Theatre Studies

Theatre Studies

Subject Guide

Theatre Studies focuses on two vital areas of creative expression - interpreting scripts and analysing productions. Interpreting scripts means working as a class to realise, or bring to life, classic, famous and unique scripts. You become the directors, designers and actors as you study the language, location, context and meaning behind the scripts to help you understand what the playwright intended when they wrote the play. You will then work to rehearse and present scenes and whole plays as a class. You will also study analyse and evaluate a number of live theatre plays as a class. You will look at the nature of analysis and examine the choices professional creatives make when staging theatre.

Theatre as a form of cultural expression has been made and performed for audiences from the earliest times and is an integral part of all cultures. Theatre is ever evolving and exists as entertainment, education, ritual, an agent of change, a representation of values and a window on society. Theatre practice has developed and has influenced cultures over many centuries through a wide variety of productions in diverse spaces and venues for a range of audiences. Theatre-makers work as playwrights, actors, directors and designers, producing theatre for diverse purposes.

Drama Department

headofdrama@haileybury.com.au

Unit focus areas

Unit 1 - History of theatre styles and conventions pre-1945

This unit focuses on the application of acting, direction and design in relation to theatre styles and their conventions pre-1945, that is, from the era up to and including 1944. Students work in production roles with scripts from specific periods that fall between the beginning of theatre history until the end of 1944 focusing on at least two theatre styles, their conventions and histories. They study innovations in theatre production through the styles they explore and apply this knowledge to their interpretations of works. Theatre styles they may focus on include Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman, Commedia dell’Arte, Elizabethan, Restoration comedies and Naturalism/Realism. Students begin to develop skills of performance analysis and apply these to the analysis of a play in performance.

Unit 2 - Contemporary theatre styles and movements

In this unit, students study contemporary theatre practice through the exploration of scripts from 1945 to the present day. They select scripts from either two distinct theatre styles OR a theatre movement between 1945 and the present day. In either option, students will study at least one Australian play.Students develop knowledge of, and skills relating to, theatre production processes that include dramaturgy, planning, development and presentation to an audience, and they apply these to their own work. They study safe, ethical, inclusive and sustainable working practices (where possible, using environmentally sustainable approaches) in theatre production. They develop skills in theatre production analysis and evaluation, which they apply to their own work and to the work of other practitioners.

Unit 3 - Producing theatre

In this unit, students develop an interpretation of a script through the three stages of the theatre production process: planning, development and presentation. Students specialise in two production roles, working collaboratively, creatively and imaginatively to realise the production of a script. They use knowledge developed during this process to analyse and evaluate the ways work in production roles can be used to interpret script excerpts previously unstudied. They will develop knowledge and apply elements of theatre composition while maintaining safe and ethical working practices in the theatre Students attend a performance selected from the prescribed VCE Theatre Studies Unit 3 playlist and analyse and evaluate the interpretation of the script in the performance.

Unit 4 - Presenting an interpretation

In this unit, students study a scene and an associated monologue from a script. They initially develop an interpretation of the prescribed scene. his work includes exploring theatrical possibilities and using dramaturgy across the three stages of the production process. Students then develop a creative and imaginative interpretation of the monologue that is embedded in the specified scene. To realise their interpretation, they work in production roles as an actor and director, or as a designer. Their work is supported through the analysis of a performance they attend where they analyse acting, direction and design and the use of theatre technologies, as appropriate to the production.

Pathways

A recent innovation has been the introduction of a combined pathway where students are exposed to a unit of both Drama and Theatre Studies in their first year of the subjects. This opens up an understanding of both subjects that allows those going into Units 3 and 4 in Year 11 to make an informed decision. Many students continue to do this multiple option in Year 11.

The Haileybury Drama studio is located at the Keysborough campus, where Drama classes are held for Brighton, Berwick and Keysborough students. The City campus will offer Units 1 and 2 Drama/Theatre Studies for Years 10 and 11 students in 2027 and Units 3 and 4 Drama in 2028.

City Campus Berwick, Brighton, Keysborough

and

Past drama experience and ability is required to study Drama as part of VCE. Students must have completed at least two Drama/Theatre Studies units in Year 10 or 11 to be able to study Theatre Studies and/or Drama Units 3 and 4 City students have Drama Units 3 and 4 as the only pathway. Students who intend to complete a number of Performing Arts subjects should, where possible, spread the Units 3 and 4 load over their final two years to avoid a cluster of performance examinations in their final year.

Pre-requisites

Students undertaking Units 1 and 2 Theatre Studies need to have proven experience with stage/theatre/drama.

Students undertaking Units 3 and 4 Theatre Studies need to have completed Units 1 and 2 Theatre Studies and/or Units 1 and 2 Drama.

Assessment

Units 1 and 2 include the presentation of scripted and ensemble performances with an analysis of the process involved in the development of the pieces. A similar analysis and evaluation is made of professional performances. There is also an examination at the end of the academic year.

Students complete School-Assessed Coursework for Unit 3 (30%) and Unit 4 (15%), as well as a performance examination (30%) and a written examination (25%).