Drama and Theatre Studies

Throughout the School’s history, theatre and performance have always played key roles in our educational culture and community. The Drama Department takes its strength from the enduring enthusiasm and commitment to the subject from both staff and pupils. 

We offer Drama to every pupil in the School because we see it as a dynamic and creative subject that instills unique skills in our pupils. Within the drama classroom all pupils come to develop skills such as cooperation, confidence, collaboration, independent thinking, problem solving and creativity. We believe that this equips our pupils with key life skills that are transferable to any walk of life.

We are very proud of our successes in placing pupils at nationally recognised drama and performing arts schools and we have a strong mentoring system in place for students who are looking to continue their studies into the professional world. In both GCSE and A Level, the department consistently exceeds the national average in examination results. 

Pupils and students of Drama play a major part in the thriving range of productions, activities and trips that are part of our extracurricular programme which you can find out about by clicking the link below.

Click the button to find out about Harrodian's thriving extracurricular drama programme

GCSE

Results for 2018-2019:  65% 9-8, 100% 9-6

Course Introduction

Pupils study the Eduqas GCSE course which strikes an exciting balance between exploration and theoretical study. Through practical workshops pupils study the working of a range of practitioners including Stanislavsky, Brecht, Artaud, Berkoff and Frantic Assembly. Pupils are required to complete two practical assessments and sit a written examination at the end of the course.

As part of the course pupils will also engage in several workshops with visiting practitioners, attend several live theatre productions and participate in a residential drama weekend at Rookesbury Park. 
 

133_Harrodian_Oct%2021.jpgA Level

Results for 2018-2019: 66% A*-A, 100% A*-C

Course Introduction

Drama at A Level builds on the practical and theoretical base established at GCSE. Students explore the language of theatre through the study of new practitioners such as Peter Brook, DV8, Punchdrunk and Complicité.  The study of three set texts enables students to explore the different facets of drama - practically as an actor, director and designer. Assessment is separated into three practical tasks and one written paper sat at the end of the Edexcel A Level course 

Entry requirements

Students need to have an enthusiasm for all aspects of theatre and be ready to tackle challenging practical explorations.  Grade B or above at GCSE is desirable. For those who did not undertake GCSE, then evidence of excellent drama skills will be taken into consideration. 

For more specific year-by-year information, please refer to our Curriculum Handbooks/Information Booklets

Staff

Head of Drama: Michael Glen

Other teachers of Drama and Theatre Studies: please select the relevant department on the dropdown menu to view our full staff list by clicking here.