VCE Theatre Studies past exams 2023–2025

Every question from the last three VCE Theatre Studies exams, matched to the lesson that teaches it, with class averages from the examiners' reports and worked solutions. VCE Theatre Studies (Year 12) lessons.

2025 Exam

• A1a (4 marks, class average 73%): Planning: recontextualise an aspect of The Tempest for a contemporary Australian audience through your role. Lesson: Theatre Styles, Context and Dramaturgy, Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept
• A1b (4 marks, class average 63%): Planning: realise chosen moments of the storm scene in your role, building on your recontextualisation. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept
• A1c (3 marks, class average 73%): Development: rehearse, trial or experiment with an idea for the storm scene using the element of motion. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A1d (3 marks, class average 70%): Development: refine the idea from 1c using theatre technologies. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A1e (6 marks, class average 52%): Presentation: stage the chaotic storm scene safely, ethically, inclusively or sustainably. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A2a (5 marks, class average 64%): Interpret Caliban's speech in your role to realise a specific quality of Caliban, with another production role. Lesson: Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices, Interpreting the Monologue — As Actor and Director, or as Designer
• A2b (5 marks, class average 60%): Apply emphasis in your role to show Caliban's status, using a quotation and the insert's dramaturgy. Lesson: Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices, Theatre Styles, Context and Dramaturgy
• B1 (10 marks, class average 53%): Evaluate how two or more production roles interpreted a context of your Unit 3 playlist script, with style and quotes. Lesson: Analysing and Evaluating a Playlist Production, Theatre Styles, Context and Dramaturgy, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• C1a (5 marks, class average 58%): Analyse how an aspect of variation in design decisions realised the intended meaning of your Unit 4 play. Lesson: Analysing and Evaluating a Playlist Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• C1b (5 marks, class average 64%): Evaluate how actors used pace, timing or tempo to shape the actor–audience relationship. Lesson: Analysing and Evaluating a Playlist Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices

2024 Exam

• A1a (3 marks, class average 83%): Planning: activities in your role to bring a wealthy Ivy League university to the stage, using an insert image. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Theatre Styles, Context and Dramaturgy
• A1b (4 marks, class average 68%): Annotate the admissions-office number in three places, using musical theatre conventions to show the university. Lesson: Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices, Theatre Styles, Context and Dramaturgy
• A1c (4 marks, class average 63%): Development: explore or trial an idea for using contrast in the first excerpt, with an insert image. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A1d (4 marks, class average 60%): Development: refine the contrast idea using rhythm or cohesion. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A1e (5 marks, class average 46%): Presentation: make US university culture clear to young Australians, using dramaturgy and safe or ethical practice. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Theatre Styles, Context and Dramaturgy, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A2a (4 marks, class average 63%): Apply variation (tension, conflict, intensity, energy or use of space) in your role in Callahan's first lecture. Lesson: Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A2b (6 marks, class average 52%): Realise Professor Callahan through your production role, with lines from the scene and theatre technologies. Lesson: Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices, Interpreting the Monologue — As Actor and Director, or as Designer
• B1a (5 marks, class average 60%): Evaluate how props, set, lighting or sound design interpreted a context of your Unit 3 playlist play. Lesson: Analysing and Evaluating a Playlist Production, Theatre Styles, Context and Dramaturgy
• B1b (5 marks, class average 62%): Analyse how an actor, director, costume or make-up designer interpreted the written script in performance. Lesson: Analysing and Evaluating a Playlist Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• C1 (10 marks, class average 51%): Evaluate how directing and design in the acting space conveyed the play's meaning, using emphasis and acting skills. Lesson: Analysing and Evaluating a Playlist Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices

2023 Exam

• A1a (3 marks, class average 77%): Planning: how one aspect of the supplied dramaturgy shapes your initial concept for Our Town. Lesson: Theatre Styles, Context and Dramaturgy, Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept
• A1b (4 marks, class average 68%): Annotate the opening narration in three places to apply emphasis or contrast in your production role. Lesson: Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A1c (4 marks, class average 65%): Development: trial one idea for creating the town of Grover's Corners on an empty stage. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Theatre Styles, Context and Dramaturgy, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A1d (4 marks, class average 60%): Development: refine the idea from 1c and use theatre technologies to do it. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A1e (5 marks, class average 54%): Presentation: make a 1901 small town feel relevant to a 21st-century audience through the actor–audience relationship. Lesson: Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices, Theatre Styles, Context and Dramaturgy
• A2a (5 marks, class average 64%): Use motion in your production role to show time and place shifting in the Act II opening narration. Lesson: Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• A2b (5 marks, class average 58%): Justify how your production role helps convey the Stage Manager's function and purpose. Lesson: Interpreting a Script — The Director’s Concept and Design Concept, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices, Interpreting the Monologue — As Actor and Director, or as Designer
• B1a (4 marks, class average 63%): Analyse how theatre technologies interpreted the written script of your Unit 3 playlist production. Lesson: Analysing and Evaluating a Playlist Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices
• B1b (6 marks, class average 57%): Evaluate how cohesion, rhythm or variation created a deliberate effect in one moment of your Unit 3 play. Lesson: Analysing and Evaluating a Playlist Production
• C1 (10 marks, class average 52%): Evaluate how one actor used acting, direction, design and style together, including a shift in the character's status. Lesson: Analysing and Evaluating a Playlist Production, Stagecraft in Action — Set, Costume, Lighting, Sound and Acting Choices