View Syllabus on School Curriculum and Standards Authority Website

Year 11

Unit 1 – Presentational, realist drama

The focus for this unit is representational, realist drama. Students explore techniques of characterisation through different approaches to group based text interpretation, particularly those based on the work of Stanislavski and others. In this unit, students have the opportunity to research and collaboratively workshop, interpret, perform and produce texts in forms and styles related to representational, realistic drama that educate and present perspectives.

Unit 2 – Presentational, non-realist drama

The focus of this unit is presentational, non-realist drama. Students explore techniques of role and/or character through different approaches to group based text interpretation, particularly those based on the work of Brecht and others. In this unit, students have the opportunity to research and collaboratively workshop, interpret and perform drama texts related to presentational, non-realistic drama that challenge and question perspectives.

Year 12

Unit 3 – Reinterpretation of drama for contemporary audiences

The focus for this unit is to reinterpret dramatic text, context, forms and styles for contemporary audiences through applying theoretical and practitioner approaches. This includes physical theatre approaches, such as Jacques Lecoq, Anne Bogart and Tadashi Suzuki and text-based approaches, such as Theatre of the Absurd, Asian theatre and Poor Theatre. In this unit, students work on the reinterpretation of text, subtext, context, form and style through in-depth study.

Unit 4 – Contemporary and devised drama

The focus for this unit is interpreting, manipulating and synthesising a range of practical and theoretical approaches to contemporary and devised drama. This includes contemporary theatre approaches, such as Barrie Kosky and Robert Lepage and experimental approaches, such as Robert Wilson and VE Meyerhold.
In this unit, students show their understanding of how a range of practical and theoretical approaches manipulate the elements of drama to devise and perform original work.