IB Group 6 · The Arts
Theatre
2024 syllabus · First assessment 2024
A practical, collaborative arts course with no prescribed content: you choose your own material and are assessed on four making-tasks. These notes are tied to each task, its criteria and the key terminology the guide defines, with a how-to guide for every assessment and the HL-only solo theatre piece clearly split.
0. How the course works
Theatre has no prescribed content: you choose your own material and are assessed on making theatre. Start here for the making-process, the four perspectives and how the tasks fit together.
COURSE — Nature, aims and objectives
TH_ABOUT_1 · What Theatre is — A practical, collaborative, process-driven arts course with no prescribed content: you choose your own material and are assessed on making theatre, not memorising it.
TH_ABOUT_2 · Aims and assessment objectives — The four assessment objectives (inquiry, development, presentation, evaluation) and the course aims that shape every task, including the HL-only theory aim.
PROCESS — Process and perspectives
TH_ABOUT_3 · The theatre-making process — Inquiring, developing, presenting and evaluating: the four-stage cycle, driven by inquiry, action and reflection, that runs through every area of the course.
TH_ABOUT_4 · The four perspectives — Creator, designer, director and performer: the lenses you work through, and which assessment task calls on which.
ASSESS — Assessment overview
TH_ABOUT_5 · Assessment at a glance — The four tasks, their weightings and deliverables, and how SL (three tasks) differs from HL (four, adding the solo theatre piece).
P. Production proposal (Staging play texts)
Internal, SL 30% / HL 20%. Working as director and designer, you design a theoretical staging of a whole published play text you have not studied, presented as a written and visual proposal.
STAGING — The area and its terminology
TH_PP_1 · What staging play texts is — Transforming a published play text into staged action: mining the playwright's ideas and forming theatre-maker intentions, plus the taught activities you should have experienced.
TH_PP_2 · Key terminology — The words the IB defines for this task: play text, ideas in the play text, theatre-maker intentions, staging, performance versus production elements, TEAM and a moment in the play.
PROPOSAL — The task and how it is marked
TH_PP_3 · What you submit — A proposal of at most 12 pages of text and images, written text not exceeding 4,000 words, plus a source list, on a published play text (with an ISBN) you have not previously studied.
TH_PP_4 · Criterion A: Ideas and intentions — What this criterion rewards: identifying the key ideas in the play text and forming clear theatre-maker intentions, including performance style and performance space.
TH_PP_5 · Criterion B: The proposed design — What this criterion rewards: creative, coherent production-element design for staging the whole text, with the intended effect on an audience made explicit.
TH_PP_6 · Criterion C: The proposed staging of one moment — What this criterion rewards: using performance and production elements to create tension, emotion, atmosphere and/or meaning (TEAM) in one chosen moment.
PPGUIDE — How to build a strong proposal
TH_PP_7 · How to build a strong production proposal — A step-by-step route: choose the text, mine its ideas, form intentions, design the whole-text staging, stage one moment for TEAM, structure the pages and cite sources.
TH_PP_8 · Strong work and common pitfalls — What examiners reward (intentions-led, audience effect always stated) and the mistakes that cost marks (literary analysis, over-length, design without purpose).
R. Research presentation (Exploring world theatre traditions)
External, SL 30% / HL 20%. Working as a performer, you research an unfamiliar world theatre tradition, physically explore one of its performance conventions, and present your learning in a 15-minute video.
TRADITION — The area and its terminology
TH_RP_1 · What exploring world theatre traditions is — Authentic academic and practical exploration of an unfamiliar tradition through the body and/or voice, plus the taught activities you should have experienced.
TH_RP_2 · Key terminology — The words the IB defines for this task: theatre tradition, performance convention, traditional performance material, practical exploration, experimentation and the research presentation itself.
PRESENT — The task and how it is marked
TH_RP_3 · What you submit — A 15-minute maximum video of an individual research presentation giving evidence of academic and practical exploration of an unfamiliar tradition, plus a list of sources cited.
TH_RP_4 · Criterion A: The unfamiliar theatre tradition — What this criterion rewards: well-sourced academic research into the tradition, its context, and the function of the chosen performance convention within it.
TH_RP_5 · Criterion B: Practical exploration of the performance convention — What this criterion rewards: genuine, embodied practical exploration and experimentation with the convention, showing more than one approach to its challenges.
TH_RP_6 · Criterion C: Reflection on learning — What this criterion rewards: reflection on how the practical exploration developed you as a performer and deepened your understanding of theatre in the world.
RPGUIDE — How to build a strong presentation
TH_RP_7 · How to build a strong research presentation — A step-by-step route: choose an unfamiliar tradition, isolate one convention, research its context and function, explore it practically, experiment, then present and reflect on camera.
TH_RP_8 · Strong work and common pitfalls — What examiners reward (real embodiment, one focused convention, reflective not descriptive) and the mistakes that cost marks (a lecture with no practice, over-running the 15 minutes).
C. Collaborative project (Collaboratively creating original theatre)
External, SL 40% / HL 25%. Working as creator, designer, director and performer, an ensemble creates and performs an original 7 to 10 minute piece from a starting point, evidenced in a report and a video.
ENSEMBLE — The area and its terminology
TH_CP_1 · What collaboratively creating original theatre is — Creating original theatre as an ensemble from a starting point, formulating collective intentions and making individual artistic contributions, plus the taught activities you should have experienced.
TH_CP_2 · Key terminology — The words the IB defines for this task: ensemble, starting point, original theatre, individual artistic contributions (creator, designer, director), theatre-maker intentions and TEAM.
PROJECT — The task and how it is marked
TH_CP_3 · What you submit — A project report of at most 10 pages, written text not exceeding 4,000 words, plus a source list, and a 7 to 10 minute video of the final piece performed to an audience.
TH_CP_4 · Criterion A: The collaborative creative process and performance — What this criterion rewards: an effective collaborative process from starting point to performance, led by shared theatre-maker intentions.
TH_CP_5 · Criterion B: Individual contributions to the performance — What this criterion rewards: your specific individual artistic contributions as creator, designer and/or director, and how they served the intentions.
TH_CP_6 · Criterion C: Effectiveness of individual contributions seen in the video — What this criterion rewards: evidence in the video that your individual contributions were realised effectively on stage for an audience.
CPGUIDE — How to build a strong project
TH_CP_7 · How to build a strong collaborative project — A step-by-step route: research a company's methods, choose a starting point, set shared intentions, contribute individually, develop performance skills, gather feedback, perform and report.
TH_CP_8 · Strong work and common pitfalls — What examiners reward (clear individual contribution evidenced on video, genuine collaboration) and the mistakes that cost marks (a report that is all process and no self, weak intentions).
S. Solo theatre piece (Performing theatre theory), HL only
HL only, external, 35%. You research an unfamiliar theatre theorist, identify an aspect of their theory, and create and perform a 4 to 7 minute solo piece that visibly applies it, evidenced in a report.
THEORY — The area and its terminology
TH_SP_1 · What performing theatre theory is — Researching a theatre theorist and applying an aspect of their theory in performance, aligned to the theorist's overarching intentions, plus the taught activities you should have experienced.
TH_SP_2 · Key terminology — The words the IB defines for this task: theatre theorist, theatre theory, an aspect of theory, practical application, solo performance and theatre-maker intentions aligned to the theorist.
SOLO — The task and how it is marked
TH_SP_3 · What you submit — A report of at most 2,500 words, plus a list of primary and secondary sources, and a continuous unedited 4 to 7 minute video of the whole solo piece, on a theorist you have not previously studied.
TH_SP_4 · Criterion A: Researching theatre theory — What this criterion rewards: focused research into the theorist and the chosen aspect of theory, including the theorist's overarching intentions.
TH_SP_5 · Criterion B: Reflecting on the performed solo theatre piece — What this criterion rewards: insightful reflection on the process of creating the solo piece and the extent to which your intentions were fulfilled.
TH_SP_6 · Criterion C: Theatre theory in performance — What this criterion rewards: the chosen aspect of theory being visibly discernible in the performance itself, not merely described.
SPGUIDE — How to build a strong solo piece
TH_SP_7 · How to build a strong solo theatre piece — A step-by-step route: choose an unfamiliar theorist, find their overarching intentions, isolate one aspect, align your intentions, create and perform the piece so the aspect is visible, then report.
TH_SP_8 · Strong work and common pitfalls — What examiners reward (aspect visibly present in performance, intentions aligned to the theorist, one continuous take) and the mistakes that cost marks (theory only described, over-length).
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