Acting

Students are required to learn two speeches (up to and including Grade 6) and three speeches (Grades 7 and 8) from memory. The speeches need to differ in period/style. One speech has to be chosen from the LAMDA Anthology and the others are chosen by the student/teacher. At Level 3 (Grades 6, 7 and 8) students will need to have read the whole play for all speeches.

Students will present a brief introduction for each speech prior to the performance, of no more than 30 seconds, announcing the play title, author and character and outlining the context of the extract.

After the presentation, the student will have a discussion with the examiner and may be asked to discuss any of the following:

• how the writer’s style and period of writing influenced the performance
• how important the scene is within the context of the play as a whole
• the importance of the character in each play as a whole
• the character’s objective in the performed scene
• the processes applied for developing characters for performance

The student will select one of the following practitioners:

• Stanislavski
• Brecht
• Edward Gordon Craig

and discuss their key principles in the process of acting and influences on theatre and acting.

The examination time will depend on the grade (eg Grade 6 and 7 = 20 minutes and Grade 8 = 25 minutes).