Just about all GCSE drama students love the practical element and often dread the written element. Why? Usually because they are frightened of it. Unlike other subject areas such as English where pupils will have had weekly writing practice since primary school days, drama written works emerges as a bit of nasty surprise in years 10 and 11! So how do you gain top grades?
1) Read the question carefully and underline the key words. This way you will remain focused on what the examiner wants to hear and less likely to go on a tagent.
2) Always plan your essay by making a bullet point list of the points you want to make. For example, if you are writing about how you would play a character in a set text, highlight the lines you intend to refer to (these will be the most important ones in the scene or section, and/or draw attention to the central themes/social/historical context etc) and think carefully about how these would be performed (you may already have practical experience of playing these roles yourself or watched another pupil). Explain in detail how you would play this character (voice, movement, expression, tone, face, etc) and then make it very clear the effect you would hope to have on your audience. THE KEY WORDS HERE ARE "HOW AND WHY". In this way you will paint a very clear picture for the examiner and justify the intended impact on the audience.
3) When reviewing a performance you have watched, you adopt exactly the same approach but explain exactly what the character/characters did and then describe the effect it had on you/the audience. With any creative subject your opinion is never wrong as long as you can justify it.
Hints and Tips:
- Don't tell the story
- Don't write everything you know about the scene/characters
- Don't generalise
- Don't forget to read the question carefully and underline the key words so you know exactly what the examiner wants to hear about
- Do write in detail
- Do make it clear the intended impact on the audience
- Do look for opportunities to show your understanding of the play and the historical, social and cultural context
- Do justify every performance idea
