List B — AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre
Teaching note based on the AQA specification.
List B for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre is a prescribed set of three contrasting plays that students must study for the written exam, focusing on how directors, designers and performers interpret texts for contemporary audiences. It requires detailed practical and theoretical knowledge of each play's context, structure, characters and staging potential, assessed through essay questions in Component 1.
Test yourself on List B with AQA A-Level practice questions.
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Your focus
- These plays have been selected to represent 20th and 21st century drama.
Which command word is this?
In AQA A-Level Drama, 'explain' requires you to give reasons for your choices. You must go beyond description and justify how a specific staging idea would create meaning for the audience. Use phrases like 'this would...' or 'so that the audience...'.
List B exam tips
Topic Overview
List B is one of three set text lists for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre, comprising three plays that students must study in depth for the written exam. The plays are chosen to offer contrasting periods, styles and cultural contexts, allowing students to explore a range of theatrical conventions. For the exam, students must know each play's plot, characters, themes, structure and original performance conditions, as well as how they might be staged for a contemporary audience.
This topic matters because it tests both theoretical knowledge and practical creativity. Students must demonstrate an understanding of how directors, designers, performers and technicians collaborate to bring a script to life. It also develops analytical skills that are essential for the 25-mark essay questions in Component 1, where students must justify their own staging ideas with specific reference to the text and its context.
Key Concepts
- →Each List B play must be understood in its original performance context (e.g., Greek amphitheatre, Elizabethan playhouse, contemporary black-box theatre) and reimagined for a modern audience.
- →Directorial concept: a unifying interpretation that shapes all production elements, such as setting, costume, lighting and sound, to communicate a specific meaning.
- →Design elements (set, costume, lighting, sound, props) are not decorative; they are semiotic tools that create meaning and guide audience response.
- →Actor training and performance style: students must consider how vocal and physical skills (e.g., Brechtian gestus, Stanislavskian naturalism) would be used to portray characters.
- →The role of the audience: whether they are passive observers, active participants, or emotionally distanced, and how staging choices affect their experience.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Always use specific theatrical terminology (e.g., 'upstage', 'cross-fade', 'cyclorama', 'gestus') to demonstrate subject knowledge. Avoid vague words like 'nice' or 'good'.
- 💡For 25-mark questions, aim for a clear introduction stating your directorial concept, then three or four detailed paragraphs, each focusing on a different production element, and a conclusion that summarises the intended audience impact.
- 💡Reference the text directly: quote lines or stage directions to justify your choices. This shows the examiner you know the play intimately, not just the plot.
Common Mistakes
- Students often think they must write about the original production they saw, but the exam requires them to create their own directorial concept. You can reference productions for inspiration, but the focus must be on your own staging ideas.
- Many students believe that context is just historical facts. In fact, context must be integrated into staging choices - for example, how would you use the original Greek amphitheatre's acoustics in a modern production?
- Some students assume that design elements are separate from acting. The best answers show how set, costume, lighting and sound work together with performance to create a unified audience experience.
Revision Plan
- 1Week 1: Read each List B play twice. First for plot and characters, second for structure, language and stage directions. Create a scene-by-scene summary for each play.
- 2Week 1-2: Research the original performance conditions of each play (e.g., Greek amphitheatre, Elizabethan playhouse, contemporary theatre). Make a fact file for each.
- 3Week 2: Watch at least one production of each play (live or recorded). Take notes on directorial choices, design and acting style. Compare with your own ideas.
- 4Week 2: Practise writing 25-mark essay plans for each play, focusing on different production elements (set, costume, lighting, sound, movement).
- 5Ongoing: Create flashcards for key quotes, stage directions and contextual facts. Test yourself regularly using active recall.
Exam Question Types
- 📋25-mark essay: 'As a director, explain how you would stage a key moment in one List B play to highlight a central theme.' Advice: State your concept, then detail specific staging choices and their intended audience effect.
- 📋25-mark essay: 'Analyse how a designer could use two production elements to communicate the relationship between two characters.' Advice: Choose two elements (e.g., set and costume) and show how they work together to reveal power dynamics or emotional shifts.
- 📋25-mark essay: 'Discuss how your understanding of the play's original performance conditions has influenced your directorial concept.' Advice: Integrate contextual facts with practical staging ideas, showing how you have adapted or subverted original conventions.
- 📋15-mark question (shorter): 'Explain how one performer could use vocal and physical skills to portray a character in a specific scene.' Advice: Focus on specific skills (e.g., pitch, pace, gesture, posture) and link them to character intention and audience response.
Command Word Expectations (AQA)
Explain
In AQA A-Level Drama, 'explain' requires you to give reasons for your choices. You must go beyond description and justify how a specific staging idea would create meaning for the audience. Use phrases like 'this would...' or 'so that the audience...'.
Analyse
'Analyse' demands a detailed breakdown of how production elements work together to create effect. You should examine the relationship between choices (e.g., how lighting interacts with sound) and their impact on the audience's understanding of character or theme.
Evaluate
'Evaluate' requires you to weigh up the effectiveness of different staging choices. You must make a judgement, supported by evidence from the text, about which choices would be most successful in communicating your directorial concept to a contemporary audience.
How Students Lose Marks (Examiner Pitfalls)
Pitfall: Students describe the plot of a List B play instead of analysing how specific production elements create meaning for an audience.
❌ Weak Answer (Loses Marks):In 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time', Christopher finds a letter and then goes to London. This is important because it shows he is brave.
Example improved answer:In the National Theatre production of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time', the director Marianne Elliott uses a black-box set with a grid floor and video projections to represent Christopher's subjective experience. When Christopher finds the letters, the stage floor lights up with a constellation pattern, and the ensemble physically manipulates his body to show sensory overload. This expressionistic staging places the audience inside Christopher's mind, making his journey to London feel both terrifying and heroic rather than simply brave.
Examiner Tip: Always link a specific directorial or design choice to its intended audience effect. Use the phrase 'so that the audience...' to force yourself to analyse impact, not just describe action.
Pitfall: Students ignore the social, cultural and historical context of the play, or mention it without connecting it to staging choices.
❌ Weak Answer (Loses Marks):List B includes 'Antigone' by Sophocles, which is a Greek tragedy. It was written a long time ago and is about a girl who buries her brother.
Example improved answer:Sophocles' 'Antigone' was first performed in Athens around 441 BCE as part of a religious festival honouring Dionysus. The original staging used an amphitheatre with a skene and a chorus of Theban elders. For a contemporary AQA answer, I would set the play in a modern authoritarian state: Creon's palace becomes a brutalist concrete bunker, the chorus wear riot police uniforms, and Antigone's burial of Polynices is staged with a single flickering light bulb to symbolise resistance. This concept highlights the play's enduring conflict between state power and individual conscience, making it relevant to a 21st-century audience.
Examiner Tip: For top marks, always anchor context to a concrete staging idea. Examiners reward candidates who can justify a directorial concept using the play's original performance conditions.
Step-by-Step Worked Solutions
Question: As a director, explain how you would stage the opening scene of one List B play to establish the play's central conflict for a contemporary audience. (25 marks)
- 1.Step 1: Choose a specific List B play and identify its central conflict. For example, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' - the conflict between Christopher's need for order and the chaos of the world around him.
- 2.Step 2: State your directorial concept and intended audience effect. I would set the opening in a stark, black-box space with a grid floor, so the audience immediately feels Christopher's need for mathematical order.
- 3.Step 3: Describe two or three specific staging choices (set, lighting, sound, movement) and link each to the conflict. For example, when Christopher discovers Wellington's body, I would have the ensemble freeze and a single harsh spotlight isolate him, while a low-frequency hum builds to suggest his sensory overload.
- 4.Step 4: Explain how these choices communicate the conflict to a contemporary audience. This staging makes the audience experience Christopher's neurodivergent perspective, emphasising the play's theme of difference versus societal norms.
Final Answer: A successful answer will combine a clear directorial concept with specific, practical staging choices that are justified by the play's themes and intended audience impact.
Question: Analyse how a designer could use costume to highlight the power dynamics between two characters in one List B play. (25 marks)
- 1.Step 1: Select a play and two characters with a clear power imbalance. For example, 'Antigone' - Creon (the king) and Antigone (the prisoner).
- 2.Step 2: Identify the power dynamic and the designer's intention. Creon holds political power; Antigone holds moral power. The designer's intention is to visually contrast these forms of authority.
- 3.Step 3: Describe specific costume choices for each character. Creon wears a sharp, military-style uniform with medals and polished boots to signify state power. Antigone wears a simple, torn, earth-stained dress that becomes increasingly dishevelled, symbolising her moral integrity and physical vulnerability.
- 4.Step 4: Explain how these choices communicate the dynamic to the audience. The contrast between Creon's rigid, decorated uniform and Antigone's plain, deteriorating dress visually reinforces the play's conflict between authoritarian rule and individual conscience.
Final Answer: Top-band answers will use precise costume terminology (e.g., silhouette, fabric, colour palette) and consistently link design choices to character relationships and audience interpretation.
Active Recall Memory Test
What are the three plays in List B for AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre?
Key Fact: The three plays are 'Antigone' by Sophocles, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' by Simon Stephens (adapted from Mark Haddon's novel), and 'The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams. (Note: List B may vary by exam series; always check the current AQA specification.)
What is a directorial concept and why is it important for List B questions?
Key Fact: A directorial concept is a unifying interpretation that shapes all production elements to communicate a specific meaning. It is important because exam questions ask you to explain or analyse your own staging ideas, and a clear concept ensures your choices are coherent and justified.
Name two original performance conditions of Greek theatre that might influence a modern staging of 'Antigone'.
Key Fact: The amphitheatre's open-air acoustic design (which required actors to project and use masks) and the presence of a chorus that commented on the action. A modern director might use a chorus as a physical ensemble or incorporate mask work to reference these conventions.
How can a designer use costume to show a character's change in status?
Key Fact: A designer can use costume to show status change through fabric, colour, fit and accessories. For example, a character might start in a pristine, tailored suit and later appear in a torn, stained version of the same outfit, symbolising a fall from power or loss of control.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is List B in AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre?
List B is one of three set text lists in the AQA A-Level Drama and Theatre specification. It contains three contrasting plays that students must study for the written exam (Component 1). The plays are chosen to represent different periods, styles and cultural contexts, and students must know them in depth, including how they might be staged for a contemporary audience. The specific plays can change, so always check the current AQA specification for the exact titles.
How many marks are List B questions worth in the AQA A-Level Drama exam?
List B questions are typically worth 25 marks each in the Component 1 written exam. There may also be shorter 15-mark questions. The 25-mark questions require a detailed essay response that demonstrates knowledge of the play, directorial or design ideas, and audience impact. The marks are awarded for accurate contextual knowledge, specific staging choices, and clear analysis of how those choices create meaning.
Do I need to have seen a live production of the List B plays?
While it is not strictly required, watching a live or recorded production is highly recommended. It helps you visualise staging possibilities and understand how directorial choices affect the audience. However, in the exam, you must present your own directorial concept, not simply describe a production you have seen. Use productions as inspiration, but always adapt ideas to your own vision.
How do I revise for List B effectively?
Effective revision involves reading the play multiple times, creating scene-by-scene summaries, and researching the original performance conditions. You should also practise writing essay plans for different production elements (set, costume, lighting, sound, movement) and get feedback from your teacher. Using active recall, such as flashcards for key quotes and contextual facts, is more effective than just re-reading notes. Finally, watch productions and make notes on directorial choices to inspire your own ideas.
What common mistakes should I avoid in List B exam answers?
Common mistakes include describing the plot instead of analysing staging choices, ignoring the play's context, and failing to link design choices to audience effect. Another mistake is writing about a production you have seen rather than creating your own directorial concept. To avoid these, always ask yourself: 'How does this choice create meaning for the audience?' and 'Have I justified this with reference to the text and context?'
Can I use the same directorial concept for all three List B plays?
No, each play requires a distinct directorial concept that responds to its unique themes, structure and context. While you might have a preferred style (e.g., minimalism or expressionism), you must tailor your approach to each play. For example, a concept for 'Antigone' might focus on political authoritarianism, while 'The Curious Incident' might focus on neurodiversity and sensory experience. Examiners reward candidates who show flexibility and deep understanding of each text.