Unit 4 Drama Solo Performance Examination
Congratulations to our Unit 4 students who have completed their VCAA Solo Performance Examination at the Capital Theatre this week! This year our Unit 4 Drama class was comprised of students in Year 11. Through the challenges of remote learning, the students have soldiered on, creating and developing their own performances based on character structures set by the VCAA for this examination. Each Character Task requires students to research into the character and stimulus material provided to create their own plot and storyline, whilst applying performance styles, conventions, dramatic elements and production areas such as costumes and props to address the performance focus. Each performance must not be longer than 7 minutes, so careful editing and refining must occur as the examiners time each performance. We applaud the following students for sustaining the journey and achieving performing their own devised solo work to the examiners:
Abigail Thompson: The Film Director
Performance focus
In 2021, at a test screening of the film The Real Lord of the Flies, the arrogant Film Director justifies his/her directorial choices to the less than enthusiastic survivors of the ordeal on the island ‘Ata. The Film Director tries to convince the group of survivors that their story needed to be embellished and fictionalised in order to
satisfy action-hungry movie-goers.
The Film Director does this by:
• showing examples of the far-fetched and adventurous new plot line(s)
• recreating moments from the real story of the boys’ experiences both before and while they were stranded on the island
• creating an example(s) of another real story that the film industry has altered in such a way that the original story is hard to recognise.
"Although the process of developing my solo was tough throughout the lockdown periods, all the work was worth it when performing the finished product. The exam performance was extremely fun. I was able to let loose and fully become the film director."
Abigail Thompson (11 Riley)
Zandile Khumalo: The Princess – based on a Disney Princess (Cinderella)
Performance focus
Create a solo performance based on the character of the Princess (Cinderella or Rapunzel or Sleeping Beauty or Snow White).
Fed up with a life of waiting for her ‘happily ever after’ ending and keen to create her own destiny, the Princess rallies her fellow fairytale characters. Chastising her less than impressed colleagues, she calls on them to break free from traditional stereotypes and to pave the way for a new generation of fairytale
characters.
The Princess does this by:
• highlighting one or more outdated messages in her own story as well as in other well-known fairytales
• creating an example(s) of how a traditional fairytale could be altered to have a more inclusive or diverse message
• showing examples of two or more real-life women who went against tradition and created their own destiny.
I really enjoyed the process of devising a solo for my unit 3/4 drama class. It was challenging at first, with lockdowns and other issues but I managed to get it done and performed and I’m extremely grateful to have an amazing drama teacher who was very patient with me throughout terms 3 & 4. My performance structure was The princess, and I had to portray a princess who was trying to get her fellow princess friends to change the ideas of traditional Disney stereotypes. I enjoyed coming up with ideas and scriptwriting and I most definitely enjoyed the beautiful costuming. Overall it was a great and fun experience but I’m happy it’s over and I’ve finished it!
Zandile Khumalo (11 Aherne)
