IB Theatre - Production Proposal (first assessment 2024): Task Structure

Structuring the work

The production proposal (12 pages of written text and images, with written text not exceeding 4,000 words maximum) communicates the student’s vision for the feasible design and staging of a play text for a live audience, explaining how performance and production elements could potentially work on stage to fulfill theatre-maker intentions. It should be written in the first person and present the student’s personal responses, ideas and intentions for the proposed staging of their selected play text.

Students should be as precise and specific as possible when discussing performance and production elements. The use of subject-specific terminology may help to achieve such precision. The page count must be stated on the first page of the production proposal. All text, annotations, labels and citations must be included in the overall page count. The list of sources used is excluded from the page count. The production proposal is assessed on screen and students must ensure that their work is clear and legible when presented in a digital, on-screen format. The work should be created using a common page size (A4 or US Letter), be typed in a legible sans serif 12-point font and use standard margin sizes and single spacing.

The production proposal may also contain legible handwriting. Students should adhere to the following structure, giving consideration to the criteria weighting for each section.

Section 1 - Ideas and Intentions

a. Each student explains the key ideas presented in the entire play text. They write with close reference to the play text, using specific examples from the text to support their explanations. Recommended maximum length: 2 pages

b. Each student uses their interpretation of the play text to develop and explain their theatre-maker intentions for the staging of the entire play. Recommended maximum length: 2 pages

Section 2 - The Proposed Design

The student presents their production designs visually with an explanation and justification of the performance space and how they would employ production elements to meet their stated theatre-maker intentions. These are overarching design proposals for the look and feel of the production as a whole rather than a detailed analysis of any specific moments in the play. Recommended maximum length: 4 pages

Section 3 - The Proposed Staging of One Moment of the Play

Each student envisions how they would stage one specific moment in the play, explaining how they would use both performance and production elements in this moment of the play to effectively create tension, emotion, atmosphere, and/or meaning (or “TEAM”). These are detailed proposals for staging one specific moment in fulfillment of the theatre-maker intentions. As students are expected to discuss both performance and production elements in this section they must be sure to fully justify the exclusion of either one if they choose to eliminate them from their vision for the staging of the specific moment (for example, the removal of performers from the space entirely, or the staging of a moment without the use of any set or lighting). Recommended maximum length: 4 pages

1a: Focus on the themes and messages of the play text.

Always use quotes from the text to back up any explanations you give here. This section is meant to be research-based. Some questions you can answer: 

• What was going on around the playwright when the play was written? Political? Social? Theatre- theoretical? Personal to playwright? 
• What themes does the play deal with? How are they presented by the playwright: character actions; dialogue; time; place; events?
• How might the playwright be connecting real-world context (personal, national or global) with the themes or events in the play?
• What opinions or stances about these themes does the playwright imply or state through the way the themes are presented in the play? How do you know? Something said or done by a character? A stage direction?

1b: Your theatre-maker intentions - Address your staging of the whole play.

Some questions you can answer:

• What theme(s) do you want to spotlight?
• What impact do you want to have?
• What style will you follow?
• What message do you want to convey - are you making a statement about an issue?
• Are you provoking debate or thought in your audience? How will this play text do that through the interpretation you apply?
• Who are your target audience, and why?
• What venue or space will you use and where are the audience positioned? Why?
• What interpretation of the play as a whole do you embrace?
• Most important: What do you want your production of this play to focus on? Why is this relevant to your audience today?

Production Design

Questions to answer in this section:

• How will you use production elements to achieve your intentions, across the entire play?
• How will your venue and performance space be used to create the world of your play?
• How do all of these design elements fit into your chosen overall style mentioned in section 1

Use images here and annotate (to justify) and cite every image, even your own! You must have visuals, and you should balance these with text to ensure the reasons for your designs are clear.  The technical quality of drawings is not being judged, but the clarity of intentions is important. Connect every choice to your intentions.

Consider the set design, props, lighting style, costumes, and sound (music, soundscapes, or sound effects).

Staging one moment of TEAM

Identify your chosen moment, then answer these questions:

• Where does it begin and end?
• What is the key content of the moment?
• Why is this moment tense, emotional, atmospheric, or transferring key meaning?
• Why is this moment so special?
• What are your Theatre Maker Intentions for this moment? This could be different to your overall intentions (for example, a moment of comic relief in a tragic text), or could be the real key point of the whole play.

Then, provide details about the performance elements and production elements that will be used. The goal is to allow the reader of your proposal to have a precise picture of how this moment will unfold.