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UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS
Cambridge Pre-U Certificate
9801/01
Paper 1 World Drama and Theatre
For Examination from 2014
SPECIMEN MARK SCHEME
3 hours
MAXIMUM MARK: 80
This document consists of 23 printed pages and 1 blank page.
© UCLES 2011
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Section A: Unseen (from British Drama since 1956)
QUESTION 1
AO1
Communicate knowledge and understanding of the nature and interpretation of drama and
theatre using appropriate vocabulary.
AO3
Analyse and critically evaluate aspects of drama and theatre, making independent decisions
and judgements, within appropriate cultural, historical, stylistic and theoretical contexts.
9–10
A sophisticated response to the question
Work in this band may show originality and allusiveness, giving economic expression to
complex ideas. There is a convincing and sophisticated ‘sense of theatre’, brought to bear
economically and productively on the unseen extract.
7–8
•
Exceptionally insightful work, showing thorough and discriminating knowledge and
understanding of the nature and interpretation of drama, and applying this extremely
well to a close focus on the unseen extract. Use of dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is
assured and entirely appropriate.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is consistently thoughtful and sophisticated; excellent,
reasoned independent judgements and decision-making; well-informed discussion of
relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and theoretical contexts. Appreciation of the
unseen extract is incisive.
A very good, focused response to the question
Work in this band shows a very good and conscientious focus on the unseen extract and
the question in hand. The expression of ideas is unfailingly fluent, and there is a very good
‘sense of theatre’ and of theatrical practice.
5–6
•
Very good, thoughtful work, showing well-informed knowledge and understanding of
the nature and interpretation of drama, and applying this very well to a focus on the
unseen extract. Use of dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is appropriate.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is thoughtful and well-developed; very good,
considered judgements and decision-making; consideration of relevant cultural,
historical, stylistic and theoretical contexts. Appreciation of the unseen extract is clear
and well-judged.
A good response to the question
Work in this band shows a good appreciation of the unseen extract and of the question in
hand. The expression of ideas is generally fluent, and there is a practical ‘sense of
theatre’.
•
Competent work, showing apt knowledge and understanding of the nature and
interpretation of drama, and a capable application of this to the unseen extract. Use of
dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is mostly appropriate.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is well-developed; good, appropriate judgements and
decision-making; some apt consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and
theoretical contexts. Appreciation of the unseen extract is proficient.
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3–4
An adequate, relevant response to the question
Work in this band shows a generally competent (but perhaps sometimes unsteady)
engagement with the unseen extract and with the question in hand. The expression of
ideas is generally adequate, and there is some evidence of a ‘sense of theatre’ and of
theatrical practice.
1–2
•
Adequate work, showing some knowledge and understanding of the nature and
interpretation of drama, and steady application of this to the unseen extract. Use of
dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is generally appropriate.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is moderate; some appropriate judgements and
decision-making; some consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and
theoretical contexts. Appreciation of the unseen extract is competent.
A basic, mostly relevant response to the question
Work in this band may struggle to maintain focus on the unseen extract and the question in
hand. The expression of ideas may be adequate, but with visible limitation. There is little
(or uncertain) ‘sense of theatre’.
0
•
Appropriate, if occasionally limited work, showing basic understanding of the nature
and interpretation of the unseen extract. Use of dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is
evident but may be insecure.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is basic and may be inconsistent or insecure.
Judgements, decisions, and consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and
theoretical contexts, may be insecure or limited. Appreciation of the extract is evident
but undeveloped.
A mark of 0 should be awarded for non-credit-worthy responses.
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Indicative Content
The question is open to interpretation and, therefore, the following notes are not intended to be
prescriptive but to give an indication of some of the points which could be made in response to the
question. They are by no means exhaustive.
1
As a director, write explanatory notes for your cast on what you take to be the intended
dramatic effect of these opening scenes. Refer briefly to the text to illustrate your
approach.
[10]
A general ‘intended effect’ of the Orton extract has been suggested by quoting its description as
‘a surreal comedy of victimisations’. Orton’s characteristic mood, on show here, is one of bleak
and ‘black’ subversive comedy. Candidates who find the extract merely or dominantly depressing
are likely to be missing a lot – but this is not a test of their senses of humour. The extract might
otherwise be identified as satirical in dramatic effect – perhaps with targets mentioned – and the
play’s title might be interpreted as an irony.
The question’s ‘intended dramatic effect’ may be variously suggested, but reference to kinds of
comic or ironic effect – or to ‘absurdity’ or ‘sad/tragic lives treated comically’ – is perhaps likely.
Responses actually written in the form of ‘explanatory notes’ are of course entirely acceptable.
Responses might note:
•
The overall industrial ‘institutionalisation’ – total subjection to ‘the firm’ (and to Mrs Vealfoy) –
and accompanying ‘elderly’ and stoical attitudes
•
Symbolic action and language (‘wrings water from a cloth’, ‘water from a poisoned well’,
‘kneels again, painfully’, ‘He ran away during the depression’, etc.)
•
Stilted language of surreal or contextually-‘absurd’ precision (‘For pregnancy and the
occasional death of a near relative’; ‘I hesitated long enough to let her know I was a
gentleman’; ‘I remained desirable until I was thirty’; ‘Are you resigned to anything in
particular?’, ‘We are in no way responsible for your other limbs’, etc.)
•
Deeply conventional moralisations and moral landscape (‘Promiscuity always leads to
unwanted children’; ‘A young girl of impeccable character who worked in a pub’, etc.)
•
The injection of romantic emotion and melodrama that opens up ‘tragic’ personal history
(‘EDITH …gives a startled cry. …Tears glisten in her eyes.... It was me!’)
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QUESTIONS 2(a) and 2(b)
AO1
Communicate knowledge and understanding of the nature and interpretation of drama and
theatre using appropriate vocabulary.
AO3
Analyse and critically evaluate aspects of drama and theatre, making independent decisions
and judgements, within appropriate cultural, historical, stylistic and theoretical contexts.
17–20
A sophisticated response to the question
Work at the upper end of this band may show originality and allusiveness, giving economic
expression to complex ideas. There is a convincing and sophisticated ‘sense of theatre’,
brought to bear economically and productively on the unseen extract.
13–16
•
Exceptionally insightful work, showing thorough and discriminating knowledge and
understanding of the nature and interpretation of drama, and applying this extremely
well to a close focus on the unseen extract. Use of dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is
assured and entirely appropriate.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is consistently thoughtful and sophisticated; excellent,
reasoned independent judgements and decision-making; well-informed discussion of
relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and theoretical contexts. Appreciation of the
unseen extract is incisive.
A very good, focused response to the question
Work in this band shows a very good and conscientious focus on the unseen extract and
the question in hand. The expression of ideas is unfailingly fluent, and there is a very good
‘sense of theatre’ and of theatrical practice.
9–12
•
Very good, thoughtful work, showing well-informed knowledge and understanding of
the nature and interpretation of drama, and applying this very well to a focus on the
unseen extract. Use of dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is appropriate.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is thoughtful and well-developed; very good,
considered judgements and decision-making; informed consideration of relevant
cultural, historical, stylistic and theoretical contexts. Appreciation of the unseen extract
is clear and well-judged.
A good response to the question
Work in this band shows a good appreciation of the unseen extract and of the question in
hand. The expression of ideas is generally fluent, and there is a good and practical ‘sense
of theatre’.
•
Proficient work, showing apt knowledge and understanding of the nature and
interpretation of drama, and a capable application of this to the unseen extract. Use of
dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is mostly appropriate.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is well-developed; good, appropriate judgements and
decision-making; some apt consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and
theoretical contexts. Appreciation of the unseen extract is proficient.
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5–8
An adequate, relevant response to the question
Work in this band shows a generally competent (but perhaps sometimes unsteady)
engagement with the unseen extract and with the question in hand. The expression of
ideas is generally adequate, and there is some evidence of a ‘sense of theatre’ and of
theatrical practice.
2–4
•
Adequate work, showing some knowledge and understanding of the nature and
interpretation of drama, and steady application of this to the unseen extract. Use of
dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is generally appropriate.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is moderate; some appropriate judgements and
decision-making; some consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and
theoretical contexts. Appreciation of the unseen extract is competent.
A basic, mostly relevant response to the question
Work in this band may struggle to maintain focus on the unseen extract and the question in
hand. The expression of ideas may be adequate, but with visible limitation. There is little
(or uncertain) ‘sense of theatre’.
1
•
Appropriate, if occasionally limited work, showing basic understanding of the nature
and interpretation of the unseen extract. Use of dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is
evident but may be insecure.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is basic and may be inconsistent or insecure.
Judgements, decisions, and consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and
theoretical contexts may all be insecure or limited. Appreciation of the unseen extract
is evident but undeveloped.
Some response to the question
Work in this band is unable to maintain any productive focus on the unseen extract and/or
on the question in hand. The expression of ideas is simplistic at best, and there is very
little or no ‘sense of theatre’.
0
•
Some attempt at a response, but work is seriously uneven or simplistic.
Understanding of the nature and interpretation of the unseen extract is evidently
superficial or limited. Use of dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is generally inadequate,
and answers may be brief or incoherent.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is very limited. Judgements and decisions are
undeveloped and simplistic, and consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic
and theoretical contexts is very limited. Appreciation of the unseen extract is
rudimentary at best.
A mark of 0 should be awarded for non-credit-worthy responses.
© UCLES 2011
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Indicative Content
The questions are open to interpretation and, therefore, the following notes are not intended to be
prescriptive but to give an indication of some of the points which could be made in response to each
question. They are by no means exhaustive.
Candidates answer EITHER Question 2(a) OR Question 2(b).
Rubric infringement: if a candidate answers both questions, mark both and award the higher of the
two marks.
2
(a) As an actor, you are to play either EDITH or MRS VEALFOY in these scenes. Identify
focal points for the role you have chosen, and give a full account of both the physical
and vocal demands of the part.
[20]
Candidates’ responses and decisions here may relate to their answers to Question 1.
‘Focal points’ will generally be moments in the extract which most vividly display essentials of
the chosen role, or serve as reference-points for its performance.
EDITH – (possible ‘physical’ features):
• Literally low, ‘an old woman’ (costume literally nondescript), ‘ground down’, laborious,
moving ‘her bucket and cloth’ (a mop would allow unsuitable uprightness)
• Literally ‘rising’ (‘looks up’, ‘stands’, ‘tugs off her plastic glove’, etc.) for her moments of
melodramatic recognition and revelation – then subsiding again (‘kneels, painfully,
begins to scrub…’)
• Brief suggestion of lost/memorial youth in this short interlude (‘gives a startled cry’) of
excitement
(possible ‘vocal’ features):
• ‘Old’, subdued and ultra-stoical – with (almost at once) the stilted/surreal precision as if
quoting an official account (‘I was crushed up against a wall by a section of the crowd.
…But nothing official ever came of it.’)
• Huge tonal contrast between the subdued/damaged and the transient emotional
excitement of recognising Buchanan (‘No! Go on! What happened?’…’It was me!’)
• Reversion to subdued/stoical for the narrative of her ‘Twins’, etc.; distinctly limited
pleasure in Buchanan’s promised visit (‘That would be pleasant.’); the alarming/comic
stoicism reaches a height (‘Does it matter?’…‘Life in general.’) before Buchanan moves
on.
MRS VEALFOY – (possible ‘physical’ features):
• Automatic controlling rectitude from the outset (‘sitting at her desk… looks up, smiles…
indicates a seat’)
• Actions (and probably the unspecified costume) are the embodiment of the efficiently
authoritarian ‘personnel office’ – uprightly office-procedural, with veneer of friendly
patronage (smiles and laughter)
• Posture might be asserted as rigid or even elegant (‘hat’ and ‘mirror’ business might go
with a version of ‘power dressing’) – but body language will ‘turn sharply’ when
Buchanan’s unrecorded grandson is noted
• Scene 3 is a cliched exercise in on-stage audience management; a final touch is that
she herself unwraps the gift-parcels which will allow Buchanan to make toast and watch
time pass
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(possible ‘vocal’ features):
• A cut-glass briskness of tone may be suggested (with spurious ‘laughs’, etc.), and the
‘friendly’ patronising of Buchanan is unrelieved; an imperative authoritarianism often
breaks this surface (voice of ‘the firm’s’ regulations, etc. – ‘You understand this?’)
• Some alarm is injected by the revelation of Buchanan’s unrecorded grandson
• The requirements of comic timing may be noted (‘Should your private life be involved, we
shall be the first to inform you of the fact.’)
• ‘Speech-making’ and explicit vocal control for Scene 3 (‘She pauses. …Her voice takes
on a quieter, more meaningful note.’); a near-regal tone might be suggested (‘…this very
lovely electric toaster.’)
2
(b) The Good and Faithful Servant was first performed on television, and the text’s
directions are from that production.
Outline design plans for a production that would make these scenes effective on the
stage. You should refer to both set and lighting, in a chosen performance space, and
allow for scene changes.
[20]
An ‘outline’ transposition to design for the stage is required. A performance space
considered appropriate should be nominated (no real restriction), and design considered
under the given heads, not forgetting the need for two scene changes.
Answers should be credited according to their theatrical efficacy, imaginative fit and
functional economy. Very elaborate sets or light-plots, etc., may be credited but should be
treated according to their visualised outcomes (over-elaboration is a possibility here).
Set:
• Depending on performance space, the televised ‘long corridor’ (etc.) of Scene 1 may be
reproduced or suggested technically (back-projection, etc.) – or economically dispensed
with; Mrs Vealfoy’s closed door could be seen as a minimal requirement (decisions
should be made over other doors, the retention of the ‘office noise’ sound-background,
etc.)
• Scene 2 (Mrs Vealfoy’s office) is suggested (textually) by a minimum of desk, chairs,
hatstand and mirror
• ‘The works canteen’ in Scene 3 is marked by the ceremonial ‘table at the end of the
room’ and seating for an ‘audience’ of ‘Several’ of Buchanan’s co-workers; other tables
may be thought necessary, and their quality (plastic-covered?) may be suggested; the
stage-position of the on-stage audience (relative to the play’s real audience) may be a
concern.
Lighting:
• Hard white ‘office’ lighting might be suggested (as congruent), possibly softening or even
colouring slightly for Scene 2 (Mrs Vealfoy’s office)
• Elaborations or variations might include some degree of consciously ‘melodramatic’ focal
lighting for the revelation of Edith and Buchanan’s past connection (in Scene 1) – and
possibly some modified ‘ceremonial’ lighting for the ‘end of the room’ speechmaking/table area in the canteen (Scene 3).
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Scene changes:
• Suggestions may vary widely, depending on the performance space and staging
envisaged (anything from full ‘4th wall’ illusionism, through a Brechtian or minimalist
approach, to area light-set, etc.)
• Simultaneous area staging is also possible (for instance that Mrs Vealfoy in her office
could be visible from the outset while awaiting the focal shift of Scene 2, etc. – or even
that Edith might remain for Scenes 2 and 3, visibly or dimly scrubbing a periphery)
• Office-door staging (Scenes 1-2) must be negotiated (even if the door is no more than a
token), as must ‘movement to the canteen’ for Scene 3; a strategy for the latter might (for
instance) involve ‘audience’ extras ‘bringing the canteen on with them’ and abolishing
the prior ‘office’
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Section B: Aspects of World Drama and Theatre
Candidates answer two questions, each from a different area of world drama and theatre.
For each of their chosen questions knowledge of at least two of the set plays must be shown.
QUESTIONS 3–14
AO1
AO3
21–25
Communicate knowledge and understanding of the nature and interpretation of drama and
theatre using appropriate vocabulary.
Analyse and critically evaluate aspects of drama and theatre, making independent decisions
and judgements, within appropriate cultural, historical, stylistic and theoretical contexts.
A sophisticated response to the question
Work in this band may show originality and allusiveness, giving economic expression to
complex ideas. There is a convincing and sophisticated ‘sense of theatre’.
16–20
•
Exceptionally insightful work, showing thorough and discriminating knowledge and
understanding of the nature and interpretation of the drama in question. Use of
dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is assured and entirely appropriate.
•
Complex arguments and ideas that are very well-developed, succinctly organised and
fully coherent; eloquent expression; very well supported by detailed, pertinent
exemplification and quotation.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is consistently thoughtful and sophisticated; excellent,
reasoned independent judgements; well-informed discussion of relevant cultural,
historical, stylistic and theoretical contexts. Comparisons are incisive.
A very good, focused response to the question
Work in this band shows a very good and conscientious focus on the drama and the
question in hand. The expression of ideas is unfailingly fluent, and there is a very good
‘sense of theatre’.
11–15
•
Very good, thoughtful work, showing well-informed knowledge and understanding of
the nature and interpretation of the drama in question. Use of dramatic/theatrical
vocabulary is appropriate.
•
Some complex arguments and ideas that are well-developed, well-organised and
coherent; fluent, concise expression; well supported by thoughtful exemplification and
quotation.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is thoughtful and well-developed; very good,
considered judgements; informed consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic
and theoretical contexts. Comparisons are clear and well-judged.
A good response to the question
Work in this band shows a good focus on the drama and the question in hand. The
expression of ideas is generally fluent, and there is a good ‘sense of theatre’.
•
Proficient work, showing apt knowledge and understanding of the nature and
interpretation of the drama in question. Use of dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is mostly
appropriate.
•
Effective arguments and ideas that are mostly relevant and coherent; reasonably
organised and clearly expressed; supported by exemplification and quotation.
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•
6–10
Critical evaluation and analysis is well-developed; good, appropriate judgements;
some apt consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and theoretical contexts.
Comparisons are proficient.
An adequate, relevant response to the question
Work in this band shows a general (but perhaps sometimes unsteady) focus on the drama
and the question in hand. The expression of ideas is generally adequate, and there is
some evidence of a ‘sense of theatre’.
2–5
•
Adequate work, showing some knowledge and understanding of the nature and
interpretation of the drama in question. Use of dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is
generally appropriate.
•
A structured argument with ideas that are generally clearly expressed and relevant but
may show inconsistencies; key points supported by exemplification and quotation.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is moderate; some appropriate judgements; some
consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and theoretical contexts.
Comparisons are competent.
A basic, mostly relevant response to the question
Work in this band may struggle to maintain focus on the drama and the question in hand.
The expression of ideas may be adequate, but with visible limitation. There is little (or
uncertain) ‘sense of theatre’.
1
•
Appropriate, if occasionally limited work, showing basic knowledge and understanding
of the nature and interpretation of the drama in question. Use of dramatic/theatrical
vocabulary is evident but may be insecure.
•
Arguments and ideas are basic but generally relevant with some clear written
expression within some structure.
They may show inconsistencies, and
exemplification and quotation is limited or patchy.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is basic and may be inconsistent or insecure.
Judgements and consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and theoretical
contexts may be insecure or limited. Comparisons are evident but undeveloped.
Some response to the question
Work in this band is unable to maintain focus on the drama and the question in hand. The
expression of ideas is simplistic at best, and there is very little or no ‘sense of theatre’.
0
•
Some attempt at a response, but work is seriously uneven or simplistic. Knowledge
and understanding of the nature and interpretation of the drama in question is
evidently superficial or limited. Use of dramatic/theatrical vocabulary is generally
inadequate.
•
Attempts at argument may be visible, but they are rudimentary and undeveloped with
hardly any structure. Supportive exemplification is seriously limited. The response
may be incoherent at times.
•
Critical evaluation and analysis is very limited. Judgements are undeveloped and
simplistic, and consideration of relevant cultural, historical, stylistic and theoretical
contexts may be very limited. Comparisons are rudimentary at best.
A mark of 0 should be awarded for non-credit-worthy responses.
© UCLES 2011
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Indicative Content
The questions are open to interpretation and, therefore, the following notes are not intended to be
prescriptive but to give an indication of some of the points which could be made in response to each
question. They are by no means exhaustive.
Foundations of Modern Drama
Henrik Ibsen: Hedda Gabler
Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Earnest
Anton Chekhov: The Seagull
George Bernard Shaw: Saint Joan
3
As a director, how would you seek to ensure that productions of any two plays in this area
were made engaging and relevant to a twenty-first-century audience?
[25]
This is an open essay-question (‘how?’ as director). The focus of the question is on the target of
‘engagement’ and ‘relevance’. To this end, ‘directors’ are free to adopt selective strategies of
modified setting, tone-control, pace-control, specific accentuation or thematic emphasis, etc., and
to reconsider the presentation and performance of central roles.
It might also be creditably argued (‘against the grain’ of the question) that the plays invoked are
‘classics’ in the sense of possessing assured continuing relevance – and that good and effective
‘straight’ direction should therefore be all that is necessary in the early twenty-first century.
Today’s audiences remain, after all, ‘modern’ people.
‘Updating’ arguments or suggestions are permissible, and should be considered on their merits
(of imaginative relevance and theatrical efficacy in audience-engagement). Wholesale or
broader-brush updating strategies should be treated with caution unless well-argued, fully
coherent and theatrically viable. Suggestions that would ‘detach’ production features (stagings,
settings, costume, etc.) from ‘period’ origins – so as to take them ‘out of time’ or to loosen an
original context – might be productively appropriate.
The question offers a broad arena to ‘directors’ suggesting emphases and qualities of direction
that will ensure current audience-engagement and relevance. The first requirement is of course
the location of present-day relevance in the chosen plays; the second is its communication so as
to ensure a present-day audience’s engagement. No particular approach is required: a wide
range of response and suggestion is likely, though this must of course be anchored in reference
to the chosen plays.
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4
Referring to episodes from two plays you have studied, examine the theatrical
communication of significant tension and suspense.
[25]
‘Significant tension’ may be illustrated almost anywhere in the set plays, while ‘suspense’ will
require more careful location as it is both a less frequent and a rather more complex effect.
The question asks for an examination of ‘theatrical communication’, and is thus not simply ‘about’
tension and/or suspense. ‘Theatrical communication’ should entail a process of production and
performance ending with an appropriate reception by an audience. Qualities of dramatic writing
and of its progressive performance (vocal and physical) are therefore involved. The question
asks for these qualities to be located with reference to particular ‘episodes’ from the chosen
plays, and much will depend on the quality of this exemplification.
Episodes of ‘significant tension’ are virtually ubiquitous. As instances of ‘suspense’, candidates
might refer to:
•
(Hedda Gabler) – suspense generated by Hedda as a (contextually) ‘wild’ character, by her
reactions and machinations, by the performance of her eventual suicide, etc.; situations in
which ‘news’ is awaited (of Lovborg, in particular), in which the fate of Lovborg’s manuscript
is in question, etc.
•
(The Importance of Being Earnest) – suspense over the issue of Jack Worthing’s true
identity, and the climax this generates at the end of the comedy; further local identityconfusions (such as the multiplication of ‘Ernests’); final ‘happy ending’ suspense-factors
(such as consents to marriages); the thorough ‘comic self-consciousness’ of suspense
effects in the play might also be noted.
•
(The Seagull) – suspense maintained over romantic and emotional outcomes in the play,
including its romantic triangles; the fraught situations on which the Acts of the play generally
and significantly end; suspense generated by decisive/indecisive behaviour, and (for
instance) by Konstantin’s career and ultimate death.
•
(Saint Joan) – suspense generated during Joan’s career by her powers of persuasion and by
the decisions that result; suspense concerning the (dramatically elided) outcomes at Orleans
and beyond; suspense attendant on her trial, recantation and withdrawal of it; general
consideration might be given to the dramatic generation of suspense in a ‘known’ historical
story.
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5
‘Modern drama in Europe was founded on the clash between individualism and the
pressures of social and psychological conformity.’
With this view in mind, discuss the presentation and performance of the distinctly
‘individual’ in two plays you have studied.
[25]
This question refers to a fundamental of the ‘foundations of modern drama’. The view referred to
in the quotation is a visible and crucial element of all the set plays. Attention to both ‘presentation’
(larger dramatic treatment of individual ‘difference’) and ‘performance’ (more detailed illustration
from particular episodes and contexts) is required.
Answers will most probably focus on salient characters and characterisations that express ‘the
individual’ (as exceptional) against a dramatic context of potentially repressive ‘conformity’. The
quality of candidates’ specific exemplification from their chosen plays will again be important: its
range may of course be very wide.
‘Individual’ characters and contexts in the set plays may be suggested as follows:
•
(Hedda Gabler) – Hedda herself (primarily), perhaps seconded by Ejlert Lovborg… The
dramatic theme of desire for control over others embraces both Brack (corrupt control within
a claustrophobic social conformity) and Hedda (driven by an individual manipulative urge that
is near-demonic in effect). Lovborg arguably represents the destruction of ‘individual’
promise without self-control.
•
(The Importance of Being Earnest) – all the leading roles could be argued to express a
subversive individuality within the dominating comic context of social conformity. The
‘individual’, within a narrow comic and satiric projection of ‘society’ and privilege, is
thoroughly and wittily self-aware.
•
(The Seagull) – Konstantin and Trigorin (as very different and questionably ‘liberated’
writers), perhaps seconded by Nina and Masha (as further contrastive representations of
disappointed individual passions/aspirations)… All major characters have their ‘individual’
frustrations in a social context powered by love but destructive of its idealism.
•
(Saint Joan) – Joan herself, dominantly, as characterised from ‘village girl’ through inspired
fighting leader to (epilogue) ‘Saint’. Other characters tend to be reactively made ‘individual’
(against contexts of social, military and religious conformity) by the ‘overturning’ effects Joan
has on them – right up (for example) to the effect her burning has on the English chaplain de
Stogumber.
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Political Theatre
Bertolt Brecht: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Kee Thuan Chye: 1984 Here & Now
Caryl Churchill: Cloud Nine
Tony Kushner: Angels in America
6
‘We also explored stereotypes and role reversals in games and improvisations…’
(Caryl Churchill, on company preparation for Cloud Nine)
As a director, how would you want your acting company to prepare (before full-text
rehearsal) for the performance of political drama you have studied? You should link
preparation to specific features you see as central in two plays.
[25]
This question targets techniques of company preparation (pre-full-rehearsal), which may be
especially significant for ensemble production and plays in which actors may double or multiply
roles and rely upon a ‘politically’ cohesive and assertive or oppositional approach.
‘Preparation’ may well include the researching of roles or action in a historical/political context –
but the main focus (as suggested by the cue-quotation from Caryl Churchill) is likely to be on
appropriate techniques of exercise, familiarisation and conceptual-relational work.
A very wide range of preparatory exercises and ‘workshop’ techniques may be suggested here,
the primary criteria being their appropriateness and productivity. Contextually, the ideas, work
and methods of particular directors, practitioners or companies may be referred to or enlisted as
appropriate guidelines.
It is essential, as the question makes clear, that all kinds of preparatory work recommended
should be directly and purposefully linked to ‘central features’ of (at least) two chosen plays.
These focal features are for candidates, freely but appropriately, to select.
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7
What does the use of non-naturalistic features (of staging, characterisation, language)
contribute to political drama you have studied? You should refer to features from two
plays in your answer.
[25]
This question’s conceptualisation of the ‘non-naturalistic’ is deliberately broad, to embrace
everything from the various ‘moments of magic’ (Kushner’s term) in Angels in America – through
race and gender inversions (Cloud Nine) and the ‘police-state’ audience-involvements of 1984
Here and Now – to the ‘epic parable’ staging methods used by Brecht.
The definition of ‘non-naturalistic’ may be negotiable, but the broad functional sense of ‘theatrical
departures from conventional naturalism’ should provide candidates with a clear enough targetzone. Features ‘of staging, characterisation, language’ then mark areas of ‘contribution’ and
exemplification, though (depending on the chosen plays) all three need not necessarily be
addressed.
Features referred to might include:
•
(The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui) – use of ‘large notices’ and ‘signs’, public announcements,
music, song and sound-effects, tableaux, etc.; sub-Shakespearean verse/language; other
features contributing to a Verfremdungseffekt or to the transparency of political allegory
(reference to Brecht’s instructions for performance, or wider methods/theory, is possible).
•
(1984 Here & Now) – ‘TV screen’ performance and propaganda ‘broadcasts’; narrative
‘flashback’ enactment; shadow-puppet action; uses of music and percussion; audienceinvolvements (by leafleting them, enlisting them as protesters, giving the ending of the play
into their control).
•
(Cloud Nine) – race, gender and ‘age’ inversions (adult children, a character who is ‘a
dummy’, etc.); use of verse and song; pantomimic ‘colonial’ stereotyping in language and
action; time-shifts promoting ‘historical’ perspective.
•
(Angels in America) – Kushner’s procedural doubling (including cross-gender); the
supernatural (angel, ghosts, voices); special effects that advertise overt theatricality; split
scenes and firmly minimalist staging/settings, etc.
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8
‘The effectiveness of political drama depends on its control of satire.’
Discuss the performance of satire in significant episodes from two plays you have
studied.
[25]
Candidates should be able to deploy a working concept of dramatic satire – minimally the
recognition of target and attack, preferably with a sense of dynamic (as in the obvious case of
Brecht’s assault on the ‘resistible’ rise of Hitler via the intervening and translucent theatrical fiction
of the Ui/Capone career-scenario). In detail, depending on the two plays considered, satiric
trajectories in chosen ‘significant episodes’ will also go from grand ‘parable’ or allegorical design,
down to many smaller-scale ‘attack’ effects and performance-features.
Candidates are asked to consider ‘the performance of satire’ – and much will of course depend
on the quality of exemplification. The cue-quotation might also lead candidates to consider the
strategic ‘control’ of satiric attack in their chosen plays – or the dramatists’ method of modulating
or varying angles and levels of attack. Primary focus should remain, however, on the ways in
which exemplified satiric communication to an audience is performed.
Satiric targets in episodes referred to might include:
•
(The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui) – (obviously) Hitler’s rise to power, allegorised as a parable
(with considerable precision as to character-parallelism, naming, salient incidents, etc.); all
those who failed so conspicuously to ‘resist the resistible’ (the play ends on a chilling warning
that this process and threat is never-ending); many more targets of contributory/incidental
detailing; (candidates may invoke Brechtian theory and ‘Instructions’ relative to
performance).
•
(1984 Here & Now) – a governing party (Malaysian) with a racist/elitist agenda and its
repressive apparatus (many scenes and episodes directly echo those of George Orwell’s
1984, including the pronouncements of a ‘Party’-ruling ‘Big Brother’); media censorship and
self-censorship; enforced moral ‘rectitude’ and conformity; duplicities and surveillance
through which governing power and repression is maintained.
•
(Cloud Nine) – racial and colonial domination, oppressive patriarchy at all levels,
unquestioned ‘history’ (and its moral/political underpinning); gender and family roles and
stereotypes; updated social, familial and political echoes (in Act 2).
•
(Angels in America) – a broadly collapsing moral environment (a ‘loss of America’) in the
Reagan years; by extension, repressive attitudes to sexual identity, religious and
discriminatory attitudes more generally, concomitant political manipulators and manipulation;
parochial, stereotypical and ‘closeted’ attitudes; reference-points in ‘real history’ (such as
‘Roy M. Cohn’).
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African Drama
Wole Soyinka: The Lion and the Jewel
Ama Ata Aidoo: The Dilemma of a Ghost
Percy Mtwa, Mbongeni Ngema and Barney Simon: Woza Albert!
Athol Fugard: My Children! My Africa!
9
Compare ways in which clashing cultural values are dramatised in two African plays. You
should refer to the dynamics and effects of particular scenes in your answer.
[25]
All the set African plays are fundamentally energised by ‘clashing cultural values’ (which are also
more or less seriously and overtly political values). The clash between (westernised) ‘education’
and African traditional culture is particularly loud and recurrent, handled at very different dramatic
temperatures.
Answers should focus clearly on ‘dynamics and effects’ – on the ways in which ‘particular scenes’
from the chosen plays dramatically express ‘clashing cultural values’ and on the resulting
‘effects’.
As a general indication, ‘clashing cultural values’ derive from:
•
(The Lion and the Jewel) – Clashing erotic competition between school-teacher Lakunle (the
‘advanced’ educational idealist of the play’s village) and the older village ‘Bale’ (head man:
‘the Lion’), Baroka…
Modern photographic ‘stardom’ has turned the head of village-beauty Sidi (‘the Jewel’),
whom both men desire…
Soyinka’s treatment is earthily comic: the outcome is both about good sex and the more
serious depths of the clashing values expressed.
•
(The Dilemma of a Ghost) – Mainspring action: the return of Ato to his Ghanaian village and
family, after university in America, with his new and sophisticated Afro-American wife,
Eulalie…
The results are stressful and sometimes disastrous for all concerned, in many ‘cultureclashing’ dimensions (issues of ‘liberal’ education and religion, slave-history, birth control,
etc.).
•
(Woza Albert!) – Cultural values underlie an intensely political perspective on South Africa
under apartheid, involving all main ‘cultural’ players – whites (played in pink noses),
township-dwellers, Zulu, the ANC and those imprisoned, etc.…
Clashing values of many kinds are mediated, notably through religion (and the influence of
‘liberation theology’): the main tension of the action builds through an ironic fiction of the
‘second coming’ of a Christ/messiah figure into this desperate environment.
•
(My Children! My Africa!) – In the South Africa of c.1980, clashing cultural (and hence
political) values are clearly embodied in the three characters – the ‘Bantu school’ teacher Mr
M (‘a black Confucian!’) and his ‘star pupils’, Thami, and Isabel (from a white girls’ school)…
The values of (English-literary) education and its idealism (Mr M) are fully expressed, but
clash progressively with the political radicalisation of Thami (while Isabel is ultimately left in
the position of the helpless liberal white)…
Mr M’s idealism is finally compromised, and he is murdered amid the outbreak of violent
popular unrest.
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10 Compare and contrast the physical requirements of performance in two African plays you
have studied. What does physical performance contribute to each play?
[25]
Responses to this question should refer in detail to ‘the physical requirements’ of the chosen
plays, with appropriate comparative/contrastive exemplification. Candidates should also consider
the contribution of physical performance to the overall impact of the plays.
In general terms ‘physical performance’ features can be indicated as:
•
(The Lion and the Jewel) – communal high-energy African-village dance, highly elaborate
mime (as instance: four girls ‘dance a motor-car’) and ritual action; active eroticism (in ‘this
ribald comedy’); fight-management (wrestling match and ‘tussles’); considerable demands on
main players (dance, seductive action, falls, rapid action requiring ‘choreographed’
preparation, etc.).
•
(The Dilemma of a Ghost) – communal African-village activity (though far much less
demanding than in The Lion and the Jewel); dance and ritual action; some violence; reactive
‘mood’ mime; physical performance of ‘aged’ and ‘elderly’ characters.
•
(Woza Albert!) – frequent and demanding mime; ‘review’-style serial impersonations;
frequent physical caricature and slapstick; songs and dances; ritual/ceremonial action;
notably frenetic pace (the whole is a highly demanding tour de force for two players).
•
(My Children! My Africa!) – (comparatively/contrastively) a play of ideas, argument, debate;
body-language, physical expression, blocking/proximities, etc., are textually directed in
significant and demanding detail. Climactic violence is simply directed ([Mr M] ‘goes outside
and confronts the mob. They kill him.’).
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11 Discuss the effectiveness of ways in which two African plays make relatively direct
address to their audiences or physically engage with them. You should refer to features
such as monologue or soliloquy, mime or dance.
[25]
All the set African plays contain some of the features mentioned, and the aim of the question is
an exploration of the ways in which African drama frequently carries through an impulse to ‘reach
directly across’ the performer/audience divide. The question’s ‘effectiveness’ suggests theatrical
value-judgement beyond the discussion of ‘effects’ themselves.
Features may be referred to as follows, according to plays selected:
•
(The Lion and the Jewel) – ‘communally’ engaging high-energy village dance, mime and
ritual; village festivity ultimately described as ‘pervasive’; the spoken thoughts and
frustrations of the school-teacher Lakunle; Sadiku’s erotic and inclusive ‘village feminism’
(‘Take warning, my masters…’).
•
(The Dilemma of a Ghost) – the ‘Bird of the Wayside’ poetic prelude/induction; soliloquies
and lamentations (by Nana, Ato, etc.); Eulalie’s interior ‘Voice’ (monologue); ‘choric’
interludes (involving village women/‘Neighbours’, children), etc.
•
(Woza Albert!) – frequent mime in review/sketc.h mode; monologue scenes (to the audience
in various personae: political leader, prisoner, TV newscaster, ‘everyman-under-apartheid’
figures, etc.); exhortatory songs and dances; final and inclusive resurrection-defiance
(‘Woza…!’) ceremony.
•
(My Children! My Africa!) – staged ‘debates’; songs; extended monologues to audience by
the three main characters (Mr M, Thami, Isabel).
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Jacobean Tragedy
Thomas Heywood: A Woman Killed with Kindness
Cyril Tourneur (or Thomas Middleton): The Revenger’s Tragedy
John Webster: The Duchess of Malfi
Thomas Middleton and William Rowley: The Changeling
12 Discuss the presentation of women in two Jacobean tragedies you have studied, making
close reference to the performance requirements of leading female roles.
[25]
Candidates should be aware of the overwhelmingly male-dominated worlds of Jacobean tragedy,
and answers may well site themselves within that context. ‘Leading female characters’ are
generally ‘presented’ through their male locations and valuations.
‘Leading female roles’ in the set plays are likely to be:
(A Woman Killed with Kindness) – Anne Frankford;
(The Revenger’s Tragedy) – Castiza, her mother Gratiana, the Duchess (reference might also be
made to Antonio’s dead wife, a raped suicide, as a ‘chaste ideal’);
(The Duchess of Malfi) – the Duchess; reference might also be made to Julia and Cariola;
(The Changeling) – Beatrice; reference might also be made to Isabella in the ‘madhouse’ subplot
(a morally converse parallel/analogy).
Significant ‘performance requirements’ remain open to local or exemplary interpretation.
Answers might note, contextually, that:
•
both presentation and performance are clearly and powerfully connected with social rank.
•
‘leading women’ tend to be characterised as very ‘good’, very corrupt, or engaged in ‘falling’
(morally) between those extremes.
•
‘leading female roles’ vary considerably in characterised complexity; the Duchess of Malfi is
clearly a victimised summit in this dimension (in a ‘mad’ male world); Anne Frankford and
Beatrice (The Changeling) are studies in tragic ‘falling’; the living women of The Revenger’s
Tragedy are relative ciphers (as witness the name of Castiza and – more questionably –
Gratiana).
•
performance is powerfully conditioned by social setting (the ‘household’ domesticity of
A Woman Killed with Kindness contrasts with the dark pinnacles of court life more usually
associated with ‘Jacobean tragedy’; The Changeling occupies a middle-aristocratic ground).
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13 How is extreme emotion presented to an audience in Jacobean tragedy? You should refer
in detail to the methods and effects of two plays in your answer.
[25]
Candidates are likely to select their own examples of ‘extreme emotion’, and may refer their
‘presentation’ to the contexts of Jacobean tragic theatre/performance conventions (and possibly
to period or present-day audience-response).
Answers might well refer to exemplary instances of ‘extreme emotion’, such as (for instance)
Frankford’s reception of the information that his wife is unfaithful (A Woman Killed with Kindness,
Act 3, Scene 2):
‘Drops of cold sweat sit dangling on my hairs…
And I am plung’d into strange agonies.’
From this kind of basis (examples from other set plays should be readily available), relevant
considerations might include:
•
the overt physicality of ‘strong emotion’ (sometimes dictating local action and gesture, etc.).
•
the need to ‘speak emotion’ as an effect of theatre-convention (and of the size of Jacobean
theatres, especially public amphitheatres: ‘cold sweat’, etc., cannot be reliably produced or
seen and must therefore be heard).
•
language accordingly dominating the expression of ‘extreme emotion’, often dealing in vividly
‘extreme’ analogy, metaphor, or physical correlative.
•
the style of acting this may suggest (physically expansive and emphatic: when an ‘extremeemotion’-suffering character ‘goes quiet’ in this period of theatre, the silence is an unusual
‘special effect’ as with Shakespeare’s bereaved Macduff).
•
the dramatic contexts of the ‘extreme emotion’ – in the ‘emotional’ field of Jacobean tragedy
as well as in the theatres of the period (and if there is ‘difference’ in modern reception).
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14 ‘Jacobean tragedy depends on the credible presence of hell.’
With this comment in mind, consider how present-day direction, design and theatretechnology can best convey the atmospherics and symbolism of plays four centuries old.
You should refer to effects from two plays in your answer.
[25]
The question’s cue-quotation suggests the moral ‘murk’ and ‘Italianate horror’ atmospherics of
stereotypical ‘Jacobean tragedy’. Answers should consider the potential of ‘present-day direction,
design and theatre-technology’ in re-creating and ‘conveying’ the ‘hell’ of the period tragic world.
Responses (depending on the plays selected) may focus on settings and the more spectacular
effects on show – but ‘atmospherics’ that could fittingly accompany violent action or
moral/psychological sufferings might also be suggested.
‘Direction, design and theatre-technology’ will generally be basic to the possibilities exemplified.
In terms of ‘theatre-technology’ the question is not directly a test of ‘technical’ expertise: an
appropriate awareness of present-day technical possibilities should be shown.
Features referred to as a basis for ‘present-day conveyance’ might include:
•
(A Woman Killed with Kindness) – a ‘domestic’ (genteel) setting and ethos (reinforced by
‘naturalistic’ stage-directions, ‘downstairs’ action, etc.); adultery as the ruin of this marital
‘Eden’; acute psychological/moral sufferings and guilt; pathos and remorse.
•
(The Revenger’s Tragedy) – the consistent and symbolic night/darkness of settings (created
by language and torches in a Jacobean theatre); ethos of overwhelming (largely sexual)
corruption; theatrical effects (and their overt theatricality); extreme/graphic violence
(sometimes ‘choreographed’); voyeurism and overt symbolism (skull, etc.).
•
(The Duchess of Malfi) – frequent symbolic darkness of settings; insular ‘love scenes’
(Duchess and Antonio); ethos of secrecy and espionage; spectacular effects (waxworks, the
‘murder masque’ of Act 4, the ‘echo’ scene, etc.); madness and its symbolism(s); graphic
murder and morally-symbolic confusion.
•
(The Changeling) – the ‘madhouse’ subplot and setting; madness as moral symbolism;
connective symbolism (the game of ‘barley break’ and ‘hell’, etc.); symbolic settings (‘temple’
and fortifications); graphic violence and ‘deformity’ symbolism (De Flores); claustrophobic
patriarchy extending to love/marriage (the ‘virginity test’, etc.); dark eroticism (Beatrice and
De Flores); overt ‘created hell’ symbolism.
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