OCR GCSE Drama

21 Themes When arriving at an artistic vision for a play, a director might consider the play’s themes. Below is the beginning of a ‘theme’ mind map for a play. Using this example, draw a mind map with a theme from your set play. Depending on the play, you might choose, for example: family, love, violence, community, mental health, money, social class, modern technology, memory, truth or fate. TASK 2.5 D Discuss if there were any moments that might have been unclear or ineffective for the audience. E Stage the same scene again, but this time using a different staging configuration. F After discussion, write down two advantages and two disadvantages of each of the staging configurations you tried. You might consider: • Was it easy for the audience to see what was happening, including facial expressions and relationships between characters? • Did the proxemics of the characters, to each other and to the audience, suit the performance and help to convey the action and characterisation? • How could a set design or set furnishings suggested by the script be used in the staging configuration or be altered to suit it? • Are the actors’ entrances, exits and positioning on stage effective? • Is it necessary that all of the audience sees the production from the same angle so that specific stage pictures are created? • Would moments of audience interaction be improved by a certain stage configuration? Dialogue Symbolism message Staging Performance style Effects on the audience Theme: Family Design choices Designers contribute to a performance in many areas, including: Costume Lighting Sound Props Set As you study your set text, make notes of opportunities for creative choices in each of these areas. Design PERFORmING A TEXT