Drama and Theatre
GCSE Drama
This course encourages students to develop a critical and life-long understanding of theatre and other dramatic arts. GCSE Drama gives students the opportunity to explore dramatic techniques as a foundation for the AS/A level courses and will also develop the inter-personal skills that are needed in a wide range of careers.
Assessment of the course is as follows:
To cope with the demands in the course, students need to have a real enthusiasm for theatre and must be willing to actively participate in all practical sessions.
For further information, please contact Mr A C Boyd-Williams. (Head of Drama)
The GCSE Drama course encourages students to:
The AS and A2 course encourages students to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
“Not everyone is going to be an actor but nowadays everyone needs drama skills in one form or another. This is the age of the 'presentation' where products and ideas are sold in a competitive market-place by the strength of the presenter and his powers of delivery. The scientist, the businessman, the engineer, the bank manager, the retail executive, the designer, none are exempt.” Jeni Whittaker, Drama Teacher
The Drama Department
Head of Drama: Alex Boyd-Williams
Director-in-Residence: Isabel Quinzaños
Teachers of Drama: Gay Boutroux (Junior School) and Sarah Cartwright
To study Drama is to study what it is to be human. It is a subject which helps students to understand themselves, and the world in which they live, better.
Another excellent reason for studying Drama is that it is enormous fun and it offers fantastic challenges and life-changing experiences. Students will get to put on productions of plays and devised work and also visit the theatre to see wonderful performances. Recently, the GCSE, AS and A2 students enjoyed a five-day trip to London to see some of the best productions in some of the world’s most exciting theatrical spaces.
We also compliment our knowledge and skills base by frequently bringing to Aiglon professional theatre practitioners who offer workshops and expertise. This year alone we have worked with Marcello Magni of ‘Theatre de Complicite’ and Neil Bettles from Frantic Assembly, two of the world’s most innovative and well respected theatre companies. Our main rehearsal/ performance space is Exeter Hall – a large versatile space. We also have a drama studio and access to the School’s dance studio.
There is a very close working relationship shared between the staff and students. Those who choose to study Drama are very proud and happy to do so at Aiglon.
The Department produces excellent productions and trains its students skills in physical and vocal performance to a very sophisticated level.
The Department has strong links with both the Music and Dance Departments and Drama students are encouraged and expected to participate in and learn about all performance arts.
The Aiglon Drama Department is committed to producing students who are well trained in using their voice and physicality to communicate successfully. It is also a great concern that students learn to write clearly, intellectually and analytically; a life skill that will help all students in whatever they do in the future.
Studying Drama is not easy!
It is a misconception that Drama is only standing around pretending to be a tree. It is not! It is a serious academic study of the theatrical arts, the self and the world that we live in. It is our aim that through participation in Drama that students will develop a love and critical understanding of performance arts. By undergoing a creative process, the students acquire the life-skills of self-confidence, concentration, self-discipline and communication.
“The experience of being part of a theatre audience is not simply passive. It’s not like watching TV; it’s not even like watching a film in the cinema. Everyone in that space is alive, and everyone is focused on one central activity. And everyone contributes. The actors contribute their performance; the audience contributes their attention, their silence, their laughter, their applause, their respect.
I can remember evenings in the theatre which were among the most important things I’ve ever known.
Theatre feeds the heart and nourishes the soul and enlarges the spirit.”
Philip Pullman, novelist
This course encourages students to develop a critical and life-long understanding of theatre and other dramatic arts. GCSE Drama gives students the opportunity to explore dramatic techniques as a foundation for the AS/A level courses and will also develop the inter-personal skills that are needed in a wide range of careers.
Assessment of the course is as follows:
- 60% Practical. Students undergo a training to develop their ability to express themselves using their voice and physicality. The intention of this work is to build confidence and develop the students’ skill of working in groups with co-operation and negotiation. The students are later examined on performances of both text-based and improvisation/devised work. Plays from different social and cultural backgrounds are studied, compared and contrasted; this helps to develop the students’ comparative skills needed in many subjects at A level.
- 40% Written Examination. Students will learn to develop skills of textual analysis and are required to respond critically to performance and design choices. These skills are examined in a two-hour written paper on a set text and a response to a live theatre performance. (Students will attend theatre trips during the two-year course to prepare them sufficiently for the examination.) It is our aim that through participation in the course, students will develop a love and critical understanding of performance arts. By undergoing a creative process, the students acquire the life-skills of self-confidence, concentration, self-discipline and communication.
To cope with the demands in the course, students need to have a real enthusiasm for theatre and must be willing to actively participate in all practical sessions.
For further information, please contact Mr A C Boyd-Williams. (Head of Drama)
The GCSE Drama course encourages students to:
- actively engage in the process of dramatic study in order to develop as effective and independent learners and as critical and reflective thinkers with enquiring minds
- work imaginatively and creatively in collaborative contexts, generating, developing and communicating ideas
- reflect on and evaluate their own work and that of others
- develop and demonstrate competence in a range of practical, creative and performance skills
- develop a basis for their future role as active citizens in employment and society in general, as well as for the possible further study of drama
- consider and explore the impact of social, historical and cultural influences on drama texts and activities
The AS and A2 course encourages students to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- how performers, designers and directors communicate meaning to an audience
- theatre practice through their own engagement with the medium as both participant and informed audience member
- the appropriate vocabulary and specialist terminology for the subject
- a minimum of two published plays demonstrating understanding of how style, form, dramatic structure and characterisation can be interpreted and realised in performance, and how plays relate to their historical, social and cultural context
- the work of at least one influential director, designer, theatre company or other practitioner who has made a significant contribution to theatre practice
- at least two more published plays of which one must be pretwentieth
- century
- the connections between theory and practice demonstrated through a range of forms, genres and performance styles
- the directorial overview required in the interpretation and
- realisation of a theatrical performance how relevant research supports practical work
“Not everyone is going to be an actor but nowadays everyone needs drama skills in one form or another. This is the age of the 'presentation' where products and ideas are sold in a competitive market-place by the strength of the presenter and his powers of delivery. The scientist, the businessman, the engineer, the bank manager, the retail executive, the designer, none are exempt.” Jeni Whittaker, Drama Teacher
The Drama Department
Head of Drama: Alex Boyd-Williams
Director-in-Residence: Isabel Quinzaños
Teachers of Drama: Gay Boutroux (Junior School) and Sarah Cartwright
To study Drama is to study what it is to be human. It is a subject which helps students to understand themselves, and the world in which they live, better.
Another excellent reason for studying Drama is that it is enormous fun and it offers fantastic challenges and life-changing experiences. Students will get to put on productions of plays and devised work and also visit the theatre to see wonderful performances. Recently, the GCSE, AS and A2 students enjoyed a five-day trip to London to see some of the best productions in some of the world’s most exciting theatrical spaces.
We also compliment our knowledge and skills base by frequently bringing to Aiglon professional theatre practitioners who offer workshops and expertise. This year alone we have worked with Marcello Magni of ‘Theatre de Complicite’ and Neil Bettles from Frantic Assembly, two of the world’s most innovative and well respected theatre companies. Our main rehearsal/ performance space is Exeter Hall – a large versatile space. We also have a drama studio and access to the School’s dance studio.
There is a very close working relationship shared between the staff and students. Those who choose to study Drama are very proud and happy to do so at Aiglon.
The Department produces excellent productions and trains its students skills in physical and vocal performance to a very sophisticated level.
The Department has strong links with both the Music and Dance Departments and Drama students are encouraged and expected to participate in and learn about all performance arts.
The Aiglon Drama Department is committed to producing students who are well trained in using their voice and physicality to communicate successfully. It is also a great concern that students learn to write clearly, intellectually and analytically; a life skill that will help all students in whatever they do in the future.
Studying Drama is not easy!
It is a misconception that Drama is only standing around pretending to be a tree. It is not! It is a serious academic study of the theatrical arts, the self and the world that we live in. It is our aim that through participation in Drama that students will develop a love and critical understanding of performance arts. By undergoing a creative process, the students acquire the life-skills of self-confidence, concentration, self-discipline and communication.
“The experience of being part of a theatre audience is not simply passive. It’s not like watching TV; it’s not even like watching a film in the cinema. Everyone in that space is alive, and everyone is focused on one central activity. And everyone contributes. The actors contribute their performance; the audience contributes their attention, their silence, their laughter, their applause, their respect.
I can remember evenings in the theatre which were among the most important things I’ve ever known.
Theatre feeds the heart and nourishes the soul and enlarges the spirit.”
Philip Pullman, novelist
