Since I began teaching drama twenty years ago, I have seen the weight given to technical and design aspects of theatre in GCSE and A Level courses increase enormously. Students need to be able to ‘read’ design for live theatre evaluation. They need to be able to develop their own design ideas in relation to set texts, and some need to develop more than a theoretical knowledge to offer a design option for a practical component.
It is a lot to ask of drama teachers that we should be sufficiently versed in the complexities of lighting design and costume construction to be able to support our students in offering design for practical components, and many drama teachers admit to lacking confidence in these aspects of the courses.
Provision of resources to assist us in delivering design aspects of the GCSE courses is patchy. My intention here is to round up some of the online resources and text books which might be useful to you to develop your own knowledge, or which might be of direct use to your students.
AQA A Level Drama and Theatre Teaching Guides
AQA have developed a teaching guide for each design element, available on their website. They are excellent as a resource for teachers to use to develop our own understanding in order to be effective in delivering the tech and design aspects of all specifications, not just AQA. The bulk of each guide is focused on understanding the design element to a sufficiently high level to teach the element at A Level (regardless of specification).
Go to https://tinyurl.com/DTAu1AQA, or search ‘AQA A Level Drama and Theatre teaching resources’
National Theatre YouTube Channel
The National Theatre has produced a number of short, informative videos covering aspects of theatre design which are invaluable in bringing the design elements to life for students in the classroom. They are particularly useful for set design and costume design. To hear the designer themselves talking about their process really gives students a valuable insight into how a designer works in practice.
https://tinyurl.com/DTAu1NTYoutube
Textbooks – Designing Drama (GCSE), published by Illuminate Publishing
I have always found the short sections on design and technical elements in textbooks to be sketchy and of limited use. However, now Sue Shewring has written a series of textbooks focused exclusively on design aspects and pitched at GCSE students, and these will prove a really valuable resource to teachers and also student designers – especially those offering a design element for a practical component. The Edexcel book will be available from June 2020 with other specifications following thereafter. An accessible, exhaustive and long-awaited addition to the drama department library.
BBC Bitesize GCSE Theatre Design
BBC Bitesize doesn't need any context or introduction. The sections on the design aspects of theatre are informative and engaging, with lots of illustrations. This is the sort of resource that students can use independently in lessons or for homework.
Interactive Resources (online and 3D)
Matt Kizer's Online Light Lab (www.scenicandlighting.com). If you follow the ‘Light labs and educational tools’ link, students can explore the effects of colour and light direction on figures on a virtual ‘stage’. It's quite basic, but it is fun and it is free.
The Virtual Theatre (www.thevirtualtheatre.com). You have to pay a monthly or yearly subscription to gain access to this virtual set design tool for you and your students. It has limitations – you are restricted to an end-on stage configuration, the selection of props is limited, and it takes a bit of time to master the controls – but nonetheless it offers an opportunity for students to explore set design interactively. A ten-day free trial is available so you can assess its usefulness before committing to a subscription.
Stage-in-a-Box (www.theatre-inabox.com). At £372 this 3D stage in a box a significant investment. For your money you get a stage, flats, rostra, steps and figures as well as a working lighting rig. It is a beautiful thing. Students can explore design in a fully interactive way, although only a few students could interact with it at a time. Like ‘The Virtual Theatre’, it is limited to an end-on configuration so doesn't facilitate exploration of varied actor/audience dynamics, and, although it allows exploration of space and levels, it doesn't really support the design of naturalistic sets.
Digitally Recorded Live Theatre
Recordings of live theatre performances are one of the most important tools in teaching the design elements of theatre. A short section of a production can be watched repeatedly and analysed closely. There are two really useful platforms to support this:
Digital Theatre Plus (www.digitaltheatreplus.com). Lots of useful resources are available alongside some fantastic live theatre (Frantic Assembly's work is on here, for example). However, an annual subscription is very expensive so it isn't accessible to all schools and drama departments.
National Theatre Collection (www.nationaltheatre.org.uk) The National Theatre Collection offers thirty productions, including Jane Eyre and Frankenstein which are both wonderful to analyse in relation to design. It is free to state schools.