For those of you who don’t have 48 minutes spare to watch the whole video, here are the most important points covered at the meeting…
Devising Drama: The Fundamentals
Learners can take Solo exams or Duologue exams but there is NO COMBINED EXAM for Devising Drama
Learners must devise their own original scenes
Scenes should have a clearly defined structure
They should aim to suspend disbelief
All the technical skills of acting will be required to do well in this exam, as well as an understanding of the devising process
At Entry level, learners devise ONE scene (2-3 mins) using one of the following themes as a stimulus: a day out OR my favourite hobby OR my favourite toy or game
From Grade 1 – 8, learners devise TWO scenes (2-3 mins at Grades 1-3; 3-4 mins at Grades 4-7; 4-5 mins at Grade 8). The basis for each scene is described in the syllabus.
From Grade 6 – 8, learners also perform an improvised scene (1-2 mins) based on a stimulus provided by the examiner at the time of the examination. They have one minute to prepare the scene.
Recorded music and/or sound effects can be used but students must operate their own sound equipment.
There is a Knowledge Section as per all the accredited exams accounting for 20% of the marks at all grades. The questions asked are laid out on the assessment and grading criteria pages in the syllabus.
Who are Devising Drama Exams suitable for?
Devising Drama exams are great for students who
have vivid imaginations
who love telling and acting out stories
who don’t enjoy learning lines (or aren’t good at learning lines)
who get bored of rehearsing the same scenes over and over again.
Some students like the idea of devising, but struggle to come up with ideas… If after two or three weeks of work you feel like you’re trying to get blood out of stone, you may want to steer them back to a scripted exam. After all, there is plenty of wonderful material out there ready to work on. If it’s hard to come up with ideas - use someone else’s and learn the lines! And take an Acting Exam instead… Devising Drama is best for students who have too many rather than too few ideas.
Where to begin?
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