HIGHER
SCHOOL
2017 CERTIFICATE
EXAMINATION
Drama
General • Reading time – 5 minutes
Instructions 1
• Working time – 12 hours
• Write using black pen
Total marks: Section I – 20 marks (page 2)
40 • Attempt Question 1
• Allow about 45 minutes for this section
Section II – 20 marks (pages 3–6)
• Attempt ONE question from Questions 2–8
• Allow about 45 minutes for this section
2220
Section I — Australian Drama and Theatre (Core Study)
20 marks
Attempt Question 1
Allow about 45 minutes for this section
Answer the question on pages 2−8 of the Drama Writing Booklet. Extra writing booklets are
available.
Your answer will be assessed on how well you:
● demonstrate knowledge and understanding of drama and theatre relevant to the
question
● express your point of view using appropriate supporting evidence
● present a sustained, logical and cohesive response
Question 1 (20 marks)
How do Australian plays encourage audiences to feel empathy for the outsider?
In your answer, refer to your study and experience of at least TWO plays in this topic.
Topic 1: Dramatic Traditions in Australia
Texts set for study:
– Alex Buzo, Norm and Ahmed
– Jack Davis, No Sugar
– Dorothy Hewett, The Chapel Perilous
– David Williamson, The Removalists
OR
Topic 2: Contemporary Australian Theatre Practice
Texts set for study:
– Jane Harrison, Stolen
– Lally Katz, Neighbourhood Watch
– Daniel Keene, Life Without Me
– Mirra Todd, Fearless
– 2 –
Section II — Studies in Drama and Theatre
20 marks
Attempt ONE question from Questions 2–8
Allow about 45 minutes for this section
Answer the question on pages 10−16 of the Drama Writing Booklet. Extra writing booklets
are available.
Your answer will be assessed on how well you:
● demonstrate knowledge and understanding of drama and theatre relevant to the
question
● express your point of view using appropriate supporting evidence
● present a sustained, logical and cohesive response
Question 2 — Tragedy (20 marks)
‘In Tragedy, the audience is shocked by the punishment of characters for actions beyond their
control.’
Discuss this statement with reference to your study and experience of TWO plays in this topic.
Texts set for study:
List 1
– Sophocles,
Oedipus Tyrannus
or
– Sophocles,
Antigone
AND
List 2
– Arthur
Miller, Death of a Salesman
or
– Tony
Kushner, Angels in America (Part 1)
OR
– 3 –
Question 3 — Approaches to Acting (20 marks)
How do practitioners train their actors to create a unique stage presence and relationship with
their audience?
In your answer, refer to your study and experience of TWO practitioners in this topic.
Practitioners and texts set for study:
– Augusto Boal, Games for Actors and Non Actors
– Jacques Lecoq, The Moving Body
– Jonathan Pitches, Vsevolod Meyerhold
– James Slowiak and Jairo Cuesta, Jerzy Grotowski
OR
Question 4 — Verbatim Theatre (20 marks)
‘The authenticity of Verbatim Theatre generates engagement that is sustained through dramatic
shape and theatricality.’
Discuss this statement with reference to TWO texts set for study and your experience of the
topic.
Texts set for study:
– Robin Soans, Talking to Terrorists
– Campion Decent, Embers
– Tom Holloway, Beyond the Neck
– Alana Valentine, Parramatta Girls
OR
– 4 –
Question 5 — Black Comedy (20 marks)
‘In Black Comedy, the audience is confronted with the cathartic experience of laughing with
those who inflict pain and loss.’
To what extent is this true of TWO plays you have studied?
In your answer, refer to your study and experience of TWO plays in this topic.
Texts set for study:
– Martin McDonagh, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
– Harold Pinter, The Homecoming
– Ian Wilding, October
– Neil La Bute, The Shape of Things
OR
Question 6 — Multi-Discipline Theatre (20 marks)
How does Multi-Discipline Theatre use collaboration to create representations and forms that
engage an audience in new ways?
In your answer, refer to your study and experience of this topic.
Practitioners and texts set for study:
• Robert Lepage and ExMachina
Texts set for study:
– Sasa Aleksandar Dundjerovic, Robert Lepage
– Patrick Caux and Bernard Gilbert, ExMachina: Creating for the Stage
or
• Simon McBurney and Theatre de Complicite
Texts set for study:
– Complicite,
A Disappearing Number
– Complicite,
Complicite Rehearsal Notes, a visual essay of the unique working methods
of the company
OR
– 5 –
Question 7 — Significant Plays of the 20th Century (20 marks)
How did the narrative styles and performance techniques of Significant Plays of the 20th
Century create a powerful impact on their audiences?
In your answer, refer to your study and experience of TWO plays in this topic.
Texts set for study:
– Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard
– Bertholt Brecht, Mother Courage
– Eugene Ionesco, The Bald Prima Donna (also known as The Bald Soprano)
– Caryl Churchill, Top Girls
– Moisés Kaufman and Members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, The Laramie Project
OR
Question 8 — Japanese Traditional and Contemporary Theatre (20 marks)
How does Japanese Theatre balance the energy of the body and the spectacle of performance
to make meaning for the audience?
In your answer, refer to your study and experience of this topic.
Texts set for study:
ONE of the following traditional Japanese forms:
– James
Brandon, Kabuki, Five Classic Plays
– Ernest Fenollosa and Ezra Pound, The Noh Theatre of Japan: With Complete Texts of
15 Classic Plays
– Stanleigh H Jones (trans.), ‘The Mountains’ from Mount Imo and Mount Se: Precepts
for Women
AND
– Tadashi
Suzuki, The Way of Acting
or
– Paul
Allain, The Art of Stillness, The Theatre Practice of Tadashi Suzuki
End of paper
– 6 –
BLANK PAGE
– 7 –
BLANK PAGE
– 8 –
© 2017 NSW Education Standards Authority
