Drama and Theatre
Studies
Transition Project
First of all, welcome to Theatre Studies A level! While most of you will have taken GCSE
Drama, some of you may not have done. Do not worry. Completing the following tasks will
give us a chance to have a conversation over the first couple of weeks back, so that all can
start with some shared basic knowledge.
These tasks introduce you to the standard of A level Drama and Theatre Studies. You should be
spending between 12-16 hours on them, and your own reading time.
1
Preparing for the course: Practitioner research
Your first task is to research a Theatre Practitioner of your choice. They should have had a
significant influence on the development of 20th Century theatre. Examples of such
practitioners include:






Stanislavski
Brecht
Artaud
Augusto Boal
Steven Berkoff
Jerzy Grotowski
Peter Brook
You need to include:
1. Background detail







Childhood
Personal Life
Writing/Poetry
Experience within ‘The Arts’
What inspired him?
What did he not like about theatre?
What did he want the audience to feel?
2. Theatre Style – Research!
What is the practitioner’s Theatre Style? Focus o n the following:








Preparing for a role
Movement /mime
Chorus movement/use of ensemble
Lighting
Sound
Set Make Up
Actor/Audience Interaction
Dialogue Structure
3. Companies/Performers who are heavily influenced by his work today
Your research can be presented in the following ways:
-
An essay (approximately 800 words)
A webpage
A combination of images and text
A power point (approximately 12 slides)
2
Preparing for the course: Reading a play
Your second Task is to read a play by a playwright that you did not study for English or
Drama at GCSE.
Suggestions:
-
Henrik Ibsen: Ghosts/ A Dolls House
Oscar Wilde: The Importance of being Earnest
Bertholt Brecht: The Caucasian Chalk Circle
John Osborne: Look Back in Anger
Pinter: The Birthday Party
Timberlake Wertenbaker: Our Country’s Good
Caryll Churchill: Vinegar
Tom David Mammet : Oleanna
Write a response to what you’ve read in your own words.
Include:1. Plot summary in no more than 100 words
2. The Genre of the play (and how you know)
3. Set design of stage at the start and at the end of the play including entrances and
exits.
4. A focus on one character:
- Find out 5 things they say about themselves, and 5 things others say about them in
the play. Explain why you have chosen these and what it shows about the character.
- What does your character really WANT in the play? How do they try to get this? Who
or what blocks them: a weakness in themselves ( eg an addiction? ) Or do others
block them?
- How does your character speak? Choose 10 lines: is it questions, statements,
commands, responses to the other characters? What does this tell you about your
character’s status in the extract?
- Choose a turning point in the play for your character. Write a paragraph to
communicate their secret thoughts. Use first person and try to write as they speak in
the play, using some of the language.
5. Your thoughts on the play - Did you like the style, the plot, any of the characters?
Why? If not, why not?
Your response should be approximately 800 words long.
3
Preparing for the course: Researching the Social,
Historical and Cultural context of a play
This task requires you to research the context of your set play text, Antigone. Antigone is a Greek
play and knowledge of the SHC context of the play is essential for your success in the AS written
exam. Use the following questions to guide your research:
1. Who wrote Antigone? What can you find out about him?
2. Which part of a Greek play would give the BACKGROUND of the story?
3. What is the function of the chorus?
4. In a Greek play which song is sung to INTRODUCE the chorus?
5. In a Greek play what is a scene where actors speak and act their parts called?
6. In a Greek play what choral piece reflects on the actions in each scene?
7. In a Greek play what is the name of the final scene in the play that reveals the lesson
learned?
8. What is the name of the paths used by the chorus to make their entrances and exits?
9. What is the name of the place where the audience would sit?
10. What is the name of the circular space where the chorus would dance and sing?
11. At what occasions were Greek plays traditionally performed?
12. What were the common themes of Greek plays?
13. What type of Greek play is Antigone?
14. Who was Dionysus?
15. What was the function of a mask in Greek theatre?
16. How would you describe the scenery used in Greek theatre?
17. How is Greek theatre different from modern theatre?
18. What is catharsis?
19. What is hubris?
20. Who is the tragic character in the play? Why?
4
Preparing for the course: Reading list
Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty (Plays and Playwrights) by Albert Bermel (28 Jun 2001)
Antonin Artaud: From Theory to Practice (Greenwich Exchange Student Guide Literary) by Lee
Jamieson (24 May 2007)
An Actor Prepares – Stanislavski
Brecht on Theatre – Brecht
Games for Actors and Non‐Actors – Augusto Boal
Guide to Greek Theatre and Drama – Kenneth McLeish
My Life in Art – Stanislavski
Playing Boal: Theatre, Therapy, Activism –Jan Cohen‐Cruz and Mady Schutzman (2 Dec 1993)
The Empty Space – Peter Brook
The Theatre of Grotowski - Jennifer Kumiega (23 May 1985)
Theatre of the Oppressed – Augusto Boal
The Grotowski Sourcebook – Richard Schechner and Lisa Wolford Wylam
Useful Websites:
http://www.stevenberkoff.com/
http://www.iainfisher.com/berkoff.html
http://plays.about.com/od/actingessentials/a/The-Stanislavsky-Method.htm
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Bertolt-Brecht
http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/drama/brecht.htm
http://www.thedramateacher.com/poor-theatre-conventions/
http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/staffhome/siryan/academy/theatres/theatre%20of%20cruelty.htm
http://www.biography.com/people/antonin-artaud-9189906
http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/101/the-development-of-theatre-peter-brook-and-thehuman-connection
https://brechtforum.org/abouttop
http://www.cwu.edu/~robinsos/ppages/resources/Theatre_History/Theahis_2.html
5