AQA_2024: A-level Drama and Theatre - Component 1
Drama and Theatre.
(Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme)
A-level
DRAMA AND THEATRE
Component 1 Drama and theatre
Thursday 6 June 2024 Morning Time allowed: 3 hours
Materials
For this paper you must have:
an Insert with the prescribed extracts
an AQA 16-page answer book
a copy of the set plays you have studied. These texts must not be annotated and must not
contain additional notes.
Instructions
Use black ink or black ball-point pen. Use pencil only for sketches and diagrams.
Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7262/W.
Answer three questions: one from Section A, one from Section B and one from Section C.
The questions in Section B are split into three parts. You should answer all parts of your chosen
question.
For Section B, refer to the Insert provided with this paper.
You must not answer on both Butterworth’s Jerusalem and Teale’s Brontë.
For Section C, you must answer on a different play to the plays you answer on in Section A and
Section B.
Do all rough work in your answer book. Cross through any work you do not want to be marked.
Information
The marks for each question are shown in brackets.
The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
Section A carries 25 marks and Section B carries 30 marks; Section C carries 25 marks.
For the purpose of this examination, a ‘section’ is defined as a continuous unit of action,
interaction, monologue or dialogue extending beyond a single page of text.
All questions require answers in continuous prose. However, where appropriate, you should
support your answers with sketches and/or diagrams.
You will be marked on your ability to:
– use good English
– organise information clearly
– use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
IB/H/Jun24/G4001/E7 7262/W
,For A-level Drama and Theatre Component 1: Drama and Theatre, here’s a concise revision guide
focusing on the key areas you need to cover:
1. Set Texts:
Understanding the Play: Focus on the plot, themes, characters, and key dramatic moments of the set
text. Be prepared to discuss the play’s context, the historical period, and the author’s intentions.
Character Analysis: Identify the motivations, development, and relationships of key characters.
Understand how they contribute to the themes of the play.
Key Scenes: Be able to identify and analyse important scenes. Consider performance style,
character development, symbolism, and stage directions.
Directorial Interpretation: Reflect on how the play can be directed. Consider aspects such as set
design, costumes, lighting, and sound that influence how the audience interprets the play.
2. Theatre Practitioners and Performance Styles:
Stanislavski: Study his method acting system focusing on emotional truth, the “method” of
internalising characters, and the use of objectives and super-objectives.
Bertolt Brecht: Understand Epic Theatre and techniques like alienation effect, where the audience
is kept distanced from emotional involvement. Brecht’s focus was on making the audience think
critically about social issues.
Antonin Artaud: Explore Theatre of Cruelty, focusing on physical and emotional response through
visceral experiences rather than narrative-driven plots.
Constantin Stanislavski vs. Brecht: Understand the contrast between Stanislavski’s naturalistic
acting and Brecht’s epic theatre, and when and why each method might be used.
3. Drama and Theatre Terminology:
Dramatic Techniques: Be familiar with terms like monologue, soliloquy, flashback,
foreshadowing, and chorus.
Stage Directions and Performance Elements: Understand the impact of lighting, sound,
costumes, set design, and blocking in creating meaning in performances.
Acting Styles: Study the differences between naturalism, expressionism, and abstract theatre, and
how they affect the audience’s emotional and intellectual response.
4. Live Theatre Evaluation:
Theatrical Production: You will need to analyse a live performance you've attended. Focus on acting,
directorial decisions, set design, lighting, sound, and costumes.
Evaluation Criteria: Evaluate how effectively the performance conveyed the director’s vision, engaged
the audience, and communicated themes. Reflect on the impact of choices made during the
performance.
5. The Role of the Designer, Director, and Actor:
Director's Vision: Understand the role of the director in shaping the production, including their choices
in casting, blocking, and interpreting the script.
Set and Costume Design: Know how design elements like set, props, and costumes communicate
the world of the play and reflect the themes and characters.
Actor's Role: Be aware of how actors use physicality, voice, and facial expressions to create
characters and communicate the meaning of the script to the audience.
IB/H/Jun24/G4001/E7 7262/W
, 2
Section A: Drama through the ages
Answer one question from this section.
For the purposes of this examination, a ‘section’ is defined as a continuous unit of action,
interaction, monologue or dialogue extending beyond a single page of text.
You are reminded that you must not answer on both Butterworth’s Jerusalem and
Teale’s Brontë.
Sophocles: Antigone
EITHER
0 1 As a designer, or as a performer playing Antigone, discuss how your contribution to
two sections of the play would help to achieve a cathartic experience for
your audience.
You should refer to two sections that occur after Haemon’s exit.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
Antigone in your answer.
[25 marks]
OR
0 2 As a director, discuss how your direction of the Chorus would help the audience to
understand the play’s main issues in two or three sections of the play.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
Antigone in your answer.
[25 marks]
IB/H/Jun24/7262/W
, 3
Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing
OR
0 3 As a director or as a costume designer, discuss the methods you would use to
highlight the contrasting characters of the cousins, Hero and Beatrice, in two
separate sections of the play.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
Much Ado About Nothing in your answer.
[25 marks]
OR
0 4 As a performer, discuss how you would create comedy for your audience from your
interpretation of Dogberry in two separate sections of the play.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
Much Ado About Nothing in your answer.
[25 marks]
Goldoni: A Servant to Two Masters
OR
0 5 As a director or as a designer, discuss your ideas for facilitating the fast-paced
action and creation of comedy in two separate sections of the play.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
A Servant to Two Masters in your answer.
[25 marks]
OR
0 6 As a performer, discuss how you would play the role of Truffaldino in two or more
separate sections of the play to demonstrate different aspects of his character.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
A Servant to Two Masters in your answer.
[25 marks]
Turn over ►
IB/H/Jun24/7262/W
Drama and Theatre.
(Merged Question Paper and Marking Scheme)
A-level
DRAMA AND THEATRE
Component 1 Drama and theatre
Thursday 6 June 2024 Morning Time allowed: 3 hours
Materials
For this paper you must have:
an Insert with the prescribed extracts
an AQA 16-page answer book
a copy of the set plays you have studied. These texts must not be annotated and must not
contain additional notes.
Instructions
Use black ink or black ball-point pen. Use pencil only for sketches and diagrams.
Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7262/W.
Answer three questions: one from Section A, one from Section B and one from Section C.
The questions in Section B are split into three parts. You should answer all parts of your chosen
question.
For Section B, refer to the Insert provided with this paper.
You must not answer on both Butterworth’s Jerusalem and Teale’s Brontë.
For Section C, you must answer on a different play to the plays you answer on in Section A and
Section B.
Do all rough work in your answer book. Cross through any work you do not want to be marked.
Information
The marks for each question are shown in brackets.
The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
Section A carries 25 marks and Section B carries 30 marks; Section C carries 25 marks.
For the purpose of this examination, a ‘section’ is defined as a continuous unit of action,
interaction, monologue or dialogue extending beyond a single page of text.
All questions require answers in continuous prose. However, where appropriate, you should
support your answers with sketches and/or diagrams.
You will be marked on your ability to:
– use good English
– organise information clearly
– use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
IB/H/Jun24/G4001/E7 7262/W
,For A-level Drama and Theatre Component 1: Drama and Theatre, here’s a concise revision guide
focusing on the key areas you need to cover:
1. Set Texts:
Understanding the Play: Focus on the plot, themes, characters, and key dramatic moments of the set
text. Be prepared to discuss the play’s context, the historical period, and the author’s intentions.
Character Analysis: Identify the motivations, development, and relationships of key characters.
Understand how they contribute to the themes of the play.
Key Scenes: Be able to identify and analyse important scenes. Consider performance style,
character development, symbolism, and stage directions.
Directorial Interpretation: Reflect on how the play can be directed. Consider aspects such as set
design, costumes, lighting, and sound that influence how the audience interprets the play.
2. Theatre Practitioners and Performance Styles:
Stanislavski: Study his method acting system focusing on emotional truth, the “method” of
internalising characters, and the use of objectives and super-objectives.
Bertolt Brecht: Understand Epic Theatre and techniques like alienation effect, where the audience
is kept distanced from emotional involvement. Brecht’s focus was on making the audience think
critically about social issues.
Antonin Artaud: Explore Theatre of Cruelty, focusing on physical and emotional response through
visceral experiences rather than narrative-driven plots.
Constantin Stanislavski vs. Brecht: Understand the contrast between Stanislavski’s naturalistic
acting and Brecht’s epic theatre, and when and why each method might be used.
3. Drama and Theatre Terminology:
Dramatic Techniques: Be familiar with terms like monologue, soliloquy, flashback,
foreshadowing, and chorus.
Stage Directions and Performance Elements: Understand the impact of lighting, sound,
costumes, set design, and blocking in creating meaning in performances.
Acting Styles: Study the differences between naturalism, expressionism, and abstract theatre, and
how they affect the audience’s emotional and intellectual response.
4. Live Theatre Evaluation:
Theatrical Production: You will need to analyse a live performance you've attended. Focus on acting,
directorial decisions, set design, lighting, sound, and costumes.
Evaluation Criteria: Evaluate how effectively the performance conveyed the director’s vision, engaged
the audience, and communicated themes. Reflect on the impact of choices made during the
performance.
5. The Role of the Designer, Director, and Actor:
Director's Vision: Understand the role of the director in shaping the production, including their choices
in casting, blocking, and interpreting the script.
Set and Costume Design: Know how design elements like set, props, and costumes communicate
the world of the play and reflect the themes and characters.
Actor's Role: Be aware of how actors use physicality, voice, and facial expressions to create
characters and communicate the meaning of the script to the audience.
IB/H/Jun24/G4001/E7 7262/W
, 2
Section A: Drama through the ages
Answer one question from this section.
For the purposes of this examination, a ‘section’ is defined as a continuous unit of action,
interaction, monologue or dialogue extending beyond a single page of text.
You are reminded that you must not answer on both Butterworth’s Jerusalem and
Teale’s Brontë.
Sophocles: Antigone
EITHER
0 1 As a designer, or as a performer playing Antigone, discuss how your contribution to
two sections of the play would help to achieve a cathartic experience for
your audience.
You should refer to two sections that occur after Haemon’s exit.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
Antigone in your answer.
[25 marks]
OR
0 2 As a director, discuss how your direction of the Chorus would help the audience to
understand the play’s main issues in two or three sections of the play.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
Antigone in your answer.
[25 marks]
IB/H/Jun24/7262/W
, 3
Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing
OR
0 3 As a director or as a costume designer, discuss the methods you would use to
highlight the contrasting characters of the cousins, Hero and Beatrice, in two
separate sections of the play.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
Much Ado About Nothing in your answer.
[25 marks]
OR
0 4 As a performer, discuss how you would create comedy for your audience from your
interpretation of Dogberry in two separate sections of the play.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
Much Ado About Nothing in your answer.
[25 marks]
Goldoni: A Servant to Two Masters
OR
0 5 As a director or as a designer, discuss your ideas for facilitating the fast-paced
action and creation of comedy in two separate sections of the play.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
A Servant to Two Masters in your answer.
[25 marks]
OR
0 6 As a performer, discuss how you would play the role of Truffaldino in two or more
separate sections of the play to demonstrate different aspects of his character.
You must make specific reference to the social, cultural and/or historical context of
A Servant to Two Masters in your answer.
[25 marks]
Turn over ►
IB/H/Jun24/7262/W
