Company and Production

In the Company and Production area of study, students collaborate to create a dramatic company (or companies). This may involve:  

• the class as a whole in a single company 
• a number of smaller companies from small groups within the class 
• individual students who wish to collaborate with others, including, for example but not limited to, students from another year level or a community theatre company. 

Students may choose to name their company and develop a rationale, vision statement, or mission statement of their shared dramatic intent. 

In the company, students choose one or more roles from the range of creative, production, and entrepreneurial roles available. Through their roles, they learn the transferable skills of project management, collaborative problem-solving, entrepreneurialism, and processes for realising creative outcomes.  

Students specialise in one (or more) roles within their company to develop their knowledge, skills, and understanding. Teachers guide the selection of roles to provide adequate scope for students to demonstrate their learning in manageable ways. 

Individual dramatic roles within the company may include, for example: 

• actor 
• designer^# 
• director  
• stage manager 
• production manager 
• dramaturge 
• playwright 
• screenwriter 
• film-maker 
• cinematographer 
• editor 
• producer 
• publicist and promoter. 

 ^# e.g. set or production, costume, make-up and hair (and/or mask), publicity and promotions, lighting, sound, music and/or composition, SFX, multimedia, front-of-house.

Students collaborate to develop two dramatic outcomes: 

• the group production 
• the creative presentation.  

Group production 

As a company (or companies), students are led by the teacher through the dramatic process to develop a group production or a selection of smaller productions. The scope and scale is dependent upon the interests of the students, the context and culture of the school, and the resources available. For example, productions could range from an inclass performance for peers, through to a full-scale stage production in a theatre or the equivalent for a screen production. 

A production may be based on an established dramatic text or it may be self-devised. Teachers should ensure that scripts provide adequate focused stage-time for each actor to develop, perform, and evaluate their own role or roles. Similarly, adequate scope should be provided for designers, production practitioners, and dramatic entrepreneurs to explore and create successful dramatic outcomes. Teachers should ensure that the length of theatre and/or screen productions is manageable for students.  

Teachers negotiate ideas and process with students, emphasising collaborative decision-making. Students deepen their understanding of on-stage and/or off-stage roles (or equivalent screen roles). The ideas, exploration, and development culminate in a company performing a production to a live audience and/or screening its production to a live or online audience. 

The group production is assessed through Assessment Type 1: Group Production. 

Creative presentation  

Students form small groups of two to five students to independently devise a dramatic work or products in an area of interest. They apply the dramatic process in collaboration to conceive a vision for the work, and rehearse and develop the work leading to a final, polished outcome. The creative presentation is led by students, with the teacher guiding or facilitating only.  

Students may choose to produce their work as an ensemble within the company that they formed as a whole class for the group production, or they may create a new company with an independent artistic intent. 

This collaboration to create a polished dramatic outcome is assessed in Assessment Type 3: Creative Presentation (the external assessment).