At a glance
Groups of 4–5 · rehearsed in class across the whole of Thread 4 · performed on Thread 4, Day 20 for an invited audience · three to five minutes on stage · this is your final evaluation, the thirty per cent described in How Marks Work
What you are making
Your group will stage one polished piece for a real, invited audience. You may revive the strongest work your group made this course — a Tableau Story Sequence, a scene grown from your Improvisation Showcase, or your Scene Study from a Story — and make it better than it was, or you may build a new short scene from a story your group agrees on. Reviving is not repeating: the piece must grow.
Two things make this performance different from everything before it:
- Production elements. The piece uses at least two simple production choices deliberately — costume, prop, sound, or light — chosen because they sharpen the piece, not decorate it. Start with Simple Costumes and Props, and place every body on stage with intention using Blocking and Stage Areas.
- Production roles. Every group member performs and holds one production role — director’s eye, stage manager, costume and props lead, or sound and front-of-house. Your Production Roles Interview told you what these jobs involve; now you do one of them for real.
How to work
- Choose fast: revival or new piece. A revival buys you rehearsal time; a new piece buys you fresh energy. Either can earn top marks.
- Assign production roles before you rehearse — the stage manager runs the clock from day one, and every cue gets written down.
- Rehearse the piece, then rehearse the production: a technical run for cues and entrances, then a dress run with every costume and prop in play, working as How to Rehearse describes.
- Trade audiences with another group and exchange notes — Giving and Receiving Notes keeps the feedback kind and useful.
- Performing for guests raises the stakes — Learning Lines early and trusting your warm-up routine are what nerves cannot take from you.
Rehearsal time is class time, and it is where most of what I judge actually happens — see How Marks Work.
A company of five, and five separate marks
There is no common group mark on this task, and on the piece that decides thirty per cent of your credit that matters more than anywhere else. Your mark comes from two things that are yours alone: your work on stage, and the production role you hold — the cues you called, the props you set, the house you managed, the decisions you made and wrote down. A company can be uneven and you can still meet every criterion below.
Success criteria
| Quality | What it looks like from the audience |
|---|---|
| A finished piece | Clear beginning, middle, and end — no drift, no filler |
| Growth | A revival is visibly better; a new piece is visibly rehearsed |
| Production choices | Costume, prop, sound, or light sharpens meaning, and the group can say how |
| Blocking | Stage areas are used deliberately and sightlines stay clean |
| Production roles | Each member’s role visibly worked — cues called, props set, house managed |
| Ensemble | The piece is built for everybody in it — every performer has something the piece needs |
If your group is stuck (click to expand)
Stuck groups usually try to make the piece bigger. Make it smaller: cut thirty seconds, cut a prop, cut a location. Then ask each production role to name the one thing their job must deliver on performance day — that list is your rehearsal plan for everything that remains.
Curriculum connection
A3.3
use a variety of technological tools to communicate or enhance specific aspects of drama works (e.g., lighting, sound, props, set, costumes)
Link to original
C1.3
demonstrate an understanding of production roles, practices, and terminology when planning and presenting drama works (e.g., technical rehearsal, dress rehearsal, props list, entrance cue, speech cue)
Link to original
B3.1
identify specific collaborative skills and attitudes that are required in preparing and staging drama works and explain how they can be applied in other fields or activities (e.g., acting/directing: willingness to take risks, negotiating skills, flexibility, self-confidence; stage managing: listening skills, willingness to consult, organizing skills, people-management skills)
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B3.3
identify and describe various roles, responsibilities, and competencies of key personnel in theatre work (e.g., director, actor, stage manager, set/costume designer, front-of-house administrator, executive producer)
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C3.1
identify and follow safe and ethical practices in drama activities (e.g., find ways to ensure the emotional safety [trust] and physical safety of themselves and others, both onstage and offstage; identify and follow guidelines for avoiding plagiarism and for respecting/protecting their own and others’ intellectual property rights)
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