Evaluating Live Theatre: Analyse and Evaluate
Two questions, two registers. How to break down what a performer or designer actually did, and then judge how well it worked, about a production only you have seen.
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Two questions, not one 🎭
Section B is worth **15 marks** and asks **two** questions about the live production you saw: a shorter **analyse** question, and a longer **evaluate** one. That matters more than it sounds. Other boards let you choose one. Here you need **both registers ready**, and the commonest way to lose marks is writing essentially the same paragraph twice. This module is about making them genuinely different.
Analyse, then evaluate ↔️
Both are about what happened on stage. They ask different things about it, and the verbs in your sentences give you away.
Match each command word to what it demands
- Describe
- Analyse
- Evaluate
- Explain
- say what happened, without judging it
- break down how it was done, and what it was for
- judge how successfully it worked, and give reasons
- give the reasons why something is as it is
Which sentence evaluates? ❓
All four sentences are about the same production. Which one is evaluating?
- The slow cross held the audience in the silence longer than felt comfortable, which made the news land harder when it came
- The performer crossed downstage in three slow steps and stopped short of the front edge
- The set showed a kitchen with a table and two chairs
- I really enjoyed the production and would recommend it
One framework, both questions 🧱
Every paragraph in this section is built from the same parts. The analyse question uses the first four; the evaluate question uses all six. **1. The moment** - name it precisely, not "in the second half". **2. What was done** - the specific choice you actually saw. **3. The technique** - name it, using the vocabulary you already have. **4. The effect on the audience** - what it did to the people watching. **5. The judgement** - how successfully it achieved that. **6. The qualification** - where it worked less well, if it did. **And write about the production, not the play.** What happened on that stage, on the night you were there, is the evidence. What the play means is a different paper.
Which sentence analyses? ✍️
An interactive activity.
Which sentence evaluates? ⭐
An interactive activity.
What belongs in the evaluate answer? ✅
Select the TWO things that belong in a strong response to the evaluate question.
- A judgement about how successfully a choice achieved its effect on the audience
- An honest note of a moment where it worked less well
- A summary of what happens in the play
- Whether you enjoyed the evening
What "effect on the audience" actually means 👀
"It was effective" is the emptiest sentence in this section. Effective at **what**? These are the kinds of effect worth naming:
Build one paragraph 🪜
An interactive activity.
In the exam 🧭
An interactive activity.
The summary 📝
Section B asks _____ questions, not one: a shorter analyse question and a longer _____ question, so both registers have to be ready. To analyse is to break down _____ something was done; to evaluate is to judge how _____ it worked, with reasons. And every point is anchored to a named _____ in the production you actually saw.
Your turn 📄
An interactive activity.