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SingaporeTheatre Studies

Dramatic Theory and Practitioners

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What did Artaud mean by a Theatre of Cruelty, and how does a theatre that assaults the senses rather than the intellect affect an audience?

Explain Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty, including its rejection of text-led theatre and its emphasis on sensory assault, ritual and total theatre, and apply it to staging
A focused answer to the H2 Theatre Studies outcome on Artaud. The Theatre of Cruelty, the rejection of text-led drama, sensory assault and total theatre, ritual and the plague metaphor, and how these ideas shape a visceral, immersive staging that targets the audience's senses.
9 min answer →

How does Boal turn passive spectators into active 'spect-actors', and what does Forum Theatre achieve that conventional theatre cannot?

Explain Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed, including the spect-actor, Forum Theatre and Image Theatre, and apply these participatory techniques to a piece of theatre
A focused answer to the H2 Theatre Studies outcome on Augusto Boal. The Theatre of the Oppressed, the spect-actor, Forum Theatre and Image Theatre, the link to Brecht and political theatre, and how these participatory techniques turn an audience into active agents of change.
9 min answer →

Why did Brecht want to break theatrical illusion rather than sustain it, and how do epic-theatre techniques make an audience think critically?

Explain Brecht's epic theatre and the alienation effect, including gestus, episodic structure and direct address, and apply these techniques to staging a scene
A focused answer to the H2 Theatre Studies outcome on Brecht. Epic theatre and the alienation effect, gestus, episodic structure, songs and direct address, the contrast with dramatic theatre, and how to apply these techniques to staging a scene critically.
10 min answer →

What did Brook mean by 'the empty space', and what does his fourfold model (Deadly, Holy, Rough, Immediate) reveal about how theatre can come alive?

Explain Peter Brook's concept of the empty space and his Deadly, Holy, Rough and Immediate categories, and apply them to evaluating and shaping a piece of theatre
A focused answer to the H2 Theatre Studies outcome on Peter Brook. The empty space as the minimal definition of theatre, the Deadly, Holy, Rough and Immediate categories, Brook's synthesis of his predecessors, and how these ideas help evaluate and shape a living piece of theatre.
9 min answer →

What is the Poor Theatre, and what becomes possible when a production strips away everything except the trained actor and the audience?

Explain Grotowski's Poor Theatre, including the via negativa, the actor as the centre of theatre, and the actor-audience relationship, and apply it to staging
A focused answer to the H2 Theatre Studies outcome on Grotowski. The Poor Theatre and what it strips away, the via negativa and rigorous actor training, the actor as the centre of theatre, the reconfigured actor-audience relationship, and how these ideas shape an austere, intense staging.
9 min answer →

How did Stanislavski train actors to create truthful, psychologically believable behaviour on stage, and how do his techniques shape the way a scene is acted?

Explain Stanislavski's system of psychological realism, including given circumstances, the magic if, objectives and emotion memory, and apply it to acting a scene
A focused answer to the H2 Theatre Studies outcome on Stanislavski. His system of psychological realism, the given circumstances and the magic if, objectives and the through-line of action, emotion memory, and how to apply the method to acting a scene truthfully.
10 min answer →