Guest Writer
Why consider Drama as one of your GCSE or A-Level choices?
Deciding your GCSEs and A-Levels can be one of the most important choices of your highschool journey, but if you want to be able to get a high grade for expressing who you are as an individual, then Performing Arts is your subject.
On average, our GCSE drama classes are made up of around 10-20 students and at A-Level, it ranges from 5-15 students. In recent years, depending on the year group size, there have been multiple classes or smaller groups. The classes also range depending on what side of performance you are most interested in. You can tailor your course to focus on acting (led by Mrs Dyer - the head of drama) or dancing (led by Miss Jackson - our dance base teacher).
Within the acting side of the drama GCSE, you will encounter many performance styles such as TIE (Theatre In Education) and Epic Theatre. You will also look into the different sectors you could pursue within the drama industry, such as becoming an actor, playwright or director. You will also have the opportunity to perform in different productions such as a scene of your choice from the renowned plays Noughts and Crosses and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. You could even perform in your own self written piece!
For the dancing side, you will look into practitioners such as Matthew Bourne and how he choreographs his ballet routines. From this, you will get the opportunity to choreograph your own piece in a range of styles including jazz and contemporary to perform as your final piece.
When it comes to A-level, you are guided more towards the acting side of drama, but doing the dance side for GCSE could still come in handy. Within the course, you will look into many practitioners such as Antonin Artaud and Bertolt Brecht, looking through different styles of theatre such as Physical Theatre and Theatre in Cruelty. You will explore a range of performances such as Machinal written by Sophie Treadwell and Woyzeck written by George Büchner. You will also get the chance to perform a range of monologues, duologues and group performances from well-known pieces to self written pieces.
Another bonus of taking drama is you can have the opportunity to visit a range of theatres to watch amazing performances! Some performances which I have watched as a drama student include Blood Brothers, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Heather the Musical, and Noughts & Crosses. Watching and attending these performances does not only help you in your drama class, it can also help in other lessons including English literature and language.
How will this benefit me in the future?
There are many positives to doing drama at any point during highschool. One year 11 student at CLV confirmed “it improves your confidence”. Other benefits include students finding that it helps with social skills and allows you to express yourself outside the classroom. In reference to the GCSE and A-level, a year 11 student said “everyone’s doing it and it’s not like when you’re in year 7 and 8 where there are people who don’t want to do it, like everyone has chosen it so they’re all going to do it. You don’t feel like anyone’s going to judge you because they all have to do the exact same thing.” Drama allows you to make new friends who have a genuine love for the subject, and possibly also have a goal for drama to help with their social skills or confidence. When it comes to the real world and getting into a work setting, drama will enable you to work well with others and engage with fellow classmates and future employees, “you can work with new people and that helps you to get ideas and work collaboratively.”
When it comes to applying for Universities or taking that next step in your life, if you have participated in drama in any way it will reflect well on your personal statement. Specifically, it can help exceptionally with showing that you can work well with others and engage well in a team setting. It can also show you are able to voice your opinions well which would help you to lead well in a business setting.
How to get involved with the performing community…
Doing something outside of lessons to further your studies is a great way to get a head start and show that you’re serious about the subject. I’d suggest the Youth Theatre at CLV. A student we spoke to recommends, “especially when I do Youth Theatre, you get loads of friends from it because everyone there has a lot in common. The people are really nice.”.
Although this year’s production is already full (a great testament to the enthusiasm for drama at CLV), why not get ahead and sign up for the Youth Theatre 2023? Information on this will be available through drama teachers Mrs Dyer and Miss Jackson, or the head of music, Mrs Griffiths. If you feel you don't want to be under the spotlight, there are many different roles behind the curtain such as helping with props and set, lighting and choreography which you are more than welcome to join.
So if you do consider joining our family of performers, even if you don’t plan to take drama as a subject, it can lead to making new friends and having lots of fun which you’ll never forget.
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