.

https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/series/national-theatre-collection-iid-190464

Username: 8Kv+2Zb- Password: 1Nn-0Mu(

*2020 Note - There are also lots of others being released to watch at the moment, so keep your eye out for other Live Theatre opportunities. The following has a list which they are updating regularly:

https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/stage-shows-musicals-opera-free-stream- online_51198.html

Use the following to make notes in your Live Theatre journal/notebook.

 Full name of production, Theatre Company, when and where (which theatre) the performance took place.  Key aspects of the production that you found interesting, exciting or intriguing. Use the following categories: o Physical Skills – Movement, gesture, facial expressions, body language, proxemics etc o Vocal skill – pitch, tone, volume, pace, accent etc o Set Design o Costume & Make-up o Lighting o Sound  Why were these aspects interesting to you? Be specific, describe them so you’ll remember what they looked like.  What did they show or connote? What information did they put across to the audience?  How could these aspects be used in another way for a different production? What bits would you keep the same? What would you change?

Optional task.

Wider Reading

Throughout the course, you will need to be familiar with current theatrical trends, artistic movements and theatre news. Read and collect relevant articles, reviews and comment pieces, and complete your notes in a table like the one below.

Date Article Details Relevance/Key Points of reading What the article is called, Where you What you found out/important information read it; name of newspaper, online link address, author, etc

Useful resources online include:

The Guardian, stage: https://www.theguardian.com/stage

The Independent, theatre: https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/Theatre

BBC Radio 4, Front Row: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qsq5

Other resources, such as The Times and The Stage are good, but are behind a paywall.

Further reading list

A student of Drama & Theatre Studies who is working at C or above is a student who has embraced the necessity of independent learning. This reading list is a guide to some of the key texts, both plays and drama theory, which will expand your understanding and allow you to show knowledge and creativity in the exam components. You will always be expected to be reading something and documenting your reading in your drama journal.

Texts marked with an asterisk (*) are deemed, classic, seminal, essential or at least highly recommended reading.

Plays: Set Texts, to get a head start, you may wish to buy your own copies of these texts but get the correct edition. The ISBN is given below

Author Title ISBN

Euripides The Trojan Women, OUP ISBN 978-0-19-953881-2

Dario Fo Accidental Death of an Anarchist Methuen ISBN 978-0-413-15610-5

Mark Haddon Curious Incident of the Dog in Bloomsbury, ISBN: 978-1-4081-7335-0 the Night-time*

Plays: other Author Title

Bean, Richard One Man, Two Guvnors

Beckett, Samuel Waiting For Godot*

Bennett, Alan The History Boys

Brecht, Bertolt Causation Chalk Circle

Brecht, Bertolt Mother Courage*

Brecht, Bertolt The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

Brecht, Bertolt The Threepenny Opera

Buchner, George Woyzeck

Butterworth, Jez Jerusalem*

Cartwright, Jim Road*

Chekhov, Anton The Cherry Orchard

Chekhov, Anton The Three Sisters*

Churchill, Caryl Top Girls

Ensler, Eve The Vagina Monologues

Euripides Medea

Frayn, Michael Noises Off

Gay, John The Beggars Opera

Godber, John Bouncers

Godber, John Shakers

Goldsmith She Stoops to Conquer

Ibsen A Doll’s House*

Ionesco, Eugene Rhinoceros

Kane, Sarah Blasted

Kushner, Tony Angels in America

Leigh, Mike Abigail’s Party

Mamet, David Glengarry Glen Ross

Marlow, Christopher Doctor Faustus

McDonagh, Martin The Pillow Man

Miller, Arthur Death of a Salesman*

Nichols, Peter A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg

O'Neill, Eugene The Iceman Cometh

Orton, Joe Entertaining Mr Sloan

Osborne, John Look Back in Anger*

Pinter, Harold The Birthday Party

Pinter, Harold The Caretaker

Potter, Dennis Blue Remembered Hills

Ravenhill, Mark Pool, No Water

Ravenhill, Mark Shopping and F***ing

Russell, Willie Blood Brothers

Shaffer, Peter Equus

Shaffer, Peter The Royal Hunt Of The Sun

Shakespeare, William A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Shakespeare, William Hamlet

Shakespeare, William Henry V

Shakespeare, William Macbeth

Shakespeare, William Othello

Shakespeare, William The Tempest

Shakespeare, William Twelfth Night

Shelagh Delaney A Taste of Honey

Sheridan The Rivals

Sophocles Oedipus Rex*

Stoppard, Tom Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

Webster The Duchess of Malfi

Wertenbaker, Timberlake Our Country’s Good

Wilde, Oscar The Importance of Being Earnest

Williams, Tennessee A Streetcar Named Desire

Theory, criticism and practice General Textbooks

Mackey, Sally Practical Theatre, A Post 16 Approach*

Neelands and Dobson Drama & Theatre Studies For AS/A Level

Cooper, Makey Theatre Studies An Approach for Advanced Level

Nick O’Brien & Annie Sutton Theatre in Practice: A student’s handbook

Practitioners Stanislavski, naturalism and realism

Benedetti, Jean Stanislavski: An Introduction

Benedetti, Jean Stanislavski and the Actor*

Styan, J L Modern Drama in Theory and Practice 1: Realism and Naturalism

Merlin, Bella The Complete Stanislavski Toolkit

Bertolt Brecht

Styan, J L Modern Drama in Theory and Practice 3: Expressionism and Epic Theatre

Willet, John The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht

Peter Brook

Brook, Peter The Empty Space

Mitter, Shomit Systems of Rehearsal

Jerzy Grotowski

Grotowski, Jerzy Towards a Poor Theatre

Augusto Boal

Boal, Augusto Games for Actors & Non Actors

Antonin Artaud

Artaud, Antonin The Theatre and its Double

Jamieson, Lee Antonin Artaud: From Theory to Practice

Styan, J L Modern Drama in Theory and Practice 2: Symbolism, Surrealism and the Absurd

Contemporary companies

Graham and Hoggett The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre

Liz Tomlin British Theatre Companies: 1995-2014: Mind the Gap, Kneehigh Theatre, Suspect Culture, Stan's Cafe, Blast Theory, Punchdrunk (British Theatre Companies: From Fringe to Mainstream)

Time Etchells Certain Fragments : Contemporary Performance and Forced Entertainment

Voice, speech and body training, games and warm ups

Barker, Clive Theatre Games

Johnston, Chris House of Games

Lecoq, Jaques The Moving Body

Johnston, Keith Impro

Berry, Cicely Voice and the Actor

Linklater, Kristin Freeing the Natural Voice

HE & Careers

A Level Drama and Theatre course is the ideal preparation for going on to study Drama and Performing Arts in any capacity, either for an academic course at University, or a performance-based course at Drama School. In a broader sense, you will also develop skills such as team work, decision making, creativity and confidence, which are valuable to any prospective employer or University. Various degrees are open to you after studying Drama and Theatre studies. See www.informedchoices.ac.uk for more information.

Glossary

Reinterpretation – having a new take on something.

Theatre practitioner – A person (playwright, actor, director, designer) who has had a significant influence on how theatre is created and performed.

Devised – work that is principally developed by performers without working to a script written by a playwright in the conventional sense.

Dramatic Techniques – techniques that are used to make a play more interesting for an audience. These are often specific to a particular style or genre.

Style – relates to the chosen theatrical approach e.g. naturalist, minimalist, Brechtian etc.

Context – the circumstances of the time the play is set in - social, cultural, historical and political.

Textual examples – Quotes from the text.

Performance conventions – A set of rules which the audience and actors are familiar with and which act as a useful way of quickly signifying the nature of the action or a character.

Genre – ‘category’ or ‘type’, e.g. comedy, tragedy, docudrama, farce, or melodrama.

Contemporaneous - existing at or occurring in the same period of time.

Contemporary - living or occurring at the same time.

Rehearsal techniques – anything done in rehearsal that helps the actor and director explore the character and the situation they are in. Could be used to explore the context of the play. E.g hot seating, improvisation, role on the wall etc

Devising methods – the ways in which a particular practitioner or company puts together their work and ideas.

Seminal – strongly influencing later developments