AS 1.2 - Devise and perform a drama
This achievement standard requires the devising and performing of a drama.
Achievement Criteria
Achievement
· Devise and perform a drama.
Achievement with Merit
· Devise and perform a coherent drama.
Achievement with Excellence
· Devise and perform an effective drama.
Devise means to create an original drama. It is an ongoing cycle that requires active participation in the creative processes by all members of the group, and involves:
· discussion
· exploration and experimentation of elements and conventions
· selection and rejection
· shaping using elements and conventions
· structuring and sequencing
· reflecting and refining.
Perform means to present the drama as devised. The performance is a vehicle to convey the effectiveness of the devised drama; acting techniques are not the focus of the assessment.
A drama means a live, enacted performance.
Coherent means structured to have flow, dramatic unity, and smooth transition between scenes.
Effective means a drama that is convincing, captures the essence of the dramatic context, and has impact and originality.
While the process may or may not result in a script, the devising is to be supported by a brief statement of the purpose of the drama, and a devised drama outline.
The statement of purpose includes:
· the rationale for the devised drama, which could be retrospective eg “We wanted to show a drama about the value of friendship,” or, “after exploring the idea of challenge, we created a drama about facing your fears”
· the style of the devised drama eg realistic set in the present day
· if necessary, decisions about staging and use of technologies eg minimal set using traverse to connect with the audience, using own clothes for costumes.
The devised drama outline includes:
· a title for the devised drama
· a list of characters
· a list of scenes and a brief summary of each scene
· decisions about the drama elements
· conventions used, and why.
This supporting material may be presented in diagrammatic form, as notes, bulleted lists, charts, flow diagrams or sentences. A portfolio or extensive collection of material is not required.
Elements include:
· action
· contrast
· focus
· mood
· place
· role
· situation
· tension
· time
Conventions are ways of working in drama/theatre that explore meaning, or deepen understanding or are established practices.
Conventions to help with the process of devising or creating character could include:
· role on the wall
· hot seating
· teacher-in-role
· visualisation
· improvising parallel scenes
Conventions to help with structuring the devised piece and enhancing performance could include:
· aside
· entrances and exits
· flashback and flash-forward
· narration
· slow motion
· soundscape
· physical and vocal chorus
· split focus
· split stage
· spoken thoughts
· stage directions
· still image
· telephone conversations
Although you will work in a group you will be assessed individually
Conditions of Assessment related to this achievement standard can be found at:
www.tki.org.nz/e/community/ncea/conditions-assessment.php
Context/setting:
This assessment activity requires you to devise and perform an original drama. The context for this activity, “If these walls could speak …” is dramatic ideas drawn from a specific site we as a class visit. This site wiIt may be within the school grounds or a local site outside the school. You will be able to visit the site several times and spend sufficient time there to explore it thoroughly and research any written information about the site. Your dramas need to show a clear link to the site or an idea/theme drawn from the site.
Each member of your group will share ideas to allow them to convey a message, story or theme. Although you will work in a group, you are being assessed individually.
Resource requirements
A site to work with.
· Toitu - Early Settlers Museum Dunedin
Introduction:
This assessment requires you to work in groups of 3–5 students to devise and perform an original drama based on a local historical and/or public site that you have visited as a class. You will need to use drama conventions to create and shape the elements in the drama.
The drama will be approximately 6–10 minutes long and you will perform it to an audience of your classmates, either on the site or at school.
You will have 6–8 weeks to complete this work, including in-class and out-of-class time.
You will submit written supporting evidence for your performance in the form of a statement of purpose and a devised drama outline.
You will be assessed on your ability to devise and perform an effective drama.
Although you will be working in a group, you will be assessed individually. It is therefore necessary that you take an active role in devising and performing your drama.
Task:
Visiting the site
As a class, you will visit your selected site (Toitu). On site, you will need to:
· find out as much information about the site as you can
· in your group, brainstorm ideas or themes that are inspired by the site and/or stories of what happened on the site
· in your group, select a key idea or theme that you want to explore and consider how this might be developed to create an
original story
· develop your possible storyline through improvised exploration of key moments or ideas
· decide on a specific place(s) on the site, or in your given performance venue, that you might want to set your drama. Bear in
mind that you are devising for a live audience and consequently you will need to consider if and how you will make transitions
between performance sites in a way that will support the dramatic unity and flow of the drama.
As a group, explore the site.
Note details of any particular significant features.
Read any information available about the history of your site and note significant dates.
Within your group, identify possible themes and ideas that can be drawn from your findings. Do they lead you to think of particular plotlines or stories?
Who are the people involved in possible stories you have brainstormed?
Consider how these stories might involve a wider community outside your specific site, for example:
· Where did the players and teams come from that played at the sports club?
· What might have happened to the famous players after their careers?
Decide on a particular place or places on the site that you might want to set your story.
· sketch and/or photograph your chosen location thoroughly
· measure its size
· record objects on the site that might be significant to your story.
Consider how or why you might use more than one site. Is it useful for you to do this? If so, how will you manage the transitions between sites?
Structuring the story – extending, shaping, selecting
In your groups, decide on the basic outline of your story.
Clarify an initial purpose for the drama. Consider what message you are trying to communicate and make initial plans for the style your drama will take.
Use a range of improvisation activities to help you develop your drama. You might experiment with the use of drama elements and conventions, for example, role, action, place, situation, tension, focus, mood and contrast, freeze frames, spoken thoughts, flash-forward/flashback, transitions, overheard conversations, voices in the head, chorus, soundscape, dream sequence, and significant objects and documents.
Structure your drama and choose appropriate conventions to support the communication of your main idea/s.
As a group, discuss the following aspects for your devised drama:
· What is the style of the drama? – for example, realistic, symbolic, stylised
– the setting – for example, modern day or historical
– decisions about staging
– how you incorporate aspects of the site you visited into your drama.
· What significance do the aspects of the site have for the story?
· If you are not performing on the site how could you make these features clear to the audience?
Note any changes your group has made to the statement of purpose and the outline for the drama as you work. These developmental notes do not need to be submitted but will help you when you write your supporting evidence.
Show your work to another group and ask them for feedback.
As you work on developing your drama, be prepared to look honestly at your material to decide what is working and what is not, and to rework material if necessary. Everyone in the group must be involved in the decision-making process.
Refining and rehearsing
Consider the feedback you have received about your work.
Make changes if necessary and decide on the final structure.
Rehearse the work thoroughly for your performance.
Supporting evidence
Complete and submit the following written evidence.
Your statement of purpose, including:
· the rationale behind the drama:
– What message did you want to convey to the audience?
– How did your story relate to the site you visited?
A devised drama outline, including:
· title
· list of characters and brief notes about their role in the drama
· list of scenes with a brief plot summary of each one.
Click here to access the Google doc which you need for your group
Achievement Criteria
Achievement
· Devise and perform a drama.
Achievement with Merit
· Devise and perform a coherent drama.
Achievement with Excellence
· Devise and perform an effective drama.
Devise means to create an original drama. It is an ongoing cycle that requires active participation in the creative processes by all members of the group, and involves:
· discussion
· exploration and experimentation of elements and conventions
· selection and rejection
· shaping using elements and conventions
· structuring and sequencing
· reflecting and refining.
Perform means to present the drama as devised. The performance is a vehicle to convey the effectiveness of the devised drama; acting techniques are not the focus of the assessment.
A drama means a live, enacted performance.
Coherent means structured to have flow, dramatic unity, and smooth transition between scenes.
Effective means a drama that is convincing, captures the essence of the dramatic context, and has impact and originality.
While the process may or may not result in a script, the devising is to be supported by a brief statement of the purpose of the drama, and a devised drama outline.
The statement of purpose includes:
· the rationale for the devised drama, which could be retrospective eg “We wanted to show a drama about the value of friendship,” or, “after exploring the idea of challenge, we created a drama about facing your fears”
· the style of the devised drama eg realistic set in the present day
· if necessary, decisions about staging and use of technologies eg minimal set using traverse to connect with the audience, using own clothes for costumes.
The devised drama outline includes:
· a title for the devised drama
· a list of characters
· a list of scenes and a brief summary of each scene
· decisions about the drama elements
· conventions used, and why.
This supporting material may be presented in diagrammatic form, as notes, bulleted lists, charts, flow diagrams or sentences. A portfolio or extensive collection of material is not required.
Elements include:
· action
· contrast
· focus
· mood
· place
· role
· situation
· tension
· time
Conventions are ways of working in drama/theatre that explore meaning, or deepen understanding or are established practices.
Conventions to help with the process of devising or creating character could include:
· role on the wall
· hot seating
· teacher-in-role
· visualisation
· improvising parallel scenes
Conventions to help with structuring the devised piece and enhancing performance could include:
· aside
· entrances and exits
· flashback and flash-forward
· narration
· slow motion
· soundscape
· physical and vocal chorus
· split focus
· split stage
· spoken thoughts
· stage directions
· still image
· telephone conversations
Although you will work in a group you will be assessed individually
Conditions of Assessment related to this achievement standard can be found at:
www.tki.org.nz/e/community/ncea/conditions-assessment.php
Context/setting:
This assessment activity requires you to devise and perform an original drama. The context for this activity, “If these walls could speak …” is dramatic ideas drawn from a specific site we as a class visit. This site wiIt may be within the school grounds or a local site outside the school. You will be able to visit the site several times and spend sufficient time there to explore it thoroughly and research any written information about the site. Your dramas need to show a clear link to the site or an idea/theme drawn from the site.
Each member of your group will share ideas to allow them to convey a message, story or theme. Although you will work in a group, you are being assessed individually.
Resource requirements
A site to work with.
· Toitu - Early Settlers Museum Dunedin
Introduction:
This assessment requires you to work in groups of 3–5 students to devise and perform an original drama based on a local historical and/or public site that you have visited as a class. You will need to use drama conventions to create and shape the elements in the drama.
The drama will be approximately 6–10 minutes long and you will perform it to an audience of your classmates, either on the site or at school.
You will have 6–8 weeks to complete this work, including in-class and out-of-class time.
You will submit written supporting evidence for your performance in the form of a statement of purpose and a devised drama outline.
You will be assessed on your ability to devise and perform an effective drama.
Although you will be working in a group, you will be assessed individually. It is therefore necessary that you take an active role in devising and performing your drama.
Task:
Visiting the site
As a class, you will visit your selected site (Toitu). On site, you will need to:
· find out as much information about the site as you can
· in your group, brainstorm ideas or themes that are inspired by the site and/or stories of what happened on the site
· in your group, select a key idea or theme that you want to explore and consider how this might be developed to create an
original story
· develop your possible storyline through improvised exploration of key moments or ideas
· decide on a specific place(s) on the site, or in your given performance venue, that you might want to set your drama. Bear in
mind that you are devising for a live audience and consequently you will need to consider if and how you will make transitions
between performance sites in a way that will support the dramatic unity and flow of the drama.
As a group, explore the site.
Note details of any particular significant features.
Read any information available about the history of your site and note significant dates.
Within your group, identify possible themes and ideas that can be drawn from your findings. Do they lead you to think of particular plotlines or stories?
Who are the people involved in possible stories you have brainstormed?
Consider how these stories might involve a wider community outside your specific site, for example:
· Where did the players and teams come from that played at the sports club?
· What might have happened to the famous players after their careers?
Decide on a particular place or places on the site that you might want to set your story.
· sketch and/or photograph your chosen location thoroughly
· measure its size
· record objects on the site that might be significant to your story.
Consider how or why you might use more than one site. Is it useful for you to do this? If so, how will you manage the transitions between sites?
Structuring the story – extending, shaping, selecting
In your groups, decide on the basic outline of your story.
Clarify an initial purpose for the drama. Consider what message you are trying to communicate and make initial plans for the style your drama will take.
Use a range of improvisation activities to help you develop your drama. You might experiment with the use of drama elements and conventions, for example, role, action, place, situation, tension, focus, mood and contrast, freeze frames, spoken thoughts, flash-forward/flashback, transitions, overheard conversations, voices in the head, chorus, soundscape, dream sequence, and significant objects and documents.
Structure your drama and choose appropriate conventions to support the communication of your main idea/s.
As a group, discuss the following aspects for your devised drama:
· What is the style of the drama? – for example, realistic, symbolic, stylised
– the setting – for example, modern day or historical
– decisions about staging
– how you incorporate aspects of the site you visited into your drama.
· What significance do the aspects of the site have for the story?
· If you are not performing on the site how could you make these features clear to the audience?
Note any changes your group has made to the statement of purpose and the outline for the drama as you work. These developmental notes do not need to be submitted but will help you when you write your supporting evidence.
Show your work to another group and ask them for feedback.
As you work on developing your drama, be prepared to look honestly at your material to decide what is working and what is not, and to rework material if necessary. Everyone in the group must be involved in the decision-making process.
Refining and rehearsing
Consider the feedback you have received about your work.
Make changes if necessary and decide on the final structure.
Rehearse the work thoroughly for your performance.
- Performance
- Perform your drama for an audience.
Supporting evidence
Complete and submit the following written evidence.
Your statement of purpose, including:
· the rationale behind the drama:
– What message did you want to convey to the audience?
– How did your story relate to the site you visited?
A devised drama outline, including:
· title
· list of characters and brief notes about their role in the drama
· list of scenes with a brief plot summary of each one.
Click here to access the Google doc which you need for your group