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When I was studying Drama IGCSE, I realised there weren't many resources online I could use to help me with how to structure my answers and essays. This meant I had to go through a long learning curve of writing multiple 25 mark questions until I was able to understand exactly what the examiner was looking for in an essay. Hopefully, this resource bank could help you make the learning curve much smoother.
If you decide to take drama IGCSE, expect needing to use lunchtimes or staying after school to complete coursework as this subject is very coursework heavy.
Syllabus overview:
Candidates will study:
the elements of practical drama
how to work with extracts from published plays as an actor, director and designer
how to devise, develop and structure their own original dramatic material from stimuli such as short titles, poems, pictures, songs, historical events and stories
how to evaluate their contribution to the devising process and the success of the final piece
how to use staging and design as part of a dramatic performance
individual and group performance skills and how they are applied to create character and communicate meaning to an audience.
(This is from the Cambridge syllabus pdf)
554581-2022-2024-syllabus.pdfGlossary:
557328-2022-2024-glossary-of-dramatic-and-theatrical-terms.pdfDuring the exam, you'll need to be able to use key terms for describing acting techniques, tech and rehearsal techniques. You'll be using these words for all of your answers.
Do not worry about memorising every word as they will never as you for the definition. However, having knowledge on the terminology is very helpful and necessary.
Walkthrough the paper:
521278-june-2019-question-paper-11.pdf521276-june-2019-paper-11-mark-scheme.pdfTip: I do not recommend wasting your time trying to do this past paper as you will receive a different pre-release material. However, you could replace the questions with names of characters in your pre-release material and use it as practice questions. I am sure your teacher will also provide practice questions for you. Going through the mark scheme can also be beneficial in helping you create more clear and precise answers.
Also, this exam is 2 hours and 30 minutes long which should be more than enough time. I recommend spending around an hour on each essay and leave the rest for section A.
Section A:
Section A is simple. Produce your answers in according to how many marks the question rewards. For example if the question is worth 2 marks they are either asking you to identify and explain one point or identify two point and so on. Since the questions are short and don't take long to answer, it would be better if you do section A last and the essay questions first.
Section B
These questions are based on the pre-released material.
Usually, one is about directing, the other is acting and the last are set features/ design.
When studying for the exam focus on one of these areas rather than studying all of them as it is more time efficient and could help you create more detailed answers
This is an essay question, so it is important to have an introduction 3 or 4 body paragraphs and a conclusion. This should be easy if you take english literature, however if you don't, it is crucial you begin practising writing essays.
Use PEEL structure for your body paragraph. Each paragraph should include one drama technique and using examples from the material is crucial.
Section C:
Section C consists of essay questions based on your devised piece.
Obviously, you will not need specific examples from your script however you must include examples from your devised piece (e.g. During the scene where...).
Do not be afraid to talk about moments that went wrong in your piece or aspects you would change as examiners would be looking for these critiques and usually the questions specifically ask for problems that arose while devising.
Again, this is an essay question so they are looking for an introduction, 3 to 4 body paragraphs and a conclusion.
Coursework:
Your coursework will consist of three things:
Your monologue
A devised piece created by your group
A scripted piece from an extract of another play (it must be a play. Anything filmed such as movies and series are not allowed)
Your teacher will guide you with the process. You can take as many takes as time will allow you. However you cannot edit it or cut out your mistakes, it must be a single shot from start to end.
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