Analysing and Evaluating Live Theatre

Watching theatre like a critic

Part of studying drama is learning to watch a live performance and respond to it well. Anyone can say whether they enjoyed a show, but the skill the examiner rewards is analysing and evaluating what you saw. Analysing means examining how a choice was made and what it did; evaluating means judging how effective it was and saying why. To do this you watch closely: how the actors use their voices and bodies, how the staging and design shape what the audience sees, and how each choice affects the people watching. You then describe what you saw using drama vocabulary, and you weigh it up. This module teaches the difference between describing and evaluating, the things to watch for, and how to build a strong evaluation that always names the effect on the audience.

Words for evaluating theatre

Learn these terms before you build an evaluation. They name what you watch and how you judge it.

Match each thing you watch to what to notice

Describing against evaluating

The biggest jump in an evaluation is from saying what happened to judging how well it worked. Both matter, but only one earns the higher marks.

Which sentence evaluates?

Which of these sentences evaluates a performance, rather than only describing it?

• The dim red lighting built a threatening mood that unsettled the audience
• The lighting turned red and dim
• There was lighting on the stage
• The stage had lights above it

Always say what it did to the audience

The single habit that lifts an evaluation from average to strong is naming the effect on the audience. Anyone can say what an actor or designer did; a strong evaluation says what it made the audience think or feel, and judges how well it worked. So for every point, follow a simple chain: name the choice you saw, describe it precisely using drama vocabulary, then explain the effect it had on the audience and how effective it was. A point with no effect is only a description. When you are stuck, ask yourself a blunt question about the choice: so what? What did it do to the people watching? The answer to that question is your evaluation, and it is where the marks are.

Pick what you can evaluate in a performance

Select everything that is a fair part of a live performance to evaluate.

• The vocal skills on show
• The physical skills on show
• The lighting, sound and design
• The price of the programme
• The weather outside the theatre

Order how to build an evaluation point

Put the steps of building a strong evaluation point in order.

• Name the moment or choice you are evaluating
• Describe what the actor or designer actually did
• Use drama vocabulary to be precise
• Explain the effect it had on the audience
• Judge how effective it was and why

Complete the evaluation facts

Saying only what happened is _____. Judging how effective it was and why is _____. How an actor uses the voice is their _____ skills. The impact a choice has on the people watching is the audience _____.

Tap the two evaluation phrases

Tap the TWO phrases that evaluate a moment rather than only describing it.

• which made the scene feel tense and gripped the audience
• the actor raised the voice
• which was highly effective at showing his anger
• the lights were blue

A football pundit at the final whistle

Listen to a good pundit after a match. They do not just say what happened, that a player passed and another scored. They judge it: that was a brilliant pass, they say, because it split the defence at exactly the right moment, and it turned the game. A weak pundit reads out the events; a strong one weighs them and says why they mattered. Judging a piece of theatre is the same job. Do not stop at what the actor or designer did on stage. Say how well it worked, and what it did to the people watching. The events on stage are only the raw material. The judgement you make about them, and the reason behind it, is the whole point of the work.

The live-theatre run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Respond to each moment on stage

Read each situation and choose the best answer.

• In your evaluation you write only: the actor spoke slowly. What is missing to make it an evaluation?
• The lighting suddenly went dark at a key moment. How should you evaluate this?
• You want to evaluate the physical skills of an actor. What should you comment on?

Build an evaluation sentence

Choose the word for each gap to complete one point about evaluating theatre.

Evaluate a moment of live theatre

Think of a moment from a live performance you have seen or can picture clearly. Write an evaluation of that moment, using what you have learned.

• Name the moment and what the actor or designer did
• Describe it precisely using drama vocabulary
• Explain the effect it had on the audience
• Judge how effective it was and why
• Explain why evaluating is more than describing