Question 1

What is NCEA AS 91215 about?

Accepted Answer

AS91215 is an external exam (no internal assessment) worth 4 credits. You write about a specific theatre form or historical period — like Epic Theatre, Commedia dell'Arte, or Greek Theatre — and connect what you know to an actual text (a play) from that form. The exam has three questions, each with two parts, and you must answer all of them. You need to show you understand the features of the theatre form, how the text was typically performed, and why those features mattered to audiences of the time.

Question 2

What do students need to do for AS 91215?

Accepted Answer

1. Study one theatre form or period in depth (e.g. Epic Theatre, Commedia dell'Arte, Greek Theatre) including its history, social context, and key features like performance space, acting style, themes, and technology. 2. Learn a traditional text (a play) from that theatre form — not a modern adaptation, not a mixed-style play, and not your own class performance of scenes (except for Commedia dell'Arte, which allows devised work). 3. In the exam, answer all three questions (each has two parts). You'll be asked to discuss things like the typical performance space, how characters face obstacles, and how technology or staging conveyed ideas — always connecting back to your text. 4. Use specific evidence from your text to support every point you make, explaining the effect on the audience and linking features to the bigger purpose of the play and its theatre form.

Question 3

What's the difference between Achieved, Merit, and Excellence for AS 91215?

Accepted Answer

Achieved: You refer to a relevant text and show you understand the theatre form. Your answers tend to be general with limited detail. You can identify features (like the performance space or a character's obstacle) but struggle to explain the effect or why it matters. Merit: You give clear, detailed answers that address both parts of each question. You explain the effect of features — how the performance space shaped the audience experience, how a character's response to an obstacle connects to the playwright's purpose — and you back up points with specific examples from your text. Excellence: You make original, insightful connections between the features of the theatre form and the deeper purpose of the text. Your evidence is well-chosen and your analysis goes beyond description to explain why features were used and what impact they had on a traditional audience. Your answers feel thoughtful and perceptive, not just thorough.

Question 4

What mistakes do students typically make in AS 91215?

Accepted Answer

1. Writing about the theatre form or period without referring to an actual text, or only giving vague references with no real evidence from the play. 2. Studying a modern adaptation or a mixed-style text instead of a traditional text from the theatre form — this makes it very hard to discuss historical and social context accurately. 3. Treating each bullet point in the exam question as a separate mini-question rather than using the bullets as a guide to build one connected answer. 4. Choosing theatre forms like Melodrama, Musical Theatre, or New Zealand Theatre where it is hard to make perceptive connections to a specific historical/social context, which limits how high you can score. 5. Misunderstanding key drama terms used in the questions (like 'technology', which in drama doesn't just mean digital tech — it includes things like masks, costume, and staging). 6. Describing what happens in the play (plot summary) instead of explaining how and why features of the theatre form were used and what effect they had on the audience.

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