Drama 2021 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• analyse the questions during reading time, reflect on what is being asked and develop a thesis
• address key words or synonyms from the question throughout their response and avoid using language from past questions or prepared answers
• address all aspects of the question in a cohesive argument that is considered in each of the essay paragraphs
• use staging and/or workshops as evidence for both sections of the paper where possible to demonstrate their experiences with the topics and a practical understanding of theatre as a live medium.

Question 1

In better responses, students were able to:

• address the use of characters and settings to stage ideas about Australia and synthesise these into a coherent and convincing response
• accurately identify political ideas relevant to the plays set for study, such as governing bodies or authorities and their actions, issues relating to oppression and the prevalence of racial politics, gender politics or identity politics within particular settings and characters’ experiences
• accurately identify social issues relevant to the plays set for study, such as homelessness, displacement, disconnection, migration, domestic abuse, dysfunction, corruption, or violence within particular settings and characters’ experiences
• clearly interpret setting, such as a physical environment, the design of a set, the stage space or historical Australian contexts
• be judicious in their use of key words in the question and connect parts of the question to texts within a coherent and sustained thesis
• choose pertinent scenes and moments from the plays set for study as evidence to enhance the response to the question and move beyond textual evidence or a recount of action to demonstrate an understanding of theatre as an experiential art form
• understand and evoke the choices made by practitioners, such as student practitioners in the classroom, directors, actors and/or designers, in performances and their impact on audience
• select relevant staged examples that were intrinsically linked to the action of specific moments in the play(s) and apply these to the question by drawing on theatrical techniques, such as gesture, use of space, proxemics, intentions, vocal tone, physicality, and/or the use of production elements, for example, lighting, costume, set and sound in an evocative manner
• be selective when using workshop examples and analyse these in a way that allows markers to visually imagine a moment on stage that has integrity with the action of the play
• enhance their examples using adjectives and adverbs when describing moments on stage to create a sense of a live theatrical experience.

Question 2 – The voice of women in theatre

In better responses, students were able to:

• compare the similarities and differences between techniques, such as overlapping dialogue, transformational acting and magical realism used in both plays
• compare the similarities and differences between the status of women, as portrayed in challenging situations in both plays
• clearly articulate what the status of women was in the plays they had studied, rather than making a generalised statement about status
• link the techniques and character status to experiential material that demonstrated both these things clearly, rather than describing experiential material that was not clearly linked to the question
• select experiential material that described the performance of relevant moments from the plays studied, rather than describe exercises that were designed to explore themes or characters more generally
• balance theoretical discussion of the topic with vivid and extensive descriptions of experiential material.

Question 3 – Approaches to acting

In better responses, students were able to:

• evaluate the extent to which practitioners shifted the focus from process to performance in the 20th Century, rather than simply stating that a shift had occurred
• use both explicit and implicit language to demonstrate the extent of the shift, such as ‘profound’, ‘significant’, ‘minimal’, ‘major’ and ‘powerful’
• include evocative staged examples from class workshops, the practitioner’s own work and contemporary theatre practice to reveal the importance of process and/or performance.
• provide specific details about workshops and practical exercises enabling the reader to ‘experience’ the moment on stage
• consistently link evidence to the essay thesis as a means of illuminating and sustaining the argument
• articulate the purpose and philosophy behind specific training exercises such as the Neutral Mask (Lecoq), Image Theatre (Boal), Poor Theatre (Growtowski) and Biomechanics (Meyerhold) to evaluate the shift from performance to process
• use precise and accurate terms associated with each practitioner to reveal a comprehensive knowledge of the topic.

Question 4 – Verbatim theatre

In better responses, students were able to:

• discuss both texts and an original piece of Verbatim theatre equally and insightfully, providing specific details to support their response
• clearly identify what is meant by a piece of original Verbatim Theatre, such as, the student’s own work in the context of the set texts, or another work entirely
• define their understanding of both ‘dramatic shape’ and ‘theatricality’ and tailor their response throughout to link to these key phrases from the question
• refer to specific characters and their experiences in the plays as a way of communicating and explaining both dramatic shape and theatricality
• provide evocative and relevant descriptions of staged experiences/workshops from both plays and an original piece of theatre by referencing theatrical elements
• discuss all aspects of the statement equally, insightfully showing how the set text’s use of dramatic shape and theatricality explicitly influenced the creation of an original work
• use quotations or described moments from the plays that were relevant to the question and supported their thesis about the development of an original piece of Verbatim theatre
• go beyond simple statements to provide relevant, insightful analysis supported by appropriate examples and illustrations of their thesis.

Question 5 – Black comedy

In better responses, students were able to:

• discuss all key elements of the statement, including identifying situations from each play that, when staged, place an audience in moments where they are confronted with the conflicting reactions of laughter and feeling discomfort
• identify key theatrical techniques and conventions used by practitioners to create tension between discomfort and laughter, such as two-dimensional characters, slapstick, exaggeration, subverting the audiences’ expectations and incongruous situations
• answer the question by making clear value judgements about the extent to which the statement provided is true
• provide a balanced discussion of both plays using more than one example from each text
• demonstrate how staging moments from the plays bring them to life theatrically by presenting a range of evidence beyond plot recount to include examples from class workshops, productions and/or imagined productions
• use relevant examples to support ideas, rather than discussing warm-up activities or improvisations based on the themes in the plays.

Question 6 – Multi-discipline theatre

In better responses, students were able to:

• integrate their knowledge of the practitioner and their works with their own practical work
• clearly address all the aspects of the question, for example, tradition, innovation, engagement of the audience and significant issues in their discussion
• develop a strong line of argument based around key areas, such as ‘tradition and innovation are used equally depending on the needs of the production’
• demonstrate a solid understanding of how this style of theatre looks in performance, not just on the page by using relevant, evocative, descriptive but concise ‘on stage’ practical example from the practitioner and their own practical exploration of the topic to support their argument
• demonstrate a clear understanding of the philosophies, processes, and practices of the practitioner by insightfully embedding these in the discussion about their own work and the practitioner’s work.

Question 7 – Significant plays of the 20^th century

In better responses, students were able to:

• go beyond simple statements to provide relevant, insightful analysis supported by appropriate examples and illustrations of their line of argument
• use clear and evocative examples of staging the two texts in classroom workshops, rather than simply quoting dialogue or stage directions to explore how the moments of action highlight the extent the characters challenge the audience or have continue relevance beyond the time and place of the performance, such as confronting ideas, shocking images, or jarring dialogue
• discuss stylistic techniques through important moments of action in the two plays
• make explicit links between the examples chosen and their line of argument
• articulate the challenge to an audience, either the original audience, or from the student's perspective as a contemporary audience member, with reference to how the characters provoked this response
• show how the approaches of both texts were revolutionary to the extent that they shifted the paradigm of theatre from what audiences had previously expected
• demonstrate an understanding of relevant specific styles in both plays, such as Brechtian/Epic theatre, Magic-realism, Verbatim theatre and/or Theatre of the Absurd.

Question 8 – Japanese traditional and contemporary theatre

In better responses, students were able to:

• demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the styles of both Tadashi Suzuki and the chosen traditional style
• clearly and evocatively discuss staged examples
• use relevant examples of performance experiences as evidence, such as, performance choices when staging class workshops and performances with less reliance on elements of production such as make-up or costume
• clearly define ‘cultural ideas’
• skilfully link both styles to all aspects of the question
• discuss insightfully the use of movement, stillness and the contrast between the two in relation to making meaning in performance
• demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the set texts, specific links and/or differences between styles
• define clearly and analyse the significance of the body equally in both the traditional and contemporary style.