Drama and Theatre A level (Perasons)

Applications Open: 27/11/25

Applications Close: 31/01/26

Entry Requirements: 4 GCSE passes at grade 6 or above including grade 5s in Maths and either English Literature or Language.

How to Apply: Online application using Applicca - https://rochestergrammarschool.applicaa.com/applicaa.com/Year12

1. Exploration of theatre styles and practitioners such as Punchdrunk, Artaud, Brecht, Frantic Assembly, Berkoff, Kneehigh & Stanislavski

2. Study x5 plays across x3 components

3. Perform four different styles of theatre

4. Prepare for a written examination by applying knowledge of acting, design, being a director and a spectator of theatre.

Component 1, Devising- (40%, 80 marks) assessed by Class Teacher: students study a text as a class, and use this as a stimulus to create a group devised performance in a chosen style/practitioner (20 marks). You are also required to submit a written portfolio (60 marks). Students have a choice to be assessed on either acting or design.

Component 2, Text in Performance- (20%, 60 marks) assessed by a visiting examiner: Two practical scripted extracts from different plays, one group piece (36 marks) and one monologue/duologue (24 marks) performed in the set style of the play text. There is no written submission for this component.

Component 3, Theatre Makers in Practice (40%, 80 marks) written exam, 2 hours 30 minutes.

• Section A is a Live Theatre evaluation based on theatre you will have seen as part of this course (20 marks).

• Section B will with have questions on acting or design based on an unseen extract of a chosen play (36 marks).

• Section C will you will suggest a re-imagined concept of an unseen extract of a chosen play for a contemporary audience (24 marks).

Potential plays studied for Component 3

• Accidental Death Of An Anarchist, Dario Fo (adapted by Gavin Richards)

• Colder Than Here, Laura Wade

• Equus, Peter Shaffer

• Fences, August Wilson

• Machinal, Sophie Treadwell

• That Face, Polly Stenham

• Antigone, Sophocles (adapted by Don Taylor)

• Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe

• Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen (adapted by Richard Eyre)

• Lysistrata, Aristophanes (translated by Alan H. Sommerstein)

• The Maids, Jean Genet (translated by Bernard Frechtman)

• The School for Scandal, Richard Brinsley Sheridan

• The Tempest, William Shakespeare

• Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett

• Woyzeck, Georg Bűchner (translated by John Mackendrick)

Grade 6 in Drama