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*MG*

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Hey guys, 

If anyone is taking theatre HL (or even SL), can you please tell me about it!

I'm starting theatre next year (August) and the school is giving me little information. Could you please tell me about the assignments and things like that. Can we make up the HL solo piece or do we have to use a script? 

 

Thanks in advanced :)

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I really loved theater when I signed up (I took HL), but let me tell you, the class is no joke. I loved my teacher, but he didn't actually know what he was doing so me and my three classmates (not a lot of students take IB at my school) had to figure out the assignments on our own. Once you actually know what you're doing though, and if you take it seriously, I'd say the class is even fun---you get to write play scripts and direct pieces and just learn a bunch about theater in general. There are four big assignments: The Director's Notebook, the Research Presentation, the Collaborative Piece, and the Solo Piece. I got a 31/32 on D's NB and Solo, a 29/32 on research, and a 23/32 on Collab (it was due the same day as the history IA, so...)

Directors NB is where you have to select a play, any play, and just research/analyze the mess out of it. You can write up to 20 pages about it's background, what message you want the audience to take away, how you would design/direct the entire thing, and then you have to 'closely' direct/stage two moments of the play. Also you have to indicate how you took inspiration from other plays you've seen live. It's not exactly hard since you're just recording and explaining all your ideas, but it requires a lot of research and you have to thoroughly understand the play in order to justify your creative decisions. Also it's tedious writing 20 pages, but you can include pictures and stuff so not so bad.

The Research Presentation involves learning a ton about one form of theater, literally anything from kabuki to English puppetry to Balinese dance, and then presenting about it for, I think, 15 minutes. Make sure to include a representation of the art form, like a minute long performance, and also talk about how you see the form's influence on theater today and how it has influenced your own perception, etc. It's only hard because of the length and if you're not good at public speaking.

For the Solo Piece, yes, you can write your own script to perform, which, to me, works even better than borrowing one because then you can talk about the creation process in your portfolio (less than 3,000 words talking about what you did, why, and how you felt about the final product). There's a lot of freedom here to do whatever you want, but just make sure you're recording your thoughts along the way and that your choices have reasons because the grade for this isn't about how good the performance is, but about how well you prepared and how well you reflect on the experience. Oh wait I left out something big: the entire piece has to be based around a theater theorist of your choosing---research someone who influenced theater in a big way and then make your piece emphasize what they're about. 

The collaborative piece was the most fun for me because my three other classmates happened to also be my best friends, but if you find group members who you work well with, it can be good for you too. Find and research a theater company and make sure you bring their approaches to your contribution to the group. Together you create a 15 minute theater piece, all based on the same starting point (the thing that inspired the piece), then everyone does their own individual portfolio reflection. Talk about what you, individually, did, how you approached it/the research you did, how your group got together etc. 15 pg max

To me the class was really enjoyable, although challenging and stressful at times. It makes you feel really creative and it's fulfilling to create, perform, and direct all your own stuff, especially when it turns out to actually be good. Just be ready to dig in and do a lot of writing. Also there's a lot of little details you need to abide by, so ask your teacher for copies of all the rubric stuff and requirements. One of the most helpful things our teacher did was to give us a big book of all the rubrics and IB written expectations for each project. It really helps having it all laid out like that and not having to dig around on google for the information.

Sorry for the super long response, but I hope this helps and best of luck with IB, you're gonna need it ;) 

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