New Zealand Scholarship Drama

 

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 2017 Assessment Report

Drama assessment specification

Scholarship Performance Standard (93304) Drama
Mode of Assessment Portfolio of recorded performances and oral justifications, with supporting evidence
For Year 2018

Content/Context details

PART 1: Text-based performance

A text or a speech written by an established playwright (for example, from the list of playwrights prescribed for AS91514) is to be selected and prepared before the examination when it is to be performed by the candidate.

‘Established’ = widely published or critically acclaimed.

The performance of the extract is to be preceded by an oral introductory analysis which explains:

  • the significance of the extract in the play
  • interpretive choices and performative intentions.

The introductory analysis is to be recorded immediately before the performance. No written prompt may be used. It is suggested that the candidate spend no more than ONE and a HALF minutes on the oral introductory analysis. Candidates will be given a total of FIVE minutes to give their introductory analysis and perform their text-based performance.

Candidates are to give an annotated script of the text-based piece to the Supervisor at the start of the examination.

PART 2: Self-devised piece performance

The self-devised performed piece must illustrate the influence of one established theorist or theatre practitioner or recognised theatre company.

The self-devised performance must be significantly different to the selection made in Part 1.

The performance of the self-devised piece is to be preceded by a prepared oral introductory analysis which:

  • identifies the chosen theorist, theatre practitioner, or theatre company
  • supplies a rationale for the work
  • explains creative and performative choices.

The candidate’s oral introductory analysis will be recorded. The candidate will be given a total of SIX minutes to introduce their work and perform their self-devised piece. It is suggested that the candidate spend no more than TWO minutes on their introduction.

Candidates are to give an annotated script of the self-devised piece to the Supervisor at the start of the examination.

PART 3: Impromptu performance

The nationally prescribed task for impromptu performance will require the candidate to demonstrate the ability to control and discuss the elements of drama in a new context. The task will be handed to the candidate and retained by the candidate until after the performance.

The candidate will be given a total of SIX minutes to plan, perform, and justify their performance to the camera.  

It is suggested that immediately after the impromptu performance, the candidate re-read the task and consider a justification before presenting to camera.

The justification should explain how requirements of the task have been met, and how drama theory has been integrated into the performance. It may include analytical comments such as an explanation of, or reflection on, their intentions as well as their performance. For example, where a candidate struggled to apply an element, they might explain how they explored and found other solutions; or they might compare their intentions with what happened in performance, and explain the choices they made. 

Prescribed Playwrights

Appropriate texts from prescribed playwrights include, but are not limited to, those listed below. Texts studied must enable in-depth exploration of the features of the theatre form or period.

Jean Anouilh The Lark Antigone
Aristophanes The Frogs Lysistrata
Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot Endgame
Albert Belz Yours Truly The Titanics
Jean Betts The Revenge of the Amazons Ophelia Thinks Harder
Bertolt Brecht Mother Courage The Caucasian Chalk Circle
Lynda Chanwai-Earle Foh Sarn Ka Shue
Anton Chekhov The Cherry Orchard The Three Sisters
Caryl Churchill Top Girls Soft Cops
Euripedes The Trojan Women Medea
Michelanne Forster Daughters of Heaven  
Toa Fraser Bare Pure & Deep
Federico Garcia Lorca The House of Bernarda Alba Blood Wedding
Briar Grace-Smith Purapurawhetu When Sun and Moon Collide
Gary Henderson Peninsula An Unseasonable Fall of Snow
Sarah Kane Blasted Psychosis
Oscar Kightley and Dave Armstrong Niu Sila Fresh off the Boat
Hone Kouka The Prophet Waiora
Greg McGee Foreskin's Lament  
Bruce Mason The End of the Golden Weather The Pohutukawa Tree
Arthur Miller The Crucible Playing for Time
Vincent O'Sullivan Shuriken  
Harold Pinter The Birthday Party The Hothouse
Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis Krishnan's Dairy The Pickle King
Renee Wednesday to Come Pass it On
Maurice Shadbolt Once on Chunuk Bair  
William Shakespeare Twelfth Night Macbeth
George Bernard Shaw Saint Joan Arms and the Man
Stephen Sinclair The Bellbird The Bach
Sophocles Antigone Oedipus
Tom Stoppard Travesties Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Mervyn Thompson Children of the Poor Coal Town Blues
Timberlake Wertenbaker Our Country's Good The Love of the Nightingale
Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest Lady Windermere's Fan
Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Additional information and requirements

2018 Examination timetable

Drama resourcesassets/qualifications-and-standards/Awards/Scholarship/Authenticity-Declaration-2017.doc

The links listed below are for resources to help teachers and students understand what is required for success in New Zealand Scholarship.

Performance standards

Exam materials (question books, resource books, reports, schedules, etc)

 
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