Physical Theatre Plays ?

[Coco]

Does anyone know of any good physical Theatre plays for an As drama group by any chance ? If anyone could recommend any it would be really helpful ! It's for a group of 3 girls and two boys. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, my dd's getting desperate as they have to have found one by the end of the week !

[sapphire]

Can't help but you have my sympathies - we were in a similar position trying to find a play for my DD last year and to be honest her teachers were very little help at all. We eventually found one through searching websites of small TIE companies to see what sort of thing they were doing ... might be worth trying this?

Not sure if it counts as physical theatre or not, but at the ALRA open day we attended the students performed The Ash Girl: http://www.alra.co.uk/index.php/icalrep ... -girl.html Lots of parts, lots of potential for multi-roling, the seven deadly sins (which rarely if ever appear together on stage at the same time) were all portrayed through physical means - eg sloth was a worm and acted encased in a huge sleeping bag ... DD mentioned at the time that she thought it would be a good play to consider for AS level

Do tell you DD not to worry too much - DD didn't manage to find a play until mid-Feb but the short time frame meant they worked extra hard and they ended up with the highest grade although they were the last to decide on a play. They ended up doing extracts from Fear and Misery of the Third Reich.

HTH. Do let us know how she gets on

Sapphy

[tikka]

Not sure if this is 'physical' enough, but would East by Birkoff be any good. Has 5 characters (I think).

[Coco]

Thanks very much for the suggestion tikka and saphie. We're soo grateful !

[Genevieve]

one good play is called "'Teachers"' - I have seen some students perform this, and it was very very physical, lots of movement, and I am sure there were 5 in it too !

[Coco]

Thanks so much Genevieve, you don't happen to know who wrote it by any chance. My dd,s found a play spelt ' teechers' do you think it's this one?

[Genevieve]

yes, 'Teechers' (sorry I mispelt it) - it is a popular GCSE and AS level play-(good for lots of movement and props eg.chairs etc)
- or how about 'DNA' by Dennis Kelly - about a group of teenagers -but not sure if it will be right for AS physical theatre

[sapphire]

DD has studied DNA and it's definitely not physical theatre. Great play though. She was also warned by a friend who is head of drama at a local private school NOT to do Godber for AS level as it is very overdone at GCSE and examiners will want to see something really special to stand out from the crowd at AS!

[tikka]

Teechers isn't physical theatre , has been done tons of times....loads of versions of it on youtube, so probably not a good choice either.

[Coco]

Thanks very much Tikka and Saphie All Suggestions gratefully received !
It always ends up being a real nightmare trying to find an suitable play for these exam performances !

[Genevieve]

She was also warned by a friend who is head of drama at a local private school NOT to do Godber for AS level as it is very overdone at GCSE and examiners will want to see something really special to stand out from the crowd at AS!

Teechers and the play Shakers, are two of those GCSE and AS plays which are done a lot, but I've seen both of these done at AS and GCSE level and when the choreography is done really well, it gets the marks. Examiners have a check list, and see many groups perform the same plays each year. Its like audition pieces for drama schools, the same ones come up again and again, it's just how they are performed that makes each different.
The group I saw that performed Teechers for their AS exam (their tutor who set it was actually also an Examiner!!), while other groups did other less known plays, actually got the highest marks,- but as said, it may not be right for your dd, perhaps consult with the drama tutor, who should be able to offer some suggestions.
It is very difficult. Sometimes its the drama teachers who choose plays for GCSE and AS they've done so many times before, so they have less work to do !