What's covered
Key facts
Character
A character arc is how a character changes over the course of a play: the journey from who they are at the start to who they become.
Context
In a set-text study, "context" means the historical and social background of the play: the circumstances in which it was written and set.
Design and Staging
A backcloth (or backdrop) is a piece of scenic canvas, painted or plain, hung at the rear of a scene.
Dramatic Techniques
Catharsis is the emotional release felt by the audience at the end of a tragedy, setting them free from the emotional hold of the action.
Production Management
A dress rehearsal is a full rehearsal with costume, lighting, effects, sound and action: the performance as it will be on the night.
Roles of theatre makers
In AQA's practical components a puppet designer is assessed on the puppet's design, not its construction, and need not operate the puppet in the live performance.
Script analysis
The climax is the point of greatest intensity in a play's progression of events, often forming the turning point of the plot and leading to some kind of resolution.
Character
Characters are shaped by the values and pressures of their world, so historical and social context is essential to an accurate character reading.
Context
In a written evaluation, context is used by linking design and performance choices to the play's themes and the playwright's world.
Design and Staging
A flat is a wooden frame, usually covered with painted cloth, used to create walls or separations on stage.
Practice questions with answers
A taste of the 56 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What is a character's motivation in drama?
- •how a character speaks and moves
- •the role they play in the plot
- •their relationship with other characters
- ✓what drives their choices
What does 'context' mean when studying a set text?
- ✓historical and social background
- •the language and dialogue used by characters
- •the staging and performance choices made
- •the structure and length of the play
What are sightlines in theatre design?
- •the angles at which lanterns are focused on stage
- ✓the lines of sight determining what each seat can see
- •the painted lines marking the edges of the set
- •the positions marked on stage where performers stand
What is a monologue in drama?
- •a conversation between exactly two performers
- ✓a long speech made by one performer
- •a short remark made directly to the audience
- •a speech delivered only when alone on stage
What is a dress rehearsal?
- •a costume fitting session held for the performers
- ✓a full rehearsal with costume, lighting, sound and action
- •a rehearsal of the technical cues without the performers
- •a rehearsal where the blocking is set for the first time
What is a choreographer responsible for in a production?
- •Calling the cues from the prompt corner
- •Designing the clothes the actors wear
- ✓Setting dances and movement sequences
- •Writing the words of the songs
Three minutes a day. Knowledge that sticks.
Practise all 56 Set Text Study questions with spaced repetition, so what you revise today is still there in the exam. Free to use, no card needed.