1. Melodrama Assessment It’s time to be OTT!

2. What your piece should include Clear stock characters Melodramatic body language Appropriate (old fashioned) language ‘Good’ entering and exiting from the right and ‘bad’ entering and exiting from the left Music to heighten the atmosphere Audience participation e.g. use of aside and cheers and boos – how can we encourage this? Exaggerated and over the top acting A happy ending where good triumphs and evil is punished Good use of your basic performance skills e.g. facial expressions, use of space, no corpsing, clear gestures etc.

3. Rehearsal time You have a maximum of 12 minutes to rehearse before we begin the assessment Good luck and don’t forget to be as bold and over the top with your acting as possible!

4. What level are you? A level 3 student will… Attempt to stay in character, show only 1 or 2 of the conventions of melodrama, show some basic performance skills, work as part of a team. A level 4 student will… Create an appropriate, sustained stock character, be professional and work effectively in the group, show several basic performance skills, show at least 3 of the conventions of melodrama. A level 5 student will… Portray a creative melodramatic stock character and remain in character throughout the piece, show several melodrama conventions, show effective use of several of the basic performance skills, work effectively as part of a team.