Quick questions on Individual Project overview: HSC Drama practical

All five Individual Project options share several features.

A 3,500-word Director's Folio based on one text from the NESA Text List for Individual Projects. The Folio presents and justifies a directorial concept or vision arising from a deep understanding of the play. The text is negotiated with the class teacher and approved by NESA (a topic is recorded on the NESA registration system early in the year). Annotated scripts are not a requirement of the project.

The Individual Project is by one student; the Group Performance is the collaborative task.

Students select their option in Term 4 of Year 11 or early Term 1 of Year 12. The choice locks in; it is difficult (and discouraged) to change after Term 1.

All options require a logbook of process documentation kept across the year. The logbook records the student's research, decisions, dead ends and revisions. It is part of the submitted material.

The completed work is submitted to NESA at the end of the year. Performance and Video Drama have specific submission processes (recording or filming the work for NESA's panel).

Unlike the Group Performance, each Individual Project receives its own individual mark.

A study of a specific playwright (Beckett, Brecht, Williamson, Enoch). A study of a movement (Theatre of the Absurd, verbatim theatre, Australian Indigenous theatre). A study of a dramatic technique (use of chorus, devising methods, physical theatre conventions).

Too broad a topic. Too late a topic registration. Not enough engagement with primary material (the plays themselves).

Speeches from Shakespeare. Speeches from prescribed and other Australian playwrights (Lawler, Williamson, Nowra, Enoch). Contemporary international monologues (Sarah Kane, Caryl Churchill, debbie tucker green).

A Shakespeare. A contemporary play with strong design potential (When the Rain Stops Falling, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Trojan Women). A studied prescribed text.

A two-hander. A monodrama. A short ensemble piece (3 to 5 characters).

A strong essay writer should do Critical Analysis. A trained actor should do Performance. A visual designer should do Design.

Critical Analysis pairs well with English Advanced and Extension. Performance pairs with Music or other performing subjects. Design pairs with Visual Arts or Design and Technology.

Late changes lose months of work. Talk to your teacher in Year 11 about the choice. Talk to senior students about their projects.