Text list for design and director's folio
Prescribed texts
The content for the individual projects in critical analysis (director’s folio) and design (set, costume, lighting, promotion and program) will be based on one of the plays on the Text list for Individual Projects, which may be changed by NESA in total or in part every 3-6 years.
Choosing the best text
All texts on the current text list should be available to students for reading. The best play is the one that:
appeals to the student
offers sufficient scope for creativity in the chosen directorial or design area.
Students undertaking the design projects will need to imagine a directorial vision for their chosen play as a whole and then develop a design concept for their imagined production.
Students undertaking the director's folio will need to express a directorial vision and imagined production experience for their chosen play.
Student activity 1
Explore the 10 plays on the NESA text list for the individual projects linked above, using the 'read extract' or 'look inside' buttons. You can also listen to an overview and discussion of the ideas and characteristics of each of the plays in a Creative Cast podcast episode (29:41). When you have looked at all the plays, complete the IP text list quiz below and share your score with your teacher. Your teacher may send this to you as a separate link.
More strategies for choosing and analysing the play
Because of time pressures and limited resources teachers may need to suggest appropriate texts for individual students, perhaps giving students a choice of two or three plays.
The following suggestions may help students choose a play and then develop a design/directorial concept based on that play.
First reading
After the first reading of the text, students could brainstorm their initial response to the play.
They should consider some of the elements listed below.
Main ideas
Atmosphere
Images
Objects
Style
Context
Characters
Words
Shapes and mood
Setting
Space
Colours
Tension
Symbols
Cast size
Design ideas
Thematic concerns
Structural patterns
Key moments
Recurring images
Possible directorial approaches
In one sentence students should sum up the central ideas of the play.
At this point students should also start collecting visual and research material which relates to their initial response.
Second reading
Once students have definitely chosen the text, they should spend time on a close study of the play, writing detailed notes relevant to the specific design area. Depending on the project option, these may include some of the suggestions below.
Directorial concept
Decisions must now be made about the production framework in which the designer/director is working. These can be informed by answering some of the questions and considering some of the ideas below.
What is the text about?
Do I understand the play?
What is to be the director’s approach to the text?
What is to be emphasised in my imagined production?
Is it to be a conventional or an innovative production?
What type of theatre company or group is staging the production?
Will it be a big or small budget production?
Which performance space is to be used?
Who will be the audience of the play?
What effect does the director want to have on the audience?
How will the design elements enhance this intended dramatic meaning?
Costume
List of characters
Descriptions
Status
Dramatic action
Set
Scene breakdown
Locations
Essential props/set pieces
Dramatic action
Promotion and Program
Key quotes
Themes
Images
Symbols
Dramatic moments
Colours
Moods
Target audience
Lighting
Scene breakdown
Practical requirements
Mood
Focus
Effects needed
From these answers a directorial vision and/or design concept should emerge.
Directorial and design concept/vision statement
By this stage students should have decided on their design concept and/or directorial vision. This concept/vision needs to be appropriate and imagined for the whole play, even if the project only focuses on and deals with specific scenes/moments. It needs to evoke a clear, immediate interpretation of the text. A concept/vision statement should be written in full, describing the concept and the rationale for the artistic decisions.
References and images
Assessment and Reporting in Drama Stage 6, NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2020, date accessed 20/09/2021.
Course Prescriptions for Drama Stage 6, NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2019 - 2024, date accessed 20/09/2021.
Course Prescriptions for Drama Stage 6, NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2019 - 2024, date accessed 20/09/2021.
Drama online library date accessed 20/09/2021.
Currency press date accessed 20/09/2021.
Penguin Australia date accessed 20/09/2021.
Australian Plays Transform date accessed 20/09/2021.
Creative Cast podcast episode date accessed 30/08/2022