OCR's A Level Drama Text Management Service provides you with confirmation that the texts you have chosen to use for A Level Drama and Theatre constitute a valid combination. It also helps us support the delivery of your chosen texts.
Please note that you will need to use Drama Text Management Service every year before starting to teach your Drama A Level, even if you have not changed your text choices.
If you have multiple groups or classes taking different text combinations, you must use the Drama Text Management Service to confirm that every combination that your centre plans to use is valid.
If any of your chosen texts for performance are not found in the results below you can request that the texts be added through our suggest a text form on Teach Cambridge.
Texts in A Level Drama and Theatre
Students will study five different texts in this course. The texts for both the non-exam components (practitioners in practice and exploring and performing) can be chosen by the centre. Texts specified in the examined components (analysing performance and deconstructing texts for performance) are not allowed to be chosen as performance texts in the non-exam assessment.
Students are required to study five different texts, all of which must have been professionally commissioned or professionally produced. These must represent a range of social, cultural and historical contexts.
Performance texts must be longer than 60 minutes in performance time when performed in full and they cannot be by the same playwright.
In 'practitioners in practice' (component 11/12 or 13/14) students must study two practitioners of the centre’s choice. This may be an individual or company which meet all the following criteria:
- works within a recognisable performance style
- uses theatrical conventions consistently in a canon of work
- uses an identifiable set of working methodologies consistently which are documented either by themselves or by another
- has had a clear influence on the work of others, either their contemporaries, the industry at the time they are or were working, or a future generation of theatre makers
- had or has an innovative nature to their approach at the time they were or are working.
If your desired practitioner choice is not listed in the dropdown list, and is not listed below, please contact us.
In discussion with the drama community, it has been decided that the following individuals and companies do not meet the guidance set out above. Please contact the drama team if you disagree with this decision.
- Bill Mitchell
- Bob Crowley
- David Mamet
- Deborah Warner
- Declan Donnellan (Cheek by Jowl does meet the guidance)
- Gregory Doran
- Josie Rourke
- Julie Taymor
- Malcolm Rippeth
- Marianne Elliott
- Mike Alfreds
- Mike Leigh
- Nicholas Hytner
- Nicholas Kent
- Phyllida Lloyd
- Polly Findlay
- Propeller
- Rufus Norris
- Rupert Goold
- Theatre Alibi
- Unicorn Theatre
- Vicky Featherstone