The Working Notebook (40 marks)

Each student is required to complete a Working notebook documenting and exploring the creation, development and refinement of their ideas during the devising process. 

Students should illustrate the ways in which they have made connections between theory and practice throughout including: • research they have undertaken and how this has informed their decision making 

• ways in which they have applied the work and methodologies of their selected practitioner 

• relevant experiences of live theatre production and how these have influenced them in the shaping and development of their piece. 

The Working notebook is divided into two sections, each marked out of 20 marks: 

• Section 1: Rationale and research 

• Section 2: Development and refinement. 

Section 1: Rationale and research 

In this section students should define their inspiration for the devised piece and document their influences. 

They should outline their personal dramatic aims and objectives and those agreed upon by the devising group. 

Students must include: 

• the rationale for their starting point 

• an explanation of their dramatic influences, including the influences they have drawn from their research, their chosen practitioner and live theatre productions they have experienced.

an explanation of the stylistic and contextual factors they have taken into account 

• an explanation of their individual dramatic aims and intentions, identifying the connections they have made between theory and practice 

• an explanation of the dramatic aims and intentions of the piece, identifying the connections they have made between theory and practice.

Section 2: Development and refinement 

In this section students should explain how they developed and refined their work during the devising process, reflecting on their decision making along the way. 

They should demonstrate how theory has informed their practical work. 

Students should contrast the outcome of the final piece with their original aims and intentions, identifying how and why these changed during the devising process. 

Students must include: 

• an explanation of the approach they have taken in devising the piece 

• an explanation of their collaborative and independent decision making in relation to their evolving ideas, detailing how these ideas were experimented with, developed and refined during the devising process. Students should identify how these ideas connect theory and practice. 

• an explanation of the decisions they have made in relation to the application of their theatrical skills, detailing how these skills were developed and refined in the context of devising 

• an explanation of their final ideas for the devised performance, identifying how these ideas connect theory and practice 

• a comparison of the outcome of the final devised performance with the initial aims and intentions for the piece, identifying key areas of change and how the devising process has shaped these changes.

The Length of the Working Notebook 

If entirely written your Working Notebook should not exceed 3,000 words (evidence beyond this must not count towards the mark) 

Each section is suggested to be 800–1,200 words 

If written accompanied by: annotated photographs / annotated sketches/ drawings /annotated cue-sheets each section should be approximately 4–7 A4 pages and should not exceed 20 pages (evidence beyond this must not count towards the mark)