Drama and Theatre Studies
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What ouR Students Say
"I chose to study drama because I love to perform and work collaboratively. One of the things I like best about it is how I am able to express myself through such a variety of different characters. Next year I am planning to study classical singing at a conservatoire. This subject has enabled me to enhance my performance skills and increase my confidence when performing in front of large audiences."
Sophie Roberts
Exam Board: AQA
“Theatre is a concentrate of life as normal. Theatre is a purified version of real life, an extraction, an essence of human behaviour that is stranger and more tragic and more perfect than everything that is ordinary about me and you.” (Eleanor Catton)
Overview of the course
Drama and Theatre Studies is a fascinating and challenging subject that demands a creative, analytical and personal response from students. The course contains both practical and written elements. The course allows you to develop a knowledge and understanding of the social and cultural contexts of Drama through detailed study of dramatic texts. You will learn about dramatic styles, theatrical methods and drama practitioners, will undertake practical work, and acquire a range of performance skills.
Students of Drama and Theatre develop skills that are not just essential for drama but applicable to a wide range of higher education subjects and in the workplace. This subject refines students' collaborative skills, their analytical thinking and their approach to research. Students grow in confidence and maturity as they successfully realise their own ideas.
Drama and Theatre Studies is an academically rigorous subject. Students who are interested in new concepts and ideas, are creative, reflective and analytical will enjoy this subject. Students who study this subject emerge with a toolkit of transferable skills preparing them for their next steps. Previous students who have studied Drama and Theatre Studies with us have gone on to study Law, Advertising, Teaching, Performance, Production Work in Theatre, Arts and Humanities, Languages, etc. at some of the top universities in the country.
What do you study in Drama and Theatre Studies?
We follow the AQA Drama and Theatre Studies A Level course. Students will write on a range of set texts (Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler' and Wertenbaker's 'Our Country's Good') in a written examination at the end of Year 13 from a performance/director perspective; they also will write an essay analysing a piece of live theatre they have seen during their two years of study. The written examination is worth 40% of their A Level. Students are also examined on their practical skills; they complete a Devised Theatre unit (Yr12) as well as a Scripted Theatre unit (Yr13); both of these units also have a written element and students are awarded marks on their evaluation of the creative process. These units are worth 30% each.
Entry requirements
No previous Drama qualifications or acting experience are required, but a genuine interest (academic and practical) in Drama and Theatre is necessary and at least a Grade 6 in English Literature; if you have studied Drama for GCSE we ask that you have at least a Grade 6 in this qualification or the equivalent.
Contact: Mrs Rebecca D’Souza – Head of Performing Arts: r.d'souza@rugbyhighschool.co.uk