IB Literature & Performance
At Island School, we offer the IB Literature & Performance course as an English option for Y12 and 13 students. In two years, students delve into the world of literature through the practical and written exploration of thought-provoking texts. By investigating different theatre and performance styles alongside the analysis of texts, students create two performances (scripted and devised) to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the written word and how to adapt them for the stage.
The first performance in the course takes place to build rehearsal and performance techniques as well as analytical skills, in preparation for written coursework focused on the exploration of a Shakespearean play. In recent years, we have embodied some of Shakespeare's most tragic characters in the plays, Hamlet and Macbeth; exploring them using performance styles, such as Berkoff and total theatre.
The devised piece breathes life into selected short stories or poems, such as The Doctor's Wife by Sawako Ariyoshi and Into the Blue by Simon Armitage. This is followed by an oral presentation on directing and performance choices rooted in the analysis of the language within the texts.
Students who take this course develop a wide array of skills, both literary and performative, including the ability to analyse and deduce information based on the appreciation of different genres, critical and creative thinking, how to adapt texts with imagination and purpose, and understanding intertextuality and the intrinsic relationships between different art forms.
IB Theatre Arts
For the first time this year, Island School is offering the IB Theatre Arts course. The course allows students to explore the roles of the performer, director, designer, and creator through a number of different projects over the two-year course.
The research project allows students to investigate into a Theatre Tradition of their choice, from Commedia Dell'Arte to Kathakali, to Ancient Greek Comedy and Tragedy and more.
The solo theatre piece (for HL students only) allows the same level of in-depth research, this time into a theatre practitioner of the student's choice, culminating in a 4-8 minute solo performance and a report on the theorist themselves.
The director's notebook gives students an opportunity to choose a published play text and explore the process
involved in transforming it into a live action piece, and document their process in their director's notebook.
Finally, the collaborative project, which gives students the creative freedom to create and present an original theatre piece created from a starting point of their choice.
IB TA is a comprehensive course that allows students to delve deep into researching the theatrical topics that interest them the most, as well as put on a range of performances both individually and collaboratively. It develops students' skills both as performers, but as learners as well, teaching them valuable skills in research, time-management, self-motivated learning and more.
