A LEVEL DRAMA EXAMS

During October half term, A Level Drama students began reading and researching their play Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Orton. Not only would students need to work on a larger chunk of material with this play, they also had to embrace a dark, farcical genre which would require an entirely different skill set than their other A Level exam play.

The narrative centres around Sloane, a handsome but shady young man who enters the household of siblings Ed and Kath. Middle-aged Kath is instantly attracted to Sloane, as is Ed and a fight for Sloane's affection ensues. However, as Sloane's murky past and psychopathic nature are revealed, the balance of power starts to shift. This was Orton's first play and its themes of oedipal conflict, bisexuality and violence caused outrage when it premiered in London's West End in 1964.

Alongside Entertaining Mr Sloan, students also started working on the play Constellations by Nick Payne earlier in the year. Constellations, a two-hander, follows the characters of Roland, a beekeeper and Marianne (or Manny in our same sex couple versions), a physicist, through their romantic relationship. Marianne often waxes poetic about cosmology, quantum mechanics, string theory and the belief that there are multiple universes that pull people's lives in various directions. This is reflected in the play's structure as brief scenes are repeated, often with different outcomes.

The challenge performing these duologues is the ability to switch rapidly between different emotional states and yet still provide convincing performances to an audience. Students used elements of Stanislavski's system for actors during the rehearsal period, focusing on 'units and objectives', 'actioning' and 'the blank canvas'.

Following performances of both plays, students will have completed 20% of their A Level course.