WJEC/Eduqas GCSE Drama: Revision Guide

Onstage On the page Building your skills This revision guide will help you to build the skills you need to pass your GCSE Drama, including: • how to approach designing for theatre (pages 23–40) • how to place your scenes in a dramatic structure (pages 106–116) • how to structure your written evaluations (pages 117–126) • how to write reviews of live theatre performances (page 154). 2 Performing from a text You will participate in a performance from a text. You will select a text, choose extracts and edit them in order to create a performance. You can choose to be assessed on either performance or design. 3 Interpreting theatre You will study one complete play and be assessed by a written exam. You will need to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the play you have studied. You will also need to analyse and evaluate one piece of live theatre viewed during your course. Battling stage fright – and ‘page fright’! Stage fright is something everybody knows about, but it is not unusual to find the written work a bit scary too. Whether you suffer from stage fright or page fright (or even if you do not suffer from either), here are some things you can do to improve your communication skills onstage and on the page. Know your character – and their feelings and actions (page 21) State the dramatic devices you used and the ideas they represented (page 16) Support your voice (page 14) Keep your sentences simple (page 9) Relax your muscles (page 10) Follow your logic. Link each point to the next, like a row of dominos – each causing the next event (page 16) Know your lines – and what they mean (page 20) Explain how your ideas changed from initial concept to final performance (pages 121–123) 8 INTRODUCTION