If you love all things theatre but don’t want to perform then this is the course for you! This BTEC award in Technical Theatre is designed for students to gain the knowledge and skills to pursue a career in the live arts, entertainment, and events industry. This programme focuses on developing a vocational understanding of theatre industry roles and responsibilities, including academic knowledge and practical experience in one of the following disciplines :
If you choose Technical Theatre, you will have an opportunity to explore a range of performance styles and practitioners, taking original and existing productions from concept to final design. After this exploration, you will apply the skills and techniques you have learned to showcase your designs for existing drama, dance or musical theatre.
In the final stages of the course, you will work with peers on the Theatre Performance pathway to create a performance in response to a brief and evaluate the process you have been through to take it from concept to stage.
The Technical Theatre programme takes a forward-facing approach to technical theatre, promotes exploration of new practices and teaches the fundamentals of the industry.
In the first stages of the course, you will explore technical theatre and design in a range of styles, looking at professional, existing works and creating your own designs / technical elements in response to them. After this, you will work with the theatre performance team and take a production from initial ideas to final product, working on briefs set by the exam board. You can explore these briefs in whichever direction your creativity takes you!
The course is made up of three components:
Component One: Exploring the Performing Arts
You will undertake workshops in different styles of performance, exploring the work of professional designers in the Performing Arts Industry. You will investigate the techniques, approaches and processes that make up the creation of professional performance.
Component Two: Developing Skills and Techniques in the Performing Arts
You will prepare and stage your own designs for existing productions of dance, drama or musical theatre performance. You will develop your performing arts skills and techniques in workshops in preparation for a final performance, including interpreting a director’s brief
Component Three: Responding to a Brief
You will create original group performance ideas based on a brief or stimulus set by the exam board. In response to this brief, you will be asked to consider a target audience, starting the creative process with the stimulus in mind. Working as part of a group, you will develop your ideas for a workshop performance, applying key skills and techniques to communicate your creative intentions to your audience.
Components One and Two are assessed through non-exam internal assessment, which has been designed to demonstrate students’ application of their knowledge of the Performing Arts Industry and its processes. These components focus on knowledge and understanding, development and application of skills and reflective practice. The exam board set the Assignments for Components One and Two.
Component Three is an external assessment, completed under supervised conditions. The aim of this Component is to summarise and evidence students’ learning throughout the qualification. The external assessment is based on a key task that requires students to demonstrate that they can identify and effectively apply skills, techniques, concepts, theories and knowledge that they have covered throughout the course.
Many of the skills learnt within the course are transferable. You will learn how important it is to be approachable as a person and how to manage time carefully, which are valuable life skills. Being creative is a great way to get your brain to think differently and take different approaches to situations.
You may be required to download free, secure software or apps at home for your chosen discipline. After this, general learning equipment will be required, as outlined in your School Planner.
Technical Theatre will help you to become a confident member of society, to celebrate diversity, to achieve your aspirations through creativity and commitment and help you to secure a better understanding of your own values. All this will be achieved through the study and creation of theatre design from a range of cultures and styles, touching on topics that challenge your perspectives.
Study of the qualification as part of Key Stage 4 learning will help learners to make more informed choices for further learning, either generally or in this sector. The choices that learners can make post-16 will depend on their overall level of attainment and their performance in the qualification. Learners who generally achieve at Level 2 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to:
Learners who generally achieve at Level 1 across their Key Stage 4 learning might consider progression to study at Level 2 post-16 in a range of routes designed to lead to work, employment, apprenticeships or further study at Level 3.
