Assessment details

External assessment

Research investigation (25% HL and SL)

Introduction

Students at HL and SL must undertake personal dramaturgical research into an unfamiliar theatrical practice for the production of a play or theatre piece. Students should select a specific aspect of a play or theatre piece from the chosen theatrical practice to research, and then formulate a research question to answer. Students should collect, edit and present their research to contribute to a realization of the play/theatre piece from the chosen theatrical practice.

Students at HL are also required to write a critique of the sources used in the research investigation. For the critique to be effective, these sources must be relevant to the specifics of the research undertaken. This critique should form a separate section at the end of the research investigation. It should clearly demonstrate the student’s understanding of the sources used and their relevance to the investigation.

Content and format

The findings of the research investigation should be presented in an essay format with supporting visual and/or textual material. At HL the requirement is 2,000–2,500 words plus visual documentation and/or textual references. At SL the requirement is 1,500–1,750 words plus visual documentation and/or textual references. The linguistic register of the written work should be formal in nature, and the work should be clearly set out as a research investigation (that is, titled, sourced and attributed).

While working on the investigation, students should consult a range of sources. The bibliography accompanying the investigation must reflect the range and depth of the student’s research and his or her understanding of what is useful to a theatre practitioner.

As part of the learning process, teachers can give advice to students on a first draft of the research investigation. Advice on improving the work can be given, but this first draft must not be heavily annotated or edited by the teacher. Constant drafting and redrafting is not allowed, and the next version handed to the teacher after the first draft must be the final one.

Practical performance proposal (25% HL and SL)

Introduction

Students at HL and SL must adopt a directorial perspective and write a rationale, outline and detailed description of a proposal for staging a performance. This proposal should originate from one of the IBO prescribed performance stimuli. It should include written work, scenarios, images, storyboards and any other materials that convey the essence of the proposed performance, and the practical preparations necessary to realize it. Students should ensure that the proposal contains appropriate visual materials and does not depend solely on written descriptions.

Students at HL should also include a report on the wider theoretical context of the proposed performance, based on the research they have done and the experience and personal perspective they have developed during the preparation period.

Prescribed performance stimuli

The IBO provides schools with a list of prescribed performance stimuli in November of the year before both the May and November examination sessions. The list includes both text-based sources (for example, playtext, poetry, prose) and non-text-based sources (for example: a ritual, a CD of a poetry recitation, orally presented story or a song, a cartoon, a series of photographs, a tale or myth originally written in a non-Western language—for example, Arabic, kanji, Sanskrit—or a DVD of images taken from different cultures or historical periods).

Schools will receive the list of prescribed performance stimuli in the November edition of Diploma Programme coordinator notes. This gives schools the opportunity to acquire copies of the stimuli in time for the students’ preparation period. A new list will be produced each year.

Students at both HL and SL should choose one stimulus and be given four weeks to prepare the proposal. The stimuli must not be explored in class and students must not have any prior knowledge about the nature of them. Students must prepare for this assessment alone and without teacher assistance. Assistance must only be provided in the form of preparing students throughout the course for this type of activity, but not for the final activity itself on which they will be assessed, and no discussion on the stimuli should be entered into.

Content and format

The proposal at both HL and SL should contain the following aspects.

• A clear description of the performance concept (themes, interrelationships, actions and so on)

• How the concept can be developed for performance (origins, explored sources, inspirations, influences and so on)

• How the concept can inform and inspire the appropriate performance and production elements

• How the performance and production elements will interact to convey the performance concept

• Any other relevant details the student thinks are necessary to convey the artistic and dramatic impact of the proposed performance

Note: the contents of the proposal should contain appropriate visual materials and should not depend solely on written descriptions.

Work on the practical performance proposal should begin in the second year of study, when it will be informed by students’ increased maturity and experience in theatre. The format of the proposal should consist of three sections at HL or two sections at SL.

• Section 1 (HL and SL): a concise summary of the proposal in the style of a “pitch” that presents the proposal in a dynamic manner. This section should contain a maximum of 250 words.

• Section 2 (HL and SL): explanatory, visual materials to illustrate the student’s understanding of the intended process of realization. This section may consist of a storyboard (incorporating words and images), photographs, sketches, diagrams, collages, a DVD, a CD-Rom and so on. This section must not be written in a formal essay style.

• Section 3 (HL only): in addition to the above, students at HL should write a report of 1,000–1,250 words, which should comprise a commentary on any of the following aspects of the proposed performance.

  • Philosophical rationale

  • Socio-historical influences

  • Traditional/cultural influences

  • Possible impacts and resonances

Internal assessment

Theatre performance and production presentation (25% HL and SL)

Introduction

Students must give an oral presentation on their involvement in the performance and production aspects of all areas of the core syllabus. The presentation should be made to the teacher and the class, accompanied by a set of images to illustrate or counterpoint the spoken word. The presentation must be recorded on CD or audio cassette and the set of images (each not exceeding A4 size) should be arranged to accompany the presentation in any way of the student’s choosing. This may take the form of a slide show presentation but is equally valid as a set of A4 photocopies.

The oral presentation should be made in the second year of study, when it will be informed by students’ increased maturity and experience in theatre. It should be focused on one or two performances in which the student has been involved.

Content and format

During the presentation students should reflect critically on the skills they have acquired and developed during the course, both as practitioners and spectators. The presentation should include reviews and analysis of productions the student has witnessed or participated in, and may include an account of their ideas in relation to the production of theatre. In this way, it should also draw upon the insights and concerns chronicled in their journal. Images may be used to emphasize various points, or may function as an abstract or symbolic parallel narrative to the oral content of the presentation.

Students at HL should speak for 30 minutes and select between 7 and 10 images. Students at SL should speak for 20 minutes and select between 5 and 7 images. Given these restraints, an exhaustive analysis of the selected topic is not expected and students should be encouraged to focus on one or two experiences/productions from the course that enable them to reflect on the course in its entirety.

The presentation must not simply be a reading from, or repetition from memory of, the notes prepared beforehand. However, students should be encouraged to regard the presentation as a performance, to communicate passionately and convincingly and to speak from personal commitment.

Preparation

In preparing for the presentation, students should be encouraged to consider the following integrated aspects.

At both HL and SL

• Understanding how the areas of the core syllabus connect with their own practice

• The processes involved in realizing a performance, including the devising and rehearsal techniques and the technical elements of production

• The technical skills developed throughout the course and the abilities and aptitude they have gained

• The critical response to their own work and the work of others

• The effect of the performance on the spectators and the context in which it was received

At HL only

• The research and planning processes involved in realizing the performance

• Making and justifying aesthetic and practical choices

• Analysing how effectively their concept(s) were realized on stage

• Understanding how theories, research and practical exploration can be used in performance

• Investigating source materials

• Analysing different genres, theorists or practitioners

Role of the teacher

Throughout the preparation period the student should work independently. During the presentation itself the teacher and class should not interrupt. However, if the student panics or falters, support and encouragement may be necessary. In such situations, the teacher should try to draw the student out and give him or her the confidence to continue. The teacher may, at this stage, engage the student in a discussion of significant points raised and encourage the student to:

• improve or expand on statements that seem doubtful or inadequate

• illustrate general statements with specific examples

• communicate clearly an imaginative and practical interpretation of productions.

Independent project portfolio (25% HL and SL)

Introduction

Students at HL and SL must prepare an independent project portfolio that shows the development of their independent project and its connection to their experiences in the core syllabus. The portfolio could include an amalgam of carefully selected and edited insights from their journal, showing how their explorations in theatre have influenced their independent project.

Content and format

The portfolio may contain a variety of materials in different formats depending on the nature of the independent project and the type of reflection it inspires. It should demonstrate the dynamic stages of a creative process consisting of the following.

• Preparation: this can include stimuli, observation, research, brainstorming, experimentation, improvisation, rationale, setting objectives.

• Action: the shaping of material into a chosen theatrical form.

• Reflection: evaluation and analysis of whether set objectives have been met, leading to an understanding of how coherence is achieved.

The word limit for the independent project portfolio is 3,000 words at HL and 2,000 words at SL. The portfolio for both HL and SL should consist of:

• a table of contents

• an introduction

• clearly marked sections

• a conclusion

• all visual material, which must be sourced and attributed.

Role of the teacher

While the teacher may offer guidance and advice on the journal, the compilation of the independent project portfolio must be the student’s own work.