Drama Stage 6 Syllabus (2009)

The Drama Stage 6 Syllabus (2009) is for students in Stage 6. Find out more about the syllabus and access teaching and learning support materials.

Download syllabus (DOCX 78.12KB)

Read the record of changes to learn about updates to the syllabus and assessment. View all Creative Arts syllabuses on the NSW Curriculum website.

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New syllabus implemented from 2027

The new Drama 11–12 Syllabus (2025) is to be implemented from 2027.

2026

• Plan and prepare to teach Drama 11–12 Syllabus (2025)

2027, Term 1

• Start teaching Drama 11–12 Syllabus (2025) for Year 11

• Start implementing new Year 11 school-based assessment requirements

• Continue to teach the Drama Stage 6 Syllabus (2009) for Year 12

2027, Term 4

• Start teaching Drama 11–12 Syllabus (2025) for Year 12

• Start implementing new Year 12 school-based assessment requirements

2028

• First HSC examination for Drama 11–12 Syllabus (2025).

About the course

Students engage with the cultural traditions and social contexts of drama and theatre through critical study and experiences in practical workshop activities and performances.
Course description

Students in Drama study the practices of Making, Performing and Critically Studying. While the course builds on the Stages 4 and 5 Drama course, it also caters for students with less experience in Drama.

What students learn

Preliminary course

Students engage with these components through collaborative and individual experiences.

Preliminary course content comprises an interaction between the components of Improvisation, Playbuilding and Acting, Elements of Production in Performance, and Theatrical Traditions and Performance Styles. Learning comes from practical experiences in each of these areas.

HSC course

Australian Drama and Theatre, and Studies in Drama and Theatre involve the theoretical study through practical exploration of themes, issues, styles and movements of traditions of theatre, exploring relevant acting techniques, performance styles and spaces. Learning comes from practical experiences in each of these areas.

Group Performance 
Three to six students create a piece of original theatre (8–12 minutes duration). It provides opportunity for each student to demonstrate his or her performance skills.

Individual Project
Students demonstrate their expertise in a particular area. They choose one project from:

  • Critical Analysis
  • Design
  • Performance
  • Script-writing
  • Video Drama.

Topics

  • Australian Drama and Theatre (Core)
  • Studies in Drama and Theatre
  • Group Performance (Core content)
  • Individual Project
Course numbers and exclusions

Board Developed Course

Course number(s):

  • 11090 Drama (2 units – Preliminary)
  • 15090 Drama (2 units – HSC)

Prerequisites: Nil

Eligibility: Nil

Study via self-tuition: No

Exclusions:

  • 16650 Creative Arts Life Skills (2 units – Preliminary) (where Drama is undertaken within the course)
  • 16650 Creative Arts Life Skills (2 units – HSC) (where Drama is undertaken within the course)
  • 16654 Drama Life Skills (2 units – Preliminary)
  • 16654 Drama Life Skills (2 units – HSC)

Projects developed for assessment in one subject are not to be used either in full or in part for assessment in any other subject.

Course requirements

The Preliminary course informs learning in the HSC course. In the study of theoretical components, students engage in practical workshop activities and performances to assist their understanding, analysis and synthesis of material covered in areas of study.

In preparing for the group performance, the published Course Prescriptions include a topic list which is used as a starting point.

The Individual Project is negotiated between the student and the teacher at the beginning of the HSC course. Students choosing Individual Project Design or Critical Analysis must base their work on one of the texts listed in the published text list. This list changes every three years.

Students must ensure that they do not choose a text or topic they are studying in Drama in the written component or in any other HSC course when choosing Individual Projects.

Students selecting Drama are required to keep a logbook of the development of each of the components Group Performance and Individual Project.

Related industries

The knowledge and skills developed in this course can be applied across a range of career pathways.

Industries related to this course include, but are not limited to, the following outlined on the Your Career website:

Assessment and exam information and support

 

8:29

HSC Drama Performance

Read transcript
Video transcript

HSC Drama Performance

Hello I'm Madeleine and I'm Patrick.
In this video we are going to look at some of
the approaches and processes that you
can use when you are developing and
refining your HSC drama performance.
We'll be featuring four performances
from the 2016 Higher School Certificate
that were selected for OnSTAGE and we'll be
talking to the students about their
creative processes and what made those
particular performances standout.
'Frizzled like a Fritter'. What stood out in this
piece was the excellent physicality
portrayed by the student, where every
moment was realized with exemplary
control over movement, timing and
vocal work. The character was presented with
flair and originality.
"And Nobody Noticed'. This was an excellent example of
Verbatim theatre that also incorporated a
number of other dramatic convictions.
The students took us through a variety of
moods by presenting differing characters
in a truly believable way.
Frankenstein. This student utilized his exemplary
physical performance skills to present a
truly complex and multi-dimensional character.
'The Dying Swan'. The strength of
this piece was it's exemplary ensemble timing
as a number of tableaus were
presented in a narrative form that
demonstrated exemplary control of voice and movement.
Developing any successful performance in drama is a journey.
It can take her in many different
directions but it always starts with an idea.
Our performers came up with their ideas
in many different ways. The most important
element is they were all inspired by dramatic
styles that they felt strongly about.
I've always really loved Roald Dahl and
the way he writes his stories that sort of thing,
and the character that he developed.
And so I was always really
inspired by his work, so when it came
around to choosing a piece, I wanted to
do something that was both comical and
at the same time slightly dark that sort of thing
and he seemed to be the perfect man to go to.
Kate here went on a rant
about parole violators and violence against women
yeah yeah so we thought 'hey this might
be interesting to explore further'.
Yeah, so yeah that's kind of what started it
and we found...It's good to have passion for it.
It was something that we really all
wanted to explore and be interested in.
I first write down in my notebook
like a list of words which sort of
inspired me, and they were deformed, distorted,
grotesque, emotional, powerful, and from
those words I came to sort of
conjure up images of characters who might sort of fit that bill.
And at the recommendation of
my teacher settled on appropriating
Frankenstein for the stage.
Turning your idea or concept into a performance
is a central part of your individual
project and group project performances.
It takes a lot of experimentation to
establish your chosen style, the journey
of your characters, and to choose the
elements of drama you wish to
incorporate into your performance.
We actually had four performances before we
came up with this one. We tried a lot of things.
We wanted to explore styles. So before we
settled on verbatim, or like partially verbatim,
we tried, I think we did absurdist
for a little while we just tried to...
we just wanted to explore it.
We originally had a set in Shakespearean
times we never planned to make it like a
rival theatre company. We were just going
to be like bandits sabotaging the Globe theatre,
or burning it down or whatever,
and trying to get rich quick sort of thing,
but eventually it just moulded into a
more dramatic thing.
In performance work students are encouraged to utilise
their particular skills
For example, in Lachlan's performance of Frankenstein
he uses his skills as a dancer.
I've been dancing since I was 10
and sort of very interested in how
characters' bodies can portray their journey.
Um, so the physical theatre
element just really came from me like
experimenting and playing with different
shapes and different sort of movements,
which could communicate the experience
which the creature was having.
For group performances commitment to the
collaborative process and learning to
work together as an ensemble is the key to success.
It's really important just
group chemistry. Make sure you with a
bunch of guys you really can relate with.
We each pitched into like a like, so say
one of us have to do a draft script and
one of us have to do a blocking design
we'd all do in and compile it together.
So we could each put an own work ,
so we all shoulder the weight evenly
amongst the group, which is really
important.Yeah. That's a very important
thing, You've got to...everyone's got to
contribute in the group you can't have
someone taking all you're taking on all the load.
The ability to refine your
performance not only requires practice
but the ability to self-reflect and take on board feedback.
I use a notebook to
sort of track my changing ideas about
the piece and I changed the structure to
piece a lot to sort of create what I
felt best reflected on the journey of my character.
So a notebook, um, teacher and like
peer feedback, then also always
sort of like what comes from inside of you.
How you feel the run of the piece went,
um, what could I have done better?
I didn't really like that. I like that.
I really want to keep that. Can I extend that?
And to sort of listen to all those feelings.
Keeping a log book provides
a formal method of documenting the
evolution of your performance piece.
It was good in terms of reflecting on
what we did before hand. Looking our journals
and seeing the work that we put in.
For me it was a
good way to sort of reflect on sort of
rehearsals that I've done and
performances that I'd done. So up coming
towards the performance of the final
HSC day, I was able to look back on
those and kind of build on what I wanted
to achieve is my final outcome and what
I wanted to work on that sort of thing
and also just refresh my understanding of my character.
The HSC Drama course offers an exciting and challenging
opportunity to engage in performance and
offers options for individuals to pursue
their own area of self interest.
It was nice to come into a classroom, put down
your bags, put down your books, and go nuts,
get up and perform...yeah.
Drama offered me a really great balance.
I would definitely say do it. Do it, because I was able to
express myself, look at art, absorb myself in art.
There's a niche within drama for everyone like not not just a
this group, but at our school we had a lot
of successful kids, you know whether it
was in set design or script writing, and
definitely, I think, yeah, there's so many
different little niches, and a lot of kids
find it, it is like, it's tailored to everyone.
The HSC Drama course also develops
skills that are useful well beyond school.
The soft skills of like talking to people and yeah like doing this interview.
Working as a group yeah to produce something.
Working with a problems in a group.
How to solve them. It's really
good in terms of...the reflective process that
is ingrained. I feel like these are key
skills for life yeah anywhere.

Teaching and learning support

Use these support materials to guide and plan your teaching and assessment.

HSC exam papers

HSC standards materials

Sample assessment schedules

Drama Stage 6 (2009): Sample assessment schedule – Year 11 – A (DOCX 16.71KB)

Drama Stage 6 (2009): Sample assessment schedule – Year 11 – B (DOCX 26.16KB)

Drama Stage 6 (2009): Sample assessment schedule – Year 11 – C (DOCX 16.49KB)

Drama Stage 6 (2009): Sample assessment schedule – Year 12 – A (DOCX 19.87KB)

Drama Stage 6 (2009): Sample assessment schedule – Year 12 – B (DOCX 22.99KB)

Drama Stage 6 (2009): Sample assessment schedule – Year 12 – C (DOCX 22.52KB)

Related information

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