Unit 3b: Blood Wedding

Introduction In Unit 3b, you will study a play in detail, considering it as a text for performance. You will need to consider it from the perspective of audience, actor and designer, but most importantly, from the viewpoint of director. The examination question will provide an extract from the play and you will be asked to discuss how you would stage the extract in order to bring out a valid, personal interpretation. When writing your answer, you should be able to offer a critical overview of the entire play and provide clear directorial aims which takes into account the text's individual qualities and content, as well as its style, genre and history. The best students will demonstrate how their own research has helped them to clarify and broaden their understanding of the text, and the ways in which it can be performed. They will understand how to match directorial aims with performance techniques and design, so as to prompt an appropriate audience response. They will also be able to articulate creative ideas about how to stage the play and propose a good range of practical approaches to doing this. There will be clear links demonstrated between theoretical understanding of the play and practical suggestions for staging it. The quality of your writing is important. Poorly expressed or clumsy work suggests poor understanding and a weakness in communication. A good director should be articulate and perceptive, and the best answers in this part of the examination will demonstrate these qualities.

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In the exam First steps Read the extract carefully. Don't skim-read it and then start making generalisations. You will know the play well, of course, and should recognise the extract straight away. You will also have the whole text with you in the exam. Nevertheless, the extract is printed there for a reason: to emphasise the need to pay close attention to it in preparing your answer. Jot down the problems which this extract might present. Try to be as insightful as possible and work through the extract as a director would during a rehearsal. Consider, for example, the problems raised for the actors by what they have to say or do and how they have to react (it's often harder to listen to a long speech than to deliver it), and those raised for designers and stage managers. Consider, too, the problems which may be created by performing an old play in a contemporary theatre, or a foreign-language play to a British audience. Jot down ideas for staging the extract. Focus on one clear reading of the piece, but be prepared to offer several solutions to problems where this is relevant. Once you have jotted down your ideas, you are ready to begin Writing your answer writing your answer. Place the extract in context. Begin your answer by noting where the extract comes in the play as a whole. What has just happened? What elements of this extract will be important as the play develops? What is revealed here about important relationships? How are key themes articulated? Be careful not to tell the entire story; some mention of plot and narrative should be sufficient. You should treat this opening as if you were a director beginning a day's rehearsal: remind your cast where they are in the play.

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Articulate your directorial aims. Once you have briefly established a context for the extract, present a quick overview of your directorial aims for the play as a whole. In articulating these aims, you should refer now and again to the extract in front of you, but you should also be able to refer to other key episodes in the play, research you have done into the period, genre and style of the play, and performance conventions for such drama. Where relevant, you might also like to refer to the play's performance history and to other works by the same playwright. Imagine here that you are a director presenting ideas for a production to the board of a theatre company: you want to impress them with your understanding of the play and its context. Look back at the ideas you jotted down when thinking about the question. Try to link the potential problems you identified with the staging solutions you came up with. Write down clear sentences for each pairing or group. These, after a bit of pruning and sequencing, should form the skeleton of your answer. Begin a new paragraph with each sentence, and use that paragraph to develop and clarify your point. Use quotations from the extract to substantiate your ideas (sometimes you may need two or more paragraphs to explain a complex point well). Conclude your essay. There are many good ways of ending an essay, but a good fall-back option is to consider audience reaction: how do you want them to react to the extract? In what ways will they be prepared for what follows in the play?

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