Quick questions on Individual Project Performance: HSC Drama practical

A devised solo piece is built from a stimulus, theme or concept rather than from a published script. The student writes (devises) and performs their own material.

The NESA panel visits the school during Term 3 (sometimes at the same visit as Group Performance, sometimes separately). The student performs the piece live.

Six to eight minutes of performance.

One performer on stage. No other students. No technical assistance during the piece other than what has been pre-set (lighting, sound).

Performed in front of a NESA panel.

The character is within the student's plausible range (age, gender, emotional register, vocal demands). A 17-year-old performing a 60-year-old character is a stretch; a 17-year-old performing a 17-year-old or 25-year-old character is workable.

The monologue should have a journey: an emotional arc, a discovery, a decision, a moment of change. A flat monologue (one note throughout) gives no room for the performer to show range.

Markers respond to monologues that come from significant moments in plays. A throwaway speech from a minor character gives less context than a major character's central speech.

Six to eight minutes is the target. Trimming a longer speech is fine; padding a shorter one is risky.

A monologue that has been performed by professional actors gives the student something to study (and to push against) in rehearsal.

A poem, a photograph, a memory, an event. The narrower the stimulus, the more focused the piece.

What the piece is about, in one sentence. Without a central idea, devised work drifts.

Direct address, character monologue, choric structure, fragmented narration, physical theatre. The form should fit the content.

The teacher, a mentor, a senior student can see what the performer cannot.

The performer reads the monologue (or develops the devised material) and researches its context. For a monologue: the play, the character's circumstances, the moment in the play. For a devised piece: the stimulus and any related material.