Unit 3 - Area of Study 3: Analysing and evaluating theatre

Outcome 3

Analyse and evaluate the creative and imaginative interpretation of a written script in production to an audience.

Examples of lear​ning activities

• 
  Prepare for attending a performance of a play on the VCE Theatre Studies Unit 3 Playlist; attend the performance and discuss as a class.
  
• Before attending a performance of a play on the VCE Theatre Studies Unit 3 Playlist, read the script; discuss alternative interpretations of the text; act out scenes and discuss the results.
• Search the internet and download information on the contexts of the selected play: social, historical and political. Discuss how these contexts are shown in the selected playscript.
• Describe the style and conventions of the actual performance and the style of the original script.
• Where the styles of the performance and the original script are the same, consider if a change of style might have brought an improvement in the creation of meaning; where the styles are different, consider how the original intended meaning might have been altered or enhanced.
• Read published reviews about the performance and use these to create a database of language, terminology and expressions for the analysis and evaluation of the interpretation of the script.
• Note the major differences and similarities between how the play was written and how it was interpreted; indicate how close the interpretation was to the original intention of the text.
• Identify the theatre technologies used in this production. Discuss how the technologies were used and research the changes to the applied technologies in the last ten years. Discuss whether the technology was essential in creating meaning and justify reasons.
• Discuss how specific production roles contributed to the interpretation of a play in performance; research these areas and describe the conventions used.
• Discuss the success of the production, using the elements of theatrical composition to articulate your experience.

 

​​Detailed example

Interpreting a performance

Individually and/or as a class, students read the text of a performance chosen from the VCE Theatre Studies Unit 3 Playlist and complete the following:

• Discuss possible interpretations of the text.
• Act out scenes from the play based on discussions of possible interpretations.
• Use the internet, electronic media and print resources, to study the performance style and theatrical conventions associated with the play.

Attend a performance of the production and then discuss as a class:

• ways in which the playscript was interpreted through the use of performance styles and theatrical conventions, (e.g. by the actors in performance)
• ways in which the creative team of theatre practitioners interpreted the script through the use of production areas and theatre technologies.
• how the elements of theatrical composition were used to interpret the creative intentions of the production team.