Introducing: The Research Presentation
Students at HL and SL plan and deliver an individual presentation (15 minutes maximum) to their peers in which they outline their research and exploration of a theatre tradition they have not previously studied.
This must be selected from the prescribed list below:
This must be selected from the prescribed list below:
Topeng dance Bali Comedy of manners or Restoration comedy England, France
Wayang kulit shadow puppetry Indonessia, Malaysia Talchum mask dance Korea
Peking opera China Medieval mystery plays England, France, Germany
Commedia dell’arte Italy Shadow theatre Taiwan, China
Yuan Drama or zaju China French farce France
Bunraku Japan Hun lakhon lek puppetry Thailand
Khayal al-zill shadow puppets Egypt Karagozi shadow puppetry Greece
Kabuki Japan Khon dance drama Thailand
English Renaissance theatre England Kathakali India
Kyōgen farce Japan Karagöz shadow puppetry Turkey
Victorian melodrama England Barong (or Rangda) dance Indonesia
Noh theatre Japan Pantomime United Kingdom
Punch and Judy puppets England Comedy and tragedy Ancient Greece
Rakugo “sit down” theatre Japan Kecak Indonesia
Comedy and tragedy Ancient Rome Wayang golek puppetry Indonesia, Malyasia
Students research the cultural and/or theoretical context of the selected theatre tradition and identify one performance convention from this tradition to explore practically and physically. These explorations should be centred in the use of the peformer's body and can relate to one or more of the following:
The presentation MUST include a physical demonstration of the students practical and physical explorations of the performance convention and its application to a moment of theatre. The students then reflections on the impact this has had on them as a performer and as a learner.
Applying research to a moment of theatre
The assessed presentation includes the application of the research to a 'work in progress' demonstration of an appropriate moment of theatre that demonstrates and explains the performance convention the student has practically and physically explored. This moment of theatre should be determined by the student as an appropriate means of demonstrating and explaining how and why the chosen performance convention selected functions within a performance context. For example, as student selecting the theatre tradition of Kathakali might indentify the specific convention of the hand gesture language called mudras. To demonstrate and explain a range of these rich and complex hand poses a student might select a moment from The Ramayana. Alternatively, they may choose to use a moment from a story they have written themselves which they think best demonstrates ans explains mudras to others.
Presenting a demonstration of a moment of theatre
The moment of theatre will be presented as a "work in progress" which will not be expected to be a polished performance. The "work in progress" should show the student grappling with the world theatre tradition and the performance convention explored and reflecting on the skills and and knowledge required to be a performer of this tradition.
Using the theatre journal in this task.
The students should use the theatre journal to document the research and discoveries made and to organise the structure of the presentation.
It should contain the discoveries of research into the theatre tradition and its relationship to the cultural context of the theatre tradition.
Students should identify performance conventions of the chosen tradition; select one to focus on; place the convention within the context of the theatre tradition; record the process of physically exploring and applying the performance convention to the moment of theatre; record their learning and place the experience into a personal context as it relates to their development as a theatre-maker or learner.
- Gesture
- Face
- Body
- Movement
- Voice
The presentation MUST include a physical demonstration of the students practical and physical explorations of the performance convention and its application to a moment of theatre. The students then reflections on the impact this has had on them as a performer and as a learner.
Applying research to a moment of theatre
The assessed presentation includes the application of the research to a 'work in progress' demonstration of an appropriate moment of theatre that demonstrates and explains the performance convention the student has practically and physically explored. This moment of theatre should be determined by the student as an appropriate means of demonstrating and explaining how and why the chosen performance convention selected functions within a performance context. For example, as student selecting the theatre tradition of Kathakali might indentify the specific convention of the hand gesture language called mudras. To demonstrate and explain a range of these rich and complex hand poses a student might select a moment from The Ramayana. Alternatively, they may choose to use a moment from a story they have written themselves which they think best demonstrates ans explains mudras to others.
Presenting a demonstration of a moment of theatre
- Performers take years to master these theatre traditions and there is no expectation that students master their chosen performance convention. Students must instead demonstrate that there is something to be learned by engaging and grappling with traditions they have not previously studied. The process and what you learn from this exploration is what is important here.
- Where there are key production elements of the tradition that are intrinsic to the performance convention being explored (such as basic costume, props, set pieces or stage layout) that are deemed essential to the demonstration, it is recommended that these production elements are created or sourced as "mock ups" (for example, simple piece of fabric to suggest costume, cardboard representations of props, marked out space) to prevent students from spending time and resources on elements that are not assessed.
- It is advisable for students to present their moment of theatre with a 'stop and start' approach within the main presentation
The moment of theatre will be presented as a "work in progress" which will not be expected to be a polished performance. The "work in progress" should show the student grappling with the world theatre tradition and the performance convention explored and reflecting on the skills and and knowledge required to be a performer of this tradition.
Using the theatre journal in this task.
The students should use the theatre journal to document the research and discoveries made and to organise the structure of the presentation.
It should contain the discoveries of research into the theatre tradition and its relationship to the cultural context of the theatre tradition.
Students should identify performance conventions of the chosen tradition; select one to focus on; place the convention within the context of the theatre tradition; record the process of physically exploring and applying the performance convention to the moment of theatre; record their learning and place the experience into a personal context as it relates to their development as a theatre-maker or learner.