The Sound of AUS (DVD)

If you're doing work on Australian Drama with your students at any time, there's a great DVD on the Australian accent (or should I say accents) I'd like to recommend. This show was first screened on ABC Television Australia in November 2007.

The Sound of AUS is an excellent documentary about the Aussie accent, something us Australians take for granted. When overseas it is our calling card, as the Aussie accent is recognised in almost every corner of the globe. At the same time, it is regarded as one of the most difficult accents to imitate.

This DVD covers the origins of the Australian accent, the debate over whether there is one (or three) distinct Australian accents currently in place, and whether each major location in Australia has their own unique accent? People interviewed include speech pathologists, film makers, comedians, sporting personalities, well known Australian actors and everyday Aussies on the street.

Do Queenslanders speak differently to Melburnians? Do those in Adelaide pronounce their vowels differently to their friends in the eastern states? Do Tasmanians have a drawl? And what about those living in outback Australia?

This is a very educational and entertaining DVD for teachers and students (well, my students loved it!).

55 minutes, plus extras.

ABC Blurb 1
ABC Blurb 2 and Sales Info
ABC Shop Blurb and Purchasing Info
The Sounds of AUS Study Guide
DVD Cover (back and front)

VCE Drama & Theatre Studies Student Web Forum

A reminder to VCE Drama and Theatre Studies teachers in Victoria, Australia, that I have set up a web forum (Internet message board) for your Unit 3/4 students to use.

This board has existed in some form or another for a few years now (in its current form for about 18 months) and will prove valuable for your students, in particular when preparing their upcoming Drama Solo Performance Examination and Theatre Studies Monologue Performance Examination.

Because the nature of these exams is a statewide choice of characters from a prescribed list, the message board allows students to create 'threads' under an exam character heading and then discuss it with other students from different schools across the state. Where else could one of your students have a discussion with a student from another school (whom they do not know personally) about their performance exam character?

If 2007 was anything to go by, lots of students from both metropolitan and regional areas used the web forum at this time of the year, helping each other out with creative ideas, ways to tackle the solo and monologue characters, interpreting exam assessment criteria etc.

At the moment, discussion on the board is centreing around character choices, as no one has begun the tasks in class yet, while we do ensembles performances in Drama and play productions in Theatre Studies. But soon the board will heat up!

My own students use the web forum, too, and I'm not fussed where they get their creative ideas from. If you think this may be worthwhile for your own current Unit 3/4 Drama and/or Theatre Studies students, give them the following web address:

http://s7.invisionfree.com/VCE_Drama_Forum (relevant for both DR & TS)

It will take them to a landing page, where they have to create their own board user name and password and input a valid email address. From here, they receive an email approving their application (by myself) with further log on details and they're in! Password-protection and manual approval ensure no spammers.

I personally moderate this web forum to ensure discussion stays on topic and nothing offensive is posted, so its a nice environment for your students to belong to :)

By all means, email me if you have any queries about this student web forum.

Top Class Drama 2008

Once again the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority's Top Class Drama concerts, showcased as part of their Season of Excellence program on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th April, proved very entertaining and valuable for students and teachers, alike.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know I'm a big fan of Top Class Drama. Like all Drama teachers out there, I take my Drama staff and students along to regular theatre shows throughout the year. But each year I am reminded by both my students and fellow teachers that Top Class Drama is one of the most important events we attend.

Back in the 90s, I never attended Top Class concerts, instead spending my time listening to my Drama teacher friends at other schools rave about the experience. These days I wonder what rock I was hiding under back in the old days and how I survived without Top Class Drama?

Firstly, not everyone is familiar with the processes involved in Top Class Drama selection, so first I'll offer an explanation. In the October solo performance examinations, all students who receive a perfect score (that's 77/77 from each of the three examiners, or 231/231 for the total exam mark) automatically receive a letter from the VCAA offering them the opportunity to audition their solo performance piece in January the following year. This letter usually arrives the same day (or the day after) as results day in December. Not all students take up the offer of auditioning their solo performance for Top Class Drama, but those that do, perform their solo again over the summer holidays at the Victorian College of the Arts before, among others, the Chief Assessor for Drama. This panel chooses 33 solo performances to be showcased at the three Top Class Drama concerts at the National Theatre, St. Kilda, in April. Many of us get Top Class and Top Acts mixed up. Top Acts is the combination of a selection of some of the best performances from all performing arts Top Class concerts (Drama, Theatre Studies, Dance and Music) at Hamer Hall in May (another fabulous experience).

Over the weekend I took along 55 Drama students to all three sessions of Top Class Drama (plus a number of ex-students from last year's class as well). Granted, there has to be a certain amount of money in the kitty to allow that to happen in the first place, but at only $10 a head, Top Class is about the cheapest event you could take your students to and most teachers who do attend, go to one of the three concerts to receive a fair sampling of the performances on offer. Why 55 you may ask? Do I have 55 students in Year 12 Drama this year? No way! I have 11 students in Year 12 Drama, 20 students in Semester 1 Year 11 Drama and a further 24 in Semester 1 Year 10 Drama .... and there's my 55 students! Who said Top Class Drama is just for your current Year 12 class?

I have absolutely no doubt that taking Year 10, 11 and 12 Drama students in recent years to both the Top Class Drama concerts at the National Theatre in April and the Top Acts concert at Hamer Hall in May is a contributing factor to improved grades in performance work in all of these year levels. This is not just confined to classroom performances. My Year 12 solo performance exam marks have improved also. Quite simply, going to Top Class Drama is professional learning for your students. Teachers go to PL throughout the year and Top Class Drama is the best PL your students can get.

If you can afford to take your Year 10 Drama students along to Top Class Drama, getting the atmosphere right is very important, because they are young. I leave that task up to my Year 12s, who are super keen and drip feed the appropriate level of enthusiasm and expected behaviour through to the Year 11s, who in turn drip feed it down to the Year 10s for me. At first, I was concerned about the Year 10s being a bit too immature to appreciate Top Class, but once you've done it successfully, the next year is a breeze because the students do the publicity for you through word of mouth. Before you know it, you've got a 'tradition' on your hands and now my students look forward to Top Class Drama every year. My Year 10s came along for the first time in 2007 when the previous year, the Year 10 Drama class was asking me 'why can't we come along to Top Class Drama, too'?

For my students, Top Class Drama is an academic excursion, while Top Acts a month later at Hamer Hall is like their reward for going to Top Class. With an emphasis also on entertainment value, Top Acts is such a fun evening and quite often my students enjoy the Music and Dance items more than the Drama solo performances I took them along to see! Nothing pleased me more last Friday and Saturday at Top Class Drama to see my students willingly discuss amongst themselves between sessions the various performances, not just in terms of 'favourites', but also in relation to conventions used, props transformed, character transformations etc. They were happily (and successfully) talking the language of drama (often in a sophisticated manner) and to me it was like practice for upcoming classroom SACs.

I have to stress however, the importance of prepping your students before attending Top Class Drama. Many of the solo performances are complex structures and if a student is not informed in the audience, following the performances can sometimes be very difficult, particularly plot references to outside events relating to the main thread of the central character. My students often comment they would be lost without prior knowledge of the exam structures at Top Class. In recent years I have been fortunate to have my own students in Top Class Drama and hence receive a running sheet of all the solo performances in advance in the mail. however, this is not necessary, as you can assume all exam structures will be performed at Top Class Drama (9 of the 10 structures were performed this year), so you simply need to download and print out the previous years' solo exams and go through them in advance with your students attending the concert/s.

This year's Top Class Drama showcases represented a fairly high standard of material. While I have no intention of sounding negative in any way on the wonderful work these Drama students have created (with the help of their wonderful teachers of course!), it is both interesting and important to recognise the differences in quality between performances. Even at this high level, it is valuable for your students attending to discuss the merits of all the performances. While I firmly believe each performance at Top Class Drama every year has many aspects worthy of positive discussion afterwards, it is a fact that some performances are stronger than others on the day.

Separate from a quick review of this year's Top Class Drama will be my own student Stefania Gatt who performed Eliza Doolittle on the Saturday session. I was, as you'd expect, very proud of her to get this far and perform at Top Class Drama. At her own admission, we discussed how she probably performed her solo a little faster that she would have liked, but every tiny bit of content was performed without a hitch and I thought she did a wonderful job. For her now it is back to studying Music at Monash University and being the face of several Hungry Jack's commercials on television - half her luck - it has nothing to do with me - although I was keen on a 20% commission on her payment :)

These were the standout performances at Top Class Drama for me this year. In Concert 1 on Friday morning I was very impressed with Jessie Yates from Melbourne Girls Grammar and her interpretation of Eliza Doolittle. Among other things, when you hear a communal sigh in the audience for a sophisticated technique in the solo, you know you've got a good show. This occurred when Jessie upturned her open-hooped skirt and popped her head through as a baby being born - magic moment. This was a strong performance all round.

I also thoroughly enjoyed both Spirit of Australian Suburbia's in this session from Konstantine Stefanou (Marcellin College) and Will McMahon (Scotch College), as I was encouraged by the 'freedom' this exam structure seemed to offer and the wonderful choices students made with it in performance. Tom Ballard's The Migrant (Brauer College) was also a very strong performance, as was Lucy Honigman's portrayal of Soraya (MLC).

In Concert 2 on Friday afternoon two performance stood out form me. The first of these was Justin Clausen's performance of The Migrant (Mentone Grammar). Justin's performance skills were fabulous and aside from being a real crowd favourite, his interpretation of the structure was intelligent in performance. A thoroughly entertaining solo. Terry Kenos (Strathmore SC) finished off this session with a portrayal of Announcer Two from The War of the Worlds radio play. Terry demonstrated excellent performance skills and a sophisticated plot in performance.

Finally in Concert 3 on Saturday, Patrick McCarthy's Spirit of Australian Suburbia (The Peninsula School) was a great performance, demonstrating thorough research and fine expressive skills. Broden Kelly (Viewbank College) also performed a fantastic solo with his interpretation of Announcer Two. Loved this solo! Outstanding performance skills, excellent choice of language (spoken script) and a thoroughly entertaining solo from start to finish.

All in all, another wonderful year of Top Class Drama concerts displaying a high standard of performances throughout. Seeing there is a history of not choosing multiples of the one character for the Top Acts concert at Hamer Hall, coupled with more than one outstanding interpretation of The Spirit of Australian Suburbia, The Migrant and Announcer Two in particular, I think some difficult decisions will have to be made over the next few days...

2008 Performance Exams

Well, as many of you may know, this blog originates from Melbourne, Australia's second largest city. In our state (Victoria), there are two prescribed courses of study in Drama and Theatre Studies, that cover the final two years of high school.

Each subject has both a written and performance final exam. The Theatre Studies course has a selection of monologues from published plays, of which students choose one to perform before three external examiners.

However, in the Drama course the performance exam is less conventional. It is known as a solo performance, where a selection of published 'structures' form the exam content, of which students choose one to perform. In this case, the character structures are created by an exam setting panel and once research is undertaken, students write their own script for the performance. Theatre styles and conventions are prescribed for each character, but due to the nature of the task and student-written scripts, there is a more opportunity for wider interpretation of the character choices among students . This solo performance exam lasts a maximum 7 minutes duration.

Whenever I have previously blogged about this solo performance exam, blog visitors from outside Australia have usually found the task fascinating. It is certainly rigorous, that's for sure! So, this year's task has just been published, several months in advance of the actual exam dates. Most students spend July to September developing the task in class with their teacher, preparing for the October exam. Here's the 2008 exam structures for your perusal:

2008 Solo and Monologue Performance Examinations

Hurricane Katrina Drama Ensemble

Just thought I'd post a task I have given to my Year 12 Drama students today for a performance activity in groups. Feel welcome to comment on the task or use it with your own students if you wish. While there are many scenes in this ensemble task, several of the smaller ones can be performed swiftly.

Hurricane Katrina

Setting
United States. 2005 and the present day. New Orleans and other locations.

Performance Style
Non-naturalism, with aspects of Epic Theatre.

Theatrical Conventions
Transformation of character, place and object, disjointed time sequences, pathos.

Stagecraft Elements
Props, costume, multimedia.

Dramatic Elements
Tension, language, contrast, mood, symbol.

Background
In August 2005, the greatest natural disaster in American history flooded an estimated 80% of New Orleans, leaving tens of thousands homeless and nearly 2,000 people dead. One of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded, Katrina swept a path of devastation through New Orleans and surrounding areas. But political red tape and an inadequate government response hampered rescue efforts at the local, state and federal level, resulting in unnecessary grief, loss of life and lawlessness. Why did a first world country leave thousands of its citizens to fend for themselves for days and weeks after the disaster?

Plot
Note: all of the following scenes must be performed. One or more scenes must be performed out of chronological order to address the theatrical convention of disjointed time sequences.

Scene 1: August 23
Officials at the National Hurricane Centre in Miami discover an unusual weather pattern off the southeastern coast of the Bahamas, causing considerable concern for forecasters.

Scene 2: August 26
Governor Kathleen Blanco declares a state of emergency for Louisiana.

Scene 3: August 27
a) Louisiana Governor Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin hold a joint news conference calling for a ‘voluntary evacuation’ of the city.

b) Later that evening, Blanco considers ordering a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, but does not do so, fearing potential litigation against the city from local businesses being forced to close trading.

Scene 4: August 28
a) At 8am officials at the National Hurricane Centre formally upgrade Hurricane Katrina to Category 5, the strongest possible rating for a hurricane.

b) At 9.30am Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco hold a news conference announcing a mandatory evacuation of the city of New Orleans, less than a day before landfall.

c) During the day, Governor Blanco orders the mobilization of most of her available troops in the Louisiana National Guard to prepare for possible Hurricane Katrina duties. Because nearly 40% of her troops are on duty in Iraq, she has less than 6,000 available.

d) After requesting 700 buses from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for evacuations on the coast, officers at the Louisiana National Guard headquarters wonder why 600 of the buses simply didn’t arrive.

e) Many of those who are able, pack their motor vehicles and travel on one of the interstate highways, which are now clogged with vehicles heading out of New Orleans on both sides of the road. Others head on foot to the Superdome, a designated relief area.

Scene 5: August 29
a) During the morning, the city of New Orleans is lashed by severe winds and pelting sheets of heavy rain. The darkened sky is filled with random sheets of metal, cars are overturned on the streets and trees are uprooted everywhere. The hurricane lasts for several hours. Citizens struggle to survive during the onslaught. Many lose their lives.

b) By 3pm the storm subsides, but city officials now realize the levee at the 17th Street Canal has been breached by the hurricane. It is one of several levees that have failed to keep the water out of the city. At 6ft below sea level, New Orleans is now being flooded by water in several directions. The 17th Street Canal breach is estimated to be 200ft wide. The Army Corp’s Al Naomi informs officials in the state capital Baton Rouge of the impending catastrophe, but his warnings go unheeded.

c) By evening, President Bush makes a speech in California, making no reference to Katrina. No one at state or federal level appear to be aware of the crucial 17th Street Canal levee breach.

Scene 6: August 30
While some people in New Orleans are waving desperately at Coast Guard helicopters from building rooftops, down below others are busy looting stores, some for food, and others for non essential items such as plasma TVs. The looting quickly becomes widespread across the city. Anarchy and lawlessness set in and crimes are rampant. The police become powerless to control the situation.

Scene 7: August 31
a) In the Superdome are an estimated 25,000 people. The situation is becoming desperate. The roof is leaking from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the toilets have stopped working and the heat is unbearable. Crimes are being committed in front of people, the stench from the toilets and piles of garbage are becoming intolerable. People are becoming distressed and anxious and conditions are claustrophobic. The three days supply of food from the federal government is beginning to run out and the city outside the dome is still flooded. New Orleans has inadvertently become a part of nearby Lake Pontchartrain. People have nowhere to go. Health risks are high.

b) Two and a half days after Hurricane Katrina first hit land in New Orleans, President Bush makes his first public statement of the disaster. His speech is filled with government propaganda about the number of federal resources that have been deployed to the affected areas.

c) Meanwhile, Mayor Nagin has no choice but to order the city’s 1,500-strong police force to abandon all search and rescue efforts to fight the out-of-control crime occurring in and around New Orleans.

Scene 8: September 1
a) In hurricane-stricken New Orleans, officials fumble. There appears a clear lack of decision-making and little direction. Between the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security, the National Guard and local relief efforts, confusion reigns as to who is in command of various disaster operations?

b) Later that day at a press conference, Homeland Security secretary Chertoff tells the nation all is under control in New Orleans. But at the same time on CNN, New Orleans Mayor Nagin is pleading desperately for assistance, stating the situation in the city is grave.

Scene 9: September 2
On the tarmac of New Orleans airport, President Bush invites Louisiana Governor Blanco onto Airforce One for a meeting. Tensions are high. Bush is candid with Blanco about her open pleading via the press earlier that day for more relief equipment specifically from the federal government. He is concerned Blanco may have embarrassed his government, implying they are not doing enough for the people of New Orleans. Bush asks Blanco to hand over all disaster relief to him, officially making it a federal issue. Quietly suspicious that this move will enable the federal government to later blame problems on the state of Louisiana, Blanco says to Bush she will think about it. The next morning she declines Bush’s offer, constitutionally prohibiting active-duty troops from maintaining law and order in the city.

Scene 10: September 3
a) In New Orleans, the last of the people housed in the Superdome are evacuated onto waiting buses. Some of these people have been cramped in the dome for a week now.

b) Meanwhile, federal officials from various government agencies spend most of the day dodging political bullets from the world’s press concerning the apparent lack of coordination and time it took to evacuate New Orleans citizens. The press paint a dark picture of relief efforts over the past few days.

Scene 11: September 4
Hundreds of firefighters from across the country, earmarked for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, are lounging around telling stories and playing cards in an Atlanta hotel. They have been there for several days awaiting official orders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who couldn’t determine exactly where to deploy them.

Scene 12: September 5
National Guard troops undertake relief efforts in New Orleans. It is a ghost town of water, floating bodies and destruction of property. Some of the guards are overcome by what they encounter. Others stop work to pray and think of the many that have lost their homes and lives in the disaster.

Scene 13: The Present
Some years on, construction workers in New Orleans, helping rebuild the city’s infrastructure, encounter a gruesome find. While excavating, workers unearth dozens of dead bodies under the soil of a building site. They are met by a visiting party of city, state and federal officials, touring New Orleans to determine whether the city has moved on since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina?

Dramatic Elements

The 12 Dramatic Elements

These twelve dramatic elements are at the core of all drama. They can be used in isolation or simultaneously and are manipulated by the performer for dramatic effect.

Focus

Focus is often used interchangeably with the terms concentration and engagement, assisting the performer in the portrayal of believable characters. This also implies memorisation of text (including word, moves and gestures). Furthermore, focus requires the channelling (focusing) of all the performer’s energies into achieving the given goals or objectives of a character in a scene (otherwise known as ‘wants’).

Tension

Tension can sometimes be used as an interchangeable term with conflict. But where it differs, lies in the development of suspense in a performance. As the audience anticipates certain outcomes in the plot, the tension builds. An obvious example of rising tension is in a mystery or whodunit. The development of tension usually parallels the advancement of the plot, leading to a crisis or climax. Tension is closely linked with timing.

Timing

Timing in performance refers to dramatic timing of movements and gestures. We often take our movements for granted in everyday life, but when performing, the use of our body must be carefully considered. Timing can be manipulated to create contrast in a scene or simply to demonstrate robotic, stylised and non-naturalistic movements. Rhythm and pace are affected by timing.

Rhythm

Rhythm refers to the timing and pace of the drama. It also means the beat or tempo of the performance. As a rule, rhythm should never be the same throughout the drama, regardless of its length. Rhythm can follow the emotional state of one or more characters or the atmosphere of the performance at particular moments.

Contrast

Without the careful use of contrast a performance is boring and lacks tension. An obvious example of contrast is a sad scene followed by a happy one. But contrast can be created in more subtle and sophisticated ways, such as manipulating the drama to create a change in setting, use of space or rhythm. The pace of scenes can also be altered, as can various dramatic elements within one small section of a performance.

Mood

Mood is the feeling or tone of a performance. It refers to ambience or aura and is often created through a combination of several dramatic and stagecraft elements working in harmony with each other. The mood of a performance is closely linked with everyday feelings such as pity, anger, desire or frustration. Mood in drama can be created via sound, lighting, movement, setting, rhythm, contrast, conflict and more.

Space

This dramatic element refers to the effective use of available space in a performance. Different levels of space are utilised by the performer, such as sitting, bending over, lying down or crawling. Of course, using the space around you can mean downstage and upstage or walking in or on a stage set. In order to use the space effectively, movement becomes an important factor.

Use of space also implies clearly communicating to the audience where the action is taking place. This may include any changes in location that may occur in the performance (particularly if little or no sets and/or props are being used and there is a heavy reliance on the audience’s imagination).

Language

The use of language in performance can be verbal, vocal or non-verbal. Language is the spoken text. It is the written script realised in performance. While normally spoken by the actor, language can also be chanted or sung. It can also be deliberately nonsensical (gibberish) for dramatic effect. The choice of language in performance is crucial, as it is forms a major means of communicating the story of the drama to the audience. Exactly how the actor in performance uses language is usually determined by the expressive skill of voice. However, language can also be non-verbal, commonly referred to as body language.

Sound

Modern theatrical practice relies on sound to assist in a number of ways. It can be useful in creating atmosphere or mood. Actors and their bodies can construct effective sound in performance. Small props can also create sound effects that can be used live during a show. Other uses of sound involve the implementation of technology, such as instrumental recordings and sound effects on CD (though this use of sound is technically a stagecraft element in the theatre, not a dramatic element).

Symbol

The use of symbol in dramatic performance can be one of the simplest and also most complicated of all techniques. Essentially, symbolism implies a greater meaning than the literal suggestion.

Props are the easiest to work with because objects in everyday life are symbols in society (for example a rose symbolises love; a cross symbolises Christianity).

Symbols can also be found in the use of colour. We often symbolise purple with royalty, red with anger or desire, black with evil and darkness or white with purity and innocence. Colour association can be worthwhile symbols with costumes, sets and props.

But the most sophisticated use of symbol occurs with the application of gesture and movement. A particular gesture performed by a character early in a performance can be repeated later under different circumstances (context) and have a very different meaning. Used only once, a gesture can also be a powerful symbol. Of course, all of the above examples can be combined for a better effect.

Conflict

Playwright George Bernard Shaw (who wrote Pygmalion, which later became the film My Fair Lady) once said ‘No conflict, no drama’. How right he was! Drama that lacks conflict is normally dull and uninspiring. As a rule, conflict should always be considered an essential ingredient for all dramatic performances. Conflict can be between two or more characters, or simply one (inner conflict). Many Elizabethan soliloquies contain inner conflict (‘To be or not to be…’ is an excellent example). Conflict on stage can be verbal, physical or non-verbal (psychological). Conflict differs from tension in that it is often a fixed part of the structure of a play, with characters destined to clash with one another from the outset.

Climax

Most drama will have one or more crises in the development of the plot. A crisis is a key moment of dramatic tension and conflict in the play, usually occurring between two or more characters and having serious implications for the outcome of the plot. The ultimate crisis or highest peak is usually called the climax and often (but not always) occurs toward the end of a performance. There can also be more than one climax, although this is uncommon.

dramatic_elements.doc

Chernobyl Drama Ensemble

A few people have been asking me in recent months where to find this ensemble structure for drama students on the horrors of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. While I have already placed it on a couple of locations on the web already, posting it again here may prove more accessible for some.

This ensemble performance task worked like a charm with my 2007 Year 12 drama class, with the end result being a 40-minute performance that amazed parents and friends of the performers. It is not what I would call a particularly easy task, as the topic requires heavy research and political awareness and sensitivity. I had a tiny class of just five girls last year, so with doubling up of characters it can happily be performed with a small cast, or just as easily with more.

It is heavily structured, as the scenes for the performance are all prescribed. While this method offers less freedom, it also provides greater student focus early in the task, particularly when researching material and developing scenes.

Feel free to use it with your own students if you wish. Email me if you have any questions about it. Post comments below if you have any feedback on this drama ensemble task. At the bottom of this post, I have got the ball rolling with a bunch of research links.

By the way, at the start of this task, only one of my students had ever heard of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, so ignorance is bliss as it is almost better if your drama students begin researching this task without preconceived ideas. Enjoy!

Stimulus Image

© Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

The abandoned city of Prypiat (Pripiat) in the foreground, twin city to Chernobyl. The reactor chimneys of the nuclear power plant can just be seen, only 2km away.

Setting
Modern-day Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Australia (or elsewhere).

Performance Style
Non-naturalism (anti-realism) with aspects of Epic Theatre.

Theatrical Conventions
Narration, transformation of character, place and object, disjointed time sequences, pathos.

Dramatic Elements
Tension, language, contrast, mood.

Background
In April 1986, the world's worst civilian nuclear accident occurred in the district of Chernobyl (today located in the Ukraine) resulting in a nuclear cloud that spread over much of Europe. Ignorance, inaccurate reporting by the media and initial denial of the incident by Russian authorities led to mass confusion. More than two decades later, the exact number of affected people and casualties from the event remains unknown, causing significant disagreement among leading political, health and environmental organisations.

In Australia (change location if necessary) today, the prospect of nuclear power is back on the political agenda. But how safe are nuclear power plants and have the Australian* people learnt any lessons from the horrifying events of Chernobyl?

Plot
Note: all of the following scenes must be performed in the order presented below. Larger scenes contain a number of mini-scenes.

Scene 1: Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
a The events of Saturday 25th April 1986, leading up to the disaster.
b Night shift workers take over and undertake the fatal experiment in the early hours of Sunday 26th April.
c Fire crews and other emergency workers arrive at the scene.

Scene 2: Initial Reaction
a The reaction of Russian authorities in the first few days of the Chernobyl incident, including the initial 'cover-up', then acknowledgement of the event to the world's press.
b Early media reports inaccurately portray the Chernobyl incident as worse than it actually is.

Scene 3: Casualties and More Cover Ups
a Medical workers in a nearby Russian hospital try to cope with the flood of affected victims from the Chernobyl fire and nuclear explosion.
b Elsewhere, the world begins to discover the true extent of the Chernobyl incident. At a press conference, Russian authorities defend why it took so long to evacuate people.
c Authorities engage in a further series of 'cover-ups'.

Scene 4: Family at Prypiat
a Several months after the Chernobyl incident, a small team of international scientists visit the abandoned city of Prypiat to collect soil, water and air samples for testing. They enter a room in one of the buildings depicted in the foreground of the stimulus image and see a work card left on a table entitled “25-26 April. Night Shift”.
b Flashback to images of the family who lived there one week prior to the Chernobyl incident and on Sunday 26th April, where nearby streets in Prypiat are filled with people engaging in regular Sunday afternoon activities.
c Monday 27th April. 2.38pm. Government authorities evacuate the family.
d Three weeks later. In a temporary accommodation facility far away, the family buries their husband and father.

Scene 5: Two Decades Later, Belarus
December 2006. Representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency, World Health Organization, United Nations Development Programme, Greenpeace, the Governments of Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine and German Green Party Member Rebecca Harms meet to discuss the various published reports since the Chernobyl incident twenty years ago. Russian officials downplay the current situation, claiming very few people today have Chernobyl-attributed injuries. Officials from Belarus and the Ukraine however, paint a different story, quoting large numbers of Chernobyl victims in their countries. A Greenpeace representative rejects statistics in the Chernobyl Forum report.

The meeting begins amicably and ends with one or more people storming out of the room before it is finished.

Scene 6: Australian Federal Election
(alter the country and other locations in this scene to local ones, if necessary)
The events leading up to and immediately after the federal election. The successful candidate wins office on a platform advocating the introduction of nuclear power in Australia. As the country concerns itself with the environment and alternative fuels for the future, history repeats itself and construction of two nuclear power plants in New South Wales and Victoria are promised during the next political term.

Reference & Source Material
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
Chernobyl Disaster
Prypiat
20 Years After Chernobyl
Chernobyl Accident
1986: Soveits Admit Nuclear Accident
Chernobyl.com
Chernobyl.info
Chernobyl: 20 Years Later
Greenfacts
Greenpeace Rejects Chernobyl Toll
Inside Chernobyl (60 Minutes Transcript)
Inside Chernobyl (60 Minutes Video Internet Explorer Only)
Nuclear Reaction
The Nuclear Solution (60 Minutes Transcript)
Scientific Facts on the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident (Greenfacts)
Chernobyl Forum Report
Greenpeace Report
IPPNW Report
Torch Report
United Nations/UNICEF Report
World Health Organization Report

Drama Victoria VCE Trial Exams

We are very excited at Drama Victoria to offer 2007 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies trial written examinations.

These exams offer different questions to the published VCAA samples, new stimulus material and questions relating to the 2007 playlists.

All for $35 (inc GST) plus p&h.

Download the order form and fax it through to Drama Victoria today!

2007_Drama_Victoria_VCE_Trial_Writen_Exam_Order_Form.doc

Inside The Actors Studio

12 Emmy Awards in as many years is not a bad track record. Many of you are no doubt aware of Inside The Actors Studio, a series of hour-long interviews with some of the stage and screen's finest actors.

Host James Lipton's formulaic, well-researched interviews are always highly informative. Set before an audience of university Drama/Theatre students, these interviews both touch the surface of the human behind the superstar and delve into the very soul of the actor at the same time.

What I have always found most interesting about Inside The Actors Studio is that there really is nothing else like it on television. To be able to peek behind the scenes and hear how accomplished actors operate, how they prepare for and shape their roles, how they manipulate their craft, is fascinating.

In an age where our senior students prefer video before text, a biography from Wikipedia on Al Pacino just ain't gonna cut it anymore. Enter Inside The Actors Studio on DVD! The acclaimed Bravo TV show is now slowly being rollled out on video and is perfect for showing in a senior Drama/Theatre class for students who have a thirst to know more about acting (prepare a question sheet on a handout and it also serves as a perfect lesson for when you may be absent from the classroom, too).

The quicker our students appreciate how much they can learn from the masters of acting, the better. Now, Inside The Actors Studio offers Drama/Theatre teachers the opportunity to bring it all into the classroom. A small selection of episodes are now available on DVD and come highly recommended.

Probably the best release so far for a young audience is Leading Men: Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Russell Crowe (see below).

Amazon US
Inside The Actors Studio: Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Russell Crowe (released today)
Inside The Actors Studio: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood
Inside The Actors Studio: Dave Chappelle
Inside The Actors Studio: Barbra Streisand

Amazon UK
Inside The Actors Studio: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood
Inside The Actors Studio: Dave Chappelle
Inside The Actors Studio: Johnny Depp (upcoming release)

Australia: Distributor Eagle Entertainment
Inside The Actors Studio: Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Russell Crowe (to be released 30th October 2007)
Inside The Actors Studio: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood
Inside The Actors Studio: Dave Chappelle

If you live in Melbourne, the last two DVD's above are available at Readings Bookstore, Lygon St, Carlton.

Key Concepts in Drama and Performance

Key Concepts in Drama and Performance
Pickering, Kenneth
©2005 New York
Palgrave Macmillan

Key Concepts in Drama and Performance is essentially a reference guide to major theatre terms, practitioners, ideas, styles and movements. It leans heavily on modern theatre and is conveniently and logically divided into the following sections:

• textual concepts
• performance concepts
• production concepts
• staging concepts
  
• critical concepts

What is particularly impressive about this book, is Pickering's ability to define and explain an important theatre concept in an academic, yet completely understandable style. This alone makes this text a useful guide for senior Drama/Theatre teachers and their students. It is a practical handbook, but from a theoretical perspective, just as applicable to a student of theatre as it is to a practising theatre artist.

Theatre practice is enriched by our knowledge and understanding of various key concepts integral to our craft. This text clearly explains movements and styles such as expressionism, poor theatre, agit/prop, epic theatre, Commedia dell'Arte, forum theatre, naturalism, physical theatre, documentary drama, constructivism, theatre of cruelty and more. The origins of these movements and examples of famous plays and performances typical of their characteristics, are explained for the reader.

Other essential play-making concepts are also discussed, such as the well made play, soliloquy, alienation, fourth wall, mimesis, subtext, play within a play, flashback, exposition, episode, dramatic irony etc.

For those interested in acquiring this text for senior students of Drama or Theatre, there will of course be reference to the odd term students will not be readily familiar with. Pickering's book engages the interest of the reader with his academic knowledge of theatre, but in a comfortable style. If you were to use any aspect of this text with senior students, they would probably need to be relatively high-flyers who already enjoy the theoretical aspects of theatre, thirsty for greater knowledge in this field. University students will have no trouble understanding this text.

This extract from the entry on Brecht's concept of 'alienation' will offer you an indication:

An acting style is determined by the purpose of the drama, and Brecht had a clear didactic purpose. In Marxist terms he aimed to recreate on stage a 'dialectic': a society comprising a number of forces that collide and struggle against one another, and his object was to make the audience adopt an attitude of enquiry and criticism (p.69)

There are many more concepts not listed in this review, as this text probably has over 100 entries in its 260 pages. Each entry is of reasonable length (making it much more than simply a dictionary of theatre terms) followed by a brief list of 'further reading' texts for the reader to follow up, if desired.

If you're theatre practitioner needing some additional theoretical understanding of aspects of your craft, a new Drama/Theatre teacher wishing to fast track your knowledge or an experienced one needing an injection of inspiration of rejuvenation, or perhaps a university Drama student keen to get ahead of the rest with your own personal bible reference of major theatre ideas, theories and models of practice, then Key Concepts in Theatre and Performance comes highly recommended.

Author Kenneth Pickering is currently Chief Examiner for Drama and Speech subjects at Trinity Guildhall, London. Key Concepts in Drama and Performance is not readily available in Australia, but can be ordered via Amazon US or Amazon UK.

Mini Solo Performance Reflection

As you may have seen on a recent post, my Year 12 Drama students recently undertook a new task in their course for their final year of secondary/high school, the short solo performance (affectionately known as the 'mini solo').

Many of you reading this blog probably know all too well what I am referring to as you may have just completed the task with your own students. But for those of you reading from interstate or overseas, this performance task is universal, so it should make sense to everyone. The prescribed task requirement was a 1 to 2 minute solo performance based on stimulus set by the teacher. The student's task was to research, script and develop the performance themself.

Having performed 7 minute solo performances since Year 10, I was a bit worried a quick 1 to 2 minute solo may seem on the surface a backward step for my students, so at the start of this two week task I worked quickly to instil artistic discipline in my students and a culture of taking this performance very seriously. I have a small, but wondferful group of students this year who were still pumped from success in their ensemble performance only a few weeks prior, so I was really encouraging an atmosphere in the classroom that was going to enventuate regardless. Nevertheless, oh was I blown away by what I saw!

For starters, I couldn't believe how much my students got into this task. They were treating it exactly as I had hoped (and as our course writers no doubt intended), as a mini version of and a practice/dry run for their big solo performance examination in October. They were researching their characters like crazy because it wasn't a burden for them. Their research was an enjoyable part of the task; an exploration, a discovery of the behaviour and lifestyle of their intended character.

The end result was really something special. If you click the link at the top of this post, you'll see the task given was to choose and research a subculture character of their choice. Cliched as it is, I was expecting three Emo's in my small class of five, but to my surprise I got the following:

• a promiscuous bonehead of a Valley Girl who barfed us all out (inspired by Clueless)
  
• a tough-as-nails Mafia underboss (inspired by Casino)
  
• an over-enthusiastic, socially-inept geek (inspired by 80s teen movies)
• a bohemian, artistic beatnik (inspired by the literary art world)
  
• a Japanese teenage girl representing the kawaii (cuteness) culture (think Hello Kitty, Pikachu etc.)

An interesting list, hey? I don't even recall recommending one of them. The students found these characters all of their own accord. The Mafia underboss was part authentic, part parody and very believable with a thick New York accent. The Valley Girl was an absolute crack-up getting the gestures, the blonde (wig) ditsy head swings and the special lingo ('totally', 'tubular', 'whatever'!) just right. The geek was so out of place in a party setting trying to pick up chicks, impressing them(?) with his knowledge of calculus and wondering why it was all going wrong? The literary hipster of a beatnik oozed style and intelligence, with a performance setting in a cafe, then bookstore (and a little poetry thrown in for good measure). While the kawaii girl reminded me exactly of my two brief visits to Tokyo, seeing schoolgirls on the train in Japan obsessed with images of cuteness everywhere.

Keep in mind, all of these characters, including two males, were portrayed by female students in my class. Each girl was asked to transform briefly into a secondary, more minor character also. Not such an easy thing to do in a performance lasting just 120 seconds! The Mafia underboss played two more subordinates in the clan. The geek portrayed one of the cool girls he was trying desperately to pick up at the party. The kawaii girl performed her teenage boyfriend. The Valley Girl played one of her ringleader friends. While finally, the beatnik portrayed an old lady behind the counter in the bookstore.

All up I'd say this was a successful first attempt at a new task in our Year 12 Drama course. It served as excellent preparation for the major solo performance exam coming up soon. Lots was learnt by both the students and teacher (me). But most importantly, a hell of a lot of fun found its way into this task as well!

Mini Solo Performance Example

This is an example of a new task in the Victorian Certificate of Education Unit 4 Drama course (Australia), but can easily be used by Drama teachers anywhere in the world.

It is a brief, 1 to 2-minute solo performance exploring a typical character belonging to a chosen subculture in society. Examples of subcultures may be anything from Goths and Greasers to Nerds and Scooterboys. My experience is teenagers are easily motivated to perform a subculture character they are genuinely interested in and have little trouble sinking their teeth into this topic and obtaining ownership of the task.

The student writes the script, based on research and other factors. This 'mini solo' serves as an excellent introduction to the nature and structure of a solo performance. In this course, the 1 to 2-minute mini solo outlined here is used as a lead-up to the next task, a formal 7-minute solo performance examination.

There is a lot to do in this example of such a short performance, but it should also teach students there is no time to waste or 'warm into' your character in a solo performance, particularly if it only goes for 2 minutes!

For those of you outside Victoria, Australia, replace the performance style of 'non-naturalistic' in the structure below, with 'anti-realstic' or 'non-realistic'. Evidence of the theatrical conventions of character, place and object (prop) will only need to be brief in this mini solo. Symbol is deliberately listed for inclusion in the performance because many subcultures rely heavily on identity through unique symbols and motifs. Mood is prescribed because the atmosphere of the chosen subculture needs to be portrayed, even in a quick 2-minute performance.

This task is accompanied by a brief written report describing and analysing the processes used to develop the performance.

Suggested Assessment:

• Performance - everything prescribed below, expressive skills etc. (7 marks)
• Development of a working script (3 marks)
• Written report discussing research, plot and script development, rehearsals, refinement etc. (5 marks)

There is also a link at the bottom to download it as a Word doc, if you like. Feel free to download and use or adpat to your heart's content!

MINI SOLO PERFORMANCE (1-2 minutes)

Character
The subculture character

Stimulus
The Internet, movies and literature in which the chosen subculture is either represented or documented

Performance Focus
Research a character belonging to a subculture of your choice. In the performance

• show evidence of the world of your subculture, including two or more examples of typical behaviour
• demonstrate one or more strategies your character employs to survive in the wider, mainstream community
• briefly portray one or more minor secondary character/s

Performance Style
Non-naturalistic

Theatrical Conventions
Transformation of character, place and object

Dramatic Elements
Symbol, mood

Reference Material
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subculture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_subcultures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_youth_subcultures

Example (Word .doc)
Mini_Solo_Performance_Structure.doc

2007 Top Acts Review

Top Acts by the VCAA Hamer Hall, Arts Centre, Melbourne 8th June 2007

Each year the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority effectively produces a concert of the very best performance examinations from the previous year in Drama, Theatre Studies, Dance, Dance (VET) and Music (solo and group). The list of performers is chosen from those previously selected for the various Top Class showcases in the relevant studies during the few months prior. Last year's Top Acts concert was an absolute blinder and this year's concert did not disappoint either!

Not that I should get too analytical about the make up of the 2007 Top Acts concert, but here's the breakdown of the various representations, anyway:

Study
Total Acts: 23
Drama Solo: 4
Theatre Studies Monologue: 4
Dance Solo: 4
Dance (VET) Solo: 1
Music Solo: 7
Music Group: 3

School
Government: 11
Independent: 2
Catholic: 10

Location
Metropolitan:18
Regional: 5

Gender
Total Performers: 34
Male: 25
Female: 9

From the above breakdowns, we can safely assume Catholic schools (especially due to their small numbers) did particularly well and that boys in general, dominated the program. May I say it is fantastic to see so many young men excelling at the very highest level in performing arts education in Victoria!

Act one saw all four Drama Solo performances on the program. First up was Cassie Stafford from Mount Lilydale Mercy College with her interpretation of Mary Mallon, an Irish immigrant landing in New York and accused of spreading typhoid fever in the city. Prescribed in the style of cabaret, this aspect was clearly Cassie's strength. It was a thoroughly entertaining performance, but somewhere along the way, the microphone didn't work in her favour. This is a technical, not artistic issue and perhaps it was not placed in the very best position on the performer? The sound was too soft and a bit muffled, making it a little hard to hear and not as crisp as we would have liked. Great use of song in this performance, particularly changing the words of well-known numbers, and an effective use of space.

Next up was George Lingard from Kew High School performing The Pirate, based on the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I really loved this performance at Top Class Drama a couple of months ago and George was a real crowd pleaser again at Top Acts. This was a very carefully constructed script and should serve as warning to students that a weak script will nearly always result in a similarly weak performance. But Geroge's script was beautifully written with nice gags and references in the right places and a deep understanding of other characters and events clearly evident. Good use of the pirate hat as object, transforming in context several times. Nice character transitions in this performance, also. Very good comic timing. A strong performance accessible to everyone in the audience.

The third Drama solo performance was indeed a dark one. James Cross from Haileybury College performed the dual personality of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Hard to make this one funny considering the subject matter, so it was dramatic, instead. My students and I saw this one at Top Class too, and lots of them were intrigued at how James used the mirror; very effectively in their opinion. There is little doubt it was cleverly used on different sides for reflection and then the underside for writing with chalk. James had excellent focus, facial expressions and use of gesture, not to mention movement. A dancer, perhaps? A strong performance.

The final Drama solo performance was Anton De Ionno from Whitefriars College. Well, this one tore the house down at Top Class a couple of months ago and at Top Acts, nearly blew the roof off the concert hall! Cleverly integrated with the audience by adding a little bit at the start and finish (and beginning IN the audience itself!), presumably by Artistic Director Naomi Edwards, Anton's performance of a fictional 'gossip' at the court of Catherine The Great of Russia was absolutely sensational! I've mentioned before, this performance was similar to last year's Security Guard by Liam O'Kane, which also had the entire audience in stiches and fits of laughter! Anton's sense of comic timing was nothing short of impeccable and he clearly had a strong sense of being a real performer, milking the audience during his gags, waiting for their applause etc. He simply had us all in the palm of his hands. A very entertaining performance that proved a prescribed exam structure on paper can be something entirely different on stage, if the perfomer is clever enough in its interpretation!

Act two witnessed all four of the Theatre Studies monologues on the program. First up was Michael Palti from Bialik College with a wonderful performance of Cyrano from Cyrano de Bergerac. I empathised with Michael when he lost his microphone pack to the ground, soon after the start of his performance. A similar thing happened to one of my ex-students a couple of years ago at Top Class Drama. What do you do? It's not a two hour play and a monologue is so tightly compacted, structured and choreographed, there is simply little if any opportunity to (even in character) go down and reconnect your microphone pack and continue on. So, performing mostly without his micrphone and having everyone in the audience on his side, Michael should be commended for keeping his focus (a lesson for all aspiring young actors) and moving through the rest of a very strong performance. Wonderful costume, awesome gestures and effective use of movement made this a very entertaining performance. Just loved the long nose, too!

Kathleen Lee from Mount Lilydale Mercy College was the next Theatre Studies performer with her interpretation of Mabel Chiltern from Wilde's An Ideal Husband. What was fascinating about this performance was Kathleen's use of voice and pause. There were several instances of her slowing the pace of her voice down almost to a crawl, deepening its tone and emphasising certain words for greater meaning. These resulted in a clear performance, communicated strongly to its audience. Even the most unfamiliar observer (not having read the play, that is) could have followed this monologue with little difficulty - and that's some skill by the performer!

Wow, I thought Tom Ballard (Brauer College) did a wonderful job performing Salieri from Amadeus! Another awesome costume, great use of space, timing, and really effective use of voice enabled Tom to produce a thoroughly convincing interpreation of this monologue. I also liked moments of silence and particularly his slow movements towards the latter stages of the piece. This was a tight performance that the audience really appreciated.

The final Theatre Studies monologue was from Glenn Ferguson of Notre Dame College, Shepparton, performing his interpretation of Michael from Dancing at Lughnasa. Glenn had fantastic focus and great diction, resulting in a very strong performance. It was so clearly communicated to the audience and so believable, you were there next to him on the stage of Hamer Hall. This was indeed a powerful performance and Glenn's intensity was a highlight, as one followed his character's every move, gesture and thought. Nice use of old time music added to an already atmospheric monologue.

Not being a specialist in dance or music education, I'll just comment briefly on what were the highlights for me from these sections of this year's Top Acts program. As is often the case, the Music group performances were a highlight. I just loved the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School's jazz ensemble performance of Skylark. I'd pay money to see these guys again, no problems! I thought Essendon Keilor College's hip hop performance of Santana's Maria was thoroughly entertaining and the boys from Xavier College with their rock Dave's Gone Skiing was awesome.

From Music solo, how could you possibly go past Nicholas Murphy from St. Kevin's College and his rendition of Hallelujah? Absolutely out of this world! So powerful and so controlled. Amazing! Other highlights here were Peter Boyd from the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and his classical guitar solo. Fantastic! Also Conrad Olsen from the same school with his pianoforte was great, too.

From the Dance component of this year's Top Acts, Genna Kulesza from Glen Waverley Secondary College and Hayley Leake from St. Joseph's College, Mildura, were my highlights. Hayley's dance to the same song Hallelujah, mentioned above and performed directly after it, made everything so much more powerful. Genna's solo dance was fantastic to watch, and while I'm no expert on dance technique, it looked amazing. Finally, Eamonn George from Ballarat and Clarendon College was mesmerising in his dance composition of the Japanese Noh actor, preaparing to take on the role of the demon.

Once again the VCAA's Top Acts concert was a real winner, showcasing excellence in the performing arts. It still represents a wonderful opportunity for teachers to take along their students, have a great night out and partake in a little bit of academic chatter about upcoming performance exams etc. I took along a party of 70, with more than 60 students from Years 10, 11 and 12 Drama and Years 11 and 12 Music who all thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this year's Top Acts concert.

2007 Solo and Monologue Performance Exams

Well, it's that time of year again and the 2007 Year 12 Drama Solo Performance and Theatre Studies Monologue Performance exams have ust been released.

If you're visitng from outside Victoria, Australia, then have a look anyway, to see how our senior students are assessed in their major performance exam in the final year of high school.

Drama students perform a 7-minute solo performance, adhering to a prescribed structure, where they choose one character from 10 on the exam paper (writing their own script). In the sister subject Theatre Studies, students perform a well known monologue from a published play, choosing one from a list of 12 on this year's exam . All students perform in October, with their exam details being available since April.

2007 Solo and Monologue Performance Exams

Life After The Drama Exam

Well, the Drama written examination is now over and I see hundreds of smiling faces out there! It's good to knock a subject over for the last time, even if for many students, Drama may have be their favourite subject at school. For students who have acting running through their veins, Drama withdrawal symptoms should start to kick in soon (that is, if they haven't already).

This year's Drama written exam was, in my opinion, quite similar to the 2005 paper. I didn't think it was a particularly difficult examination. Thankfully, there weren't any tricky or ambiguous questions. In the past few years, there was an example of an and/or question that was a bit ambiguous and another mentioning non-naturalistic stagecraft elements that threw a few for six, also. But on the 2006 exam, there was in fact, a lack of terms used in the questions, if anything, which resulted in little possibility of confusion or concern for candidates.

Now at this point, it is important to mention I don't correct Drama written exam papers. I don't think I'd be blogging about it if I did! While I really would like to correct papers, I simply don't have the time these days and now have a confliict of interests, anyway. So, my comments come from the same side of the fence as most of us, reacting to a paper that is now sitting on my desk at work, waiting to be filed (or for those who have seen my desk, you will know filing is not one of my strengths!).

I suppose there were a few words used in some of the questions that everyone will wonder whether they interpreted correctly. I simply interpreted dramatic moment literally in Questions 2 and 4 and understood ideas in Question 3 to mean themes. In the last few questions on the paper, most students could interpret exaggerated movement successfully to answer the question, even if they forgot the VCAA definition. Potentially, many more theatrical conventions or glossary definitions used in the solo performance exam booklet could have appeared in a question on the written exam, so more difficult terms than exaggerated movement could very easily have been included in a question (the 2004 paper is a prime example, with a dozen terms offered under the stimulus image ranging from caricature to lyrical and symbolic. I'm also hoping that students remembered the VCAA definition of disjointed time sequences in Question 4 doesn't just mean events in the drama with gaps in time between them, but events presented out of chronological order.

On that note, the solo performance stimulus question (No.4) was very similar to the 2005 paper in that it was a story. The Drama written exam has only existed since 2001 and this question used a photograph from 2001 to 2004. In 2005 it was the story of the Eureka Stockade and this year of course it was the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. Personally, I prefer the story stiumulus to an image. There is more concrete examples students can respond to because detailed written information is presented on the paper before them. Just with the Eureka Stockade last year, the Snowy Mountains story was full of real life drama and students shouldn't have had any difficulty finding dramatic moments from within the story for their responses.

My only real gripe with the Drama exam is the length of it. I didn't have to correct exam papers last year to know that oodles of students didn't finish the paper. In 2005 it was 11 questions to be completed in 90 minutes of writing time. But this year it was 13 questions in the same amount of time with 6 questions worth 6 marks, 5 questions worth 5 marks and 2 questions worth 2 marks (a little weird how that happened, eh?). Just under half the exam paper was worth maximum marks, so there really wasn't room for knocking off too many questions quickly. My hope is that students who did the 2005 paper as a practice exam realised how fast they needed to generate responses and write them down, as a result learning good exam techniques for this year's paper and so finished it.

Finally, of course if a candidate doesn't understand non-naturalism (known as non/anti-realistic theatre in other parts of the world) then they're in a spot of bother, considering the whole Year 12 Drama course is based around its principles. This is not something I blog about lightly, as there are still students out there who do not fully understand this term.

Now the nervous wait for the Drama solo performance and written exam marks....

Exam Techniques

On the eve of the Victorian Year 12 Drama and Theatre Studies written exams, I thought I'd share some thoughts with you about the whole exam process.

Sometimes students and their teachers get bogged down in content, content, content. All everyone worries about is content, because ultimately, the exam paper has a number of questions on it that will test the students knowledge of various parts of the course. It seems pretty logical.

Granted, without knowledge of content, a student cannot complete a successful examination paper. But sometimes in the flurry of concern over whether students know their content properly, one important factor has not been given due attention...

Exam Techniques...

And without good exam techniques, I'd argue you can have all content knowledge in the world and you won't complete a successful exam paper without these either. Because without proper exam techniques, you won't even finish the paper! You'll walk out of the exam room with the responses to three questions still running around in your head, when they should have been written in the script booklet, instead.

I don't consider myself an expert on exam techniques by any means, but I hope these few tips for students help in some way. Here's the exam techniques I teach my students:

Be Rested
It all starts the night before the exam. Be well rested and arrive to the exam centre in plenty of time. Make sure you're both physically and mentally fresh, because your brain is about to get a whirlwind of a workout in a very short space of time.

Use Reading Time Wisely
The most underrrated part of the exam is not even a question on the paper. It's the paper itself! So reading time, the so-called boring bit before the real exam starts, is actually one of the most important parts of the exam. Reading time is well utilised by the smarter students and often wasted by the weaker students. You should read the paper carefully and at least once. Many students read it twice. You must formulate how you will respond to questions during this time. A small proportion of students answer questions out of order (as they appear on the paper) every year, so if you are a candidate for this (and it is quite acceptable to do so), then determine the order of your responses during reading time. It is not a time to stress about what you can or cannot recall, but rather a time to use wisely and plan your upcoming 90 minutes properly.

Before You Start
Once reading time is finished and candidates are given the instruction to commence writing, the very first thing my students do is underline key words in every single question on the paper. These would generally include words such as describe, discuss, analyse and evaluate. Sometimes, they could be words that ask for a number of examples, such as three. Or it may be and or or, between two content parts of a question. If you're swift, this should only eat up about two or three minutes of writing time, but the rewards are many and definitely make this process worthwhile. Having done this, you'll be unlikely to miss vital parts of the exam questions and can at least rest assured you responded, to the best of your ability, to what the question asked. Otherwise, it is so easy to respond to half a question by accident or forget to evaluate something etc.

No Such Thing As A Favourite Question
Spend too long on your favourite question because you know the answer really well and you can write your ticket to an incomplete exam paper. There is no such thing as a favourite question. You may want to answer an 'easier' question first to get the ball rolling, but whatever you do, do not spend a disproportionate amount of time on it.

Divide and Conquer
You must look caref