October 2024 Drama update

• New Admin Support Guide
• Component 2 survey
• Component 1 and 2 training events this term
• AI guidance for Component 1
• Lit in Colour event 23rd October
• The Other Place production at the National Theatre 
• Katie Mitchell resources at the National Theatre 
• Ancient Greek drama festival in Warwick 31st January
• Support and contact

New Admin Support Guide

The Administrative Support Guide 24-25 is the go-to place for all the information and guidance your centre needs for administering the three Components successfully.

It contains:

• the key dates for this academic year
• a breakdown of the requirements for each Component
• a link to the Live Theatre Evaluation Confirmation Form
• guidance on how to use LWT
• contact details for your assessment team and Subject Advisor

Component 2 survey

The Component 2 assessment window will be from 6th January to 25th April 2025.

Would you mind completing this short survey to indicate when you are likely to want to run the examination please? 

Please note - this is not a formal booking process. We are merely seeking an indication of when you would like the examination to take place. You will be able to formally book the dates with your examiner once your centre have made exam entries.

We will again offer the opportunity for centres to request either request a visiting examiner or to record the work within the centre and submit it to your allocated examiner for assessment via Learner Work Transfer (LWT). 

Centres are reminded of the minimum cohort sizes and assessment window dates for a live visit in the relevant qualification Administrative Support Guide.

Please submit your responses to this survey by 30 November 2024.

Component 2 survey

GCSE and A Level Drama training events this term

We have some free, live online training events for Components 1 and 2 happening this term for both GCSE and A Level. For more details and to book a place please follow the links.

AI guidance for Component 1

We've released a new guidance document to help you and your students with using Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the context of Component 1 for GCSE Drama and A Level Drama & Theatre.

​AI could be used in the research stages of the devising process to provide students with access to resource materials to help with the exploration of ideas. ​Acceptable uses include: ​

• Research into performance genre/style ​

• Research in response to the stimulus (such as themes, historical events, statistics) ​

• Research into influential theatre practitioners

Lit in Colour Play List 2024 event on 23rd October

To celebrate the release of Bloomsbury’s (Incomplete) Lit in Colour Play List 2024, a special launch evening is taking place, as part of the Bloomsbury Festival, at Conway Hall in London on Wednesday 23rd October 2024 at 6pm.

This free event (with a suggested £5 charity donation to The Big House Theatre), will be an evening of live theatre performances, talks and discussions with teachers, theatre makers and exam boards (I will be there!)

Bring your colleagues, friends and students (aged 16+) – and choose your next play to teach for Component 2! 

Book your free ticket

The Other Place production at the National Theatre 

We've had a lot of queries about the new play The Other Place which is currently playing at the National Theatre in London, and whether it is possible for students to refer to this production in the live theatre evaluation of Component 3 (in either GCSE or A Level) due to Antigone being a set text in both qualifications.

The National Theatre have confirmed that the play is not an adaptation of Antigone.  The plot doesn't follow the plot of Antigone and the characters are not the same, but the themes are similar.  The performance of the play will be naturalistic (in line with it reading as a piece of new writing), but there will be a sense of "other-wordliness", which is a way of referring back to the Greek tradition. 

With this in mind, we will allow students to use this production in the Component 3 live theatre evaluation even if they are studying Antigone as a set text.

Katie Mitchell resources at the National Theatre

There are two fantastic free resources available now on the National Theatre website about theatre practitioner Katie Mitchell.

The education pack explores the key features of theatre practitioner and director Katie Mitchell’s unique style and methodology, looking in detail at Naturalism and Live Cinema. It includes detailed biographical information, descriptions of her practice in her own words and lesson plans and design guides to support students to recreate her work in the classroom.

In the film, you will see Katie working with performers in a rehearsal room and replicating her live cinema technique with a group of A Level drama students. The film also features clips from a range of her productions.

Practitioners in Practice: Katie Mitchell

Ancient Greek drama festival in Warwick 31st January

The university of Warwick will be holding their Ancient Drama Festival in January and 31st January will be schools day.​

Supporting the matinee performance on Friday 31st, the Classics and Drama and Theatre Studies Department is offering a series of lectures, discussions, and seminars specifically for school students. No previous knowledge of the play or subject area will be expected.

There will also be a matinee performance of Agamemnon, and it's all free.​

Schools Day information

Support and contact

Please feel free to get in touch, if you require any help or support in your delivery.