Achievement standard 3.2 - devise and perform a drama to realise a concept
Achievement Standard Drama 91513:
Devise and perform a drama to realise a concept
Resource reference: Drama 3.2A
Resource title: Alive at the museum
Credits: 5
Achievement Devise and perform a drama to realise a concept.
Achievement with Merit Devise and perform a coherent drama to realise a concept.
Achievement with Excellence Devise and perform an effective drama to realise a concept.
Link to Annotated Exemplars for this standard from NZQA -
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/qualifications/ncea/subjects/drama/annotated-exemplars/level-3-as91513-a/
Student instructions:
Introduction
In this assessment activity, you will devise and perform a drama based on your exploration of a local museum exhibition - Slice of Life “The Dunedin Study”. You will explore how technology has shaped our lives.
This drama may be presented as a monologue or a group performance (2-4 people).
You will be assessed individually whether you work alone or as part of a group. You will be judged on the effectiveness with which you realise your concept through your devised drama.
To produce your drama you will need to:
· visit your local museum to collect stories and ideas about the Slice of Life exhibition - which examines “The Dunedin Study”. Your overall concept will examine the theme “How technology has shaped our lives”. Use your exploration of these spaces to determine a concept that you wish to explore dramatically - which focuses on how technology has shaped our lives.
· work through a devising process to structure an original drama
· formalise your devised drama into a devised drama outline, which may or may not include dialogue
· rehearse and perform your drama.
Your performance should be between 3-12 minutes long, depending upon the number of people in the group.
You will submit a statement of intention that outlines the ideas and stylistic choices you have combined to communicate your chosen concept and a copy of your devised drama outline, including stage directions.
Your preparation activities and the assessment task will take place over 8-10 weeks of in-class and out-of-class time.
Task:
Explore and experiment
After the museum visit, take part in a series of improvisation workshops to explore the people, places and events using devising conventions in relation to the stories that you saw and heard at the museum. Refer to Resource A as a guide.
As you participate in these workshops, take note of the understandings or ideas that come out of your experimentation. Consider how they give you opportunities to make an interesting, rich and engaging drama.
Develop an initial statement of your dramatic intention. What is the key understanding that you wish to communicate to your audience? If you are working in a group, discuss your ideas until you have agreement.
You may choose to note down both the ideas you select and those you reject to refer to later in the devising process.
Select ideas and structure the drama
Using improvisation, continue to workshop scenes and ideas and decide on which work best. Explore ways to ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’ the audience the story. If you are working in a group, discuss your ideas until you have an agreement.
Think about what style or form of drama you could use to support your concept and ideas. For example, would using the ideas of practitioners such as Artaud and Brecht convey your messages and meanings more effectively? Could physical theatre or naturalism be the most powerful?
Draw a diagram that links your scenes together. Once you have decided on the possible structure and style for your drama, refine your concept. This is a statement of what you want your audience to understand from viewing the drama. Check the ideas you rejected to see if any would now work with your agreed concept.
Rehearse and shape
Begin rehearsing your performance. Remain open to introducing new things and making changes. Consider using music, dance or technologies if it will enhance the realisation of your concept.
As you rehearse, consider the transitions between scenes. Make purposeful choices about how you will structure the movements between one scene and another to ensure that they support a logical flow of ideas and maintain the momentum of the drama.
Video your rehearsal and/or ask a peer for feedback on your performance to reflect on how well you are integrating elements and conventions to create a unified drama and ensure it has dramatic pace and flow.
Be open to changing your concept as you rehearse and shape. Each time you finish rehearsing, make sure that all of the decisions you have reached relate to the concept you are exploring.
Record
Record your final decisions about the structure of the play and stage directions. You may elect to record dialogue in this document as well, but this is not a requirement of the standard.
Hand in to your teacher a devised drama outline that reflects exactly what you will perform on the day.
Finalise a statement of intention
Hand in a statement of intention, outlining what you want the audience to understand from watching your performance and how you will communicate these ideas.
Perform your drama
Perform your drama according to the decisions you made as outlined in the devised drama outline.
Your drama should realise the intention of your concept. The performance should be convincing and a compelling one that is highly engaging and powerful. Perform in a manner that supports the communication of that concept.
Resource A: Exploring ideas in drama
Activities to help you explore your ideas include, but are not limited to, the following suggestions:
· Write diary entries from one person’s perspective about their experiences living in the time period you’ve chosen to explore. Explore conventions to combine these entries to create a scene in a new context.
· As a springboard to improvisation, find photographs from the day of the disaster or event and create frozen images based on these, and shoulder tap characters for their thoughts.
· Find newspaper articles set on the same day, 10 years apart (in 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s), and explore these to create a scene in a new context.
· Write down your character’s “10 commandments” as a way of reflecting what your character believes is important. Consider a flash-back or a flash-forward that outlines how an event affected the character, given these beliefs and values.
· Explore your performance space by taking one key piece of set such as a box, a platform that can move, a chair, a desk, an umbrella etc. Over the course of two minutes, use this set element to represent as many different things as you can think of. Continue moving around, inside, above, and beyond your set for the whole two minutes. Then consider what the piece of set could be used to represent in your drama. Repeat the process, adding dialogue. Remember that things that seem totally “wrong” can often suggest new and original ways to create ideas.
· Other conventions that are helpful in the devising process include hot seating, role on the wall, this way/that way, “If I were you” etc.
For more on these ideas refer to: Neelands, Jonathan and Goode, Tony. (1990). Structuring Drama Work: A Handbook of Available Forms in Theatre and Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Achieved
|
Merit |
excellence |
The student actively participates in a devising process to produce an original and credible drama that realises a concept. The student performs the drama in a way that fully supports the realisation of the concept.
For example: Extract from statement of intention In our devised drama we are exploring the concept of power. Our drama investigates the way in which people can use their power, and the effects of its possession. We present a situation where those in power abuse their authority, manipulating those who are naturally inferior and powerless in order to regain a largely financial based dominance. The genre chosen to perform in is realism. Drama in performance The drama interprets an event from a museum visit and moves it to a modern context, creating an original drama which has contemporary relevance. The drama is, on the whole, credible with a central conflict and two characters who are believable. The performance has flow and unity but this is because it consists of a single scene with a straight line narrative. The stated style is realism and this is applied inconsistently resulting in a decision to have a third character who is part of the scene but not present. This reduces credibility as does the clumsy use of soliloquy. The examples above relate to only part of what is required, and are just indicative. |
The student actively participates in a devising process to produce a coherent and convincing drama which has flow and dramatic unity and that realises a concept. The student performs the drama in a way that fully supports the realisation of the concept.
For example: Extract from statement of intention In our devised drama we are exploring the concept of power. Our drama investigates the way in which people can use their power, and the effects of its possession on the powerful and the powerless. We present a situation where those in power abuse their authority, manipulating those who are less powerful in order to maintain a financial dominance. The genre chosen to perform in is Brechtian. Drama in performance The drama interprets an event from a museum visit and moves it to a modern context, creating an original drama which has contemporary relevance. The drama is convincing with a well developed central conflict (internal) and characters who are believable. The performance has flow and unity using a freeze frame to signal a flashback and repeated for a return to the present. The flashback shows experiences from the past that influence the decision to become involved in the situation that is clearly illegal and unethical. This creates added layers of meaning. The stated style is Brechtian and this is used to provoke the audience to think about the issues. The change of role from blackmail victim to wife in the flash forward to the court scene when the two bullies are sentenced to jail draws parallels in terms of victimisation and adds layers of meaning. The examples above relate to only part of what is required, and are just indicative. |
The student actively participates in a devising process to produce an effective drama that is compelling, highly engaging and powerful and
realises a concept. The student performs the drama in a way that fully supports the realisation of the concept. For example: Extract from statement of intention In our devised drama we explore the concept of the misuse of power, and the effects of this on the powerful and the powerless. We present a situation where those with power abuse their authority, manipulating the new employee who is less powerful in order to maintain a financial advantage. The genre chosen to perform in is Brechtian. Drama in performance The drama interprets an event from a museum visit and moves it to a modern context, creating an original drama which has contemporary relevance. The drama is compelling with a central conflict between and within characters who are believable. The performance has flow and unity using a freeze frame to signal a flashback and that is repeated for a return to the present. The flashback to a freeze frame with a series of data screens that give essential information shows experiences from the past (the father was a whistle blower who lost his job and any prospect of other employment, reducing the family to poverty) that influence the decision to become involved in the situation that is clearly illegal and unethical. This creates added layers of meaning. Having the bully play evicting landlord drew parallels and added a layer of meaning. The use of the song ‘money’ provided a Brechtian comment on the action. The stated style is Brechtian and this is used to provoke the audience to think about the issues. The change of role from blackmail victim to wife in the flash forward to the court scene when the two bullies are sentenced to jail draws parallels in term of victimisation and adds layers of meaning. The performance has energy and pace. The examples above relate to only part of what is required, and are just indicative. |