Singapore O-Level Drama (SEAB 2299) devising original drama quiz: stimulus, generating and shaping, structure, ensemble, rehearsal and the devising log quiz

A finished script to perform

A type of stage configuration

The final dramatic intention

A starting point that sparks ideas for original drama

Questioning it with who, what, where, when, why and what if, plus free association and physical response

Immediately writing the final script

Choosing the first idea and stopping

Waiting for inspiration to strike alone

The plan for the lighting rig

What the group wants the audience to think or feel, used as the compass for every choice

The order in which scenes were improvised

The list of props required

Keep every idea the group creates

Generate as little as possible to save time

Create far more material than the piece will use, then keep only what serves the dramatic intention

Select material at random

Proscenium staging

Plot retelling

Diegetic sound

Improvisation, hot-seating, still images, thought-tracking and narration

Because a clear situation, objectives and intention make the discovered material usable rather than aimless

Because a frame removes all creativity

Because frames are required by the syllabus wording

Because it lets the group skip rehearsal

Because scenes must always be in chronological order

Because structure is needed to turn separate moments into one coherent experience with direction and impact

Because strong scenes are usually too short

Because a piece needs at least ten scenes

Events presented strictly in chronological order

A single continuous real-time scene

A framing device, flashbacks, montage or a cyclical structure that ends where it began

Reading the script aloud from start to finish

A narrator at all times

An interval

At least three deaths

A clear beginning that hooks the audience, a development that builds, and an ending that lands the intention

The piece above personal ego, with the group working as a unified team

The strongest individual performer's preferences

Avoiding all disagreement

Finishing as quickly as possible

Let the loudest member decide

Focus on the shared dramatic intention, test competing ideas on their feet, and use fair decision methods

Avoid the disagreement and keep all ideas

Abandon the piece

It generates the first ideas

It chooses the stimulus

It turns rough material into a reliable, polished performance through repetition, detailed work, problem-solving and testing

It writes the devising log automatically

Listen politely then ignore it

Treat it as a final judgement that cannot be changed

Only accept praise

Act on it by making changes and re-running to check the fixes

Description narrates what happened; reflection explains why a choice was made, its intended effect, whether it worked, and what was learned

There is no difference

Reflection only records the plot

Description is always longer than reflection

Plot, then characters, then setting

Decision, then reason linked to intention, then intended effect, then honest evaluation with evidence, then learning

Praise, then more praise

A simple list of what each person did

Because failures must be hidden from the marker

Because the log should only record finished scenes

Because honest accounts of experiments and failures show real engagement and the learning that came from them

Because failures prove the group is weak