Download AS theatre studies - summer work

AS THEATRE STUDIES
WRITING A REVIEW OF A LIVE PERFORMANCE
Seeing live theatre and being able to evaluate and criticise it is an
essential part of this course – it is part of your written exam. You may see
more than one theatrical event between now and mid September, of
course – the more you see the better. You can choose to write about any
style of theatre in any setting.
Write a detailed paragraph for each of these points – you can use
bullet points: this doesn’t have to be in continuous prose.
1. Begin your review with the title, venue and date of the
performance.
2. Give an outline of the plot and where and when it is set – you need
to show knowledge of social, cultural and historic aspects of the
play.
3. Describe the space – studio, outdoor, proscenium arch theatre, in
the round…? Look at the set before, during and after the
performance.
Sketch it if you can. Describe it in detail. What did you think
worked particularly well and what could have been better? Try to
describe one particular moment in the production when the staging
was used in an interesting way. Naturalistic? Representational?
Surreal? Symbolic?
4. The actors – make sure you have a cast list. Choose TWO
characters to focus on. Make sure you can write about what they
did at two or three specific moments in the play. Try to describe
their use of acting technique in detail.
5. Costume – describe it. Naturalistic? Symbolic? Describe one
character’s costume in detail.
6. Lights and sound – how were lights and sound used at specific
moments to achieve particular effects?
7. Props – any really important ones? Were they realistic or
symbolic?
8. Choose one or two key moments in the play. Were these
successful? How? Why?
9. And finally…your personal opinion is very important. Back your
ideas up with evidence. End your review with a conclusion – what
did you think of it? What effect, if any, did it have on you?