VCE Theatre Studies (Year 12) · Foundations of Theatre Making · 11m read

Production Roles and the Three Phases of Production

Theatre Studies is about how a script becomes a production. Every assessment asks how people in production roles make decisions across the phases of production — so this is the frame for the whole course.

Learning objective: Describe the responsibilities of theatre production roles and how each works through the planning, development and presentation phases.

By the end of this lesson you can:

• I can describe the work of the actor, director and designers.
• I can explain the planning, development and presentation phases.
• I can show how roles collaborate to realise one interpretation.

A production is a building project. The director is the architect with the vision, designers are the specialist builders, actors are the people who live in the house — and the phases are plan, build, open the doors.

Production roles

• ACTOR — interprets character through voice, movement, gesture and facial expression, guided by the script and director.
• DIRECTOR — leads the overall interpretation (the director’s concept), blocks the action, shapes pace and the actor–audience relationship.
• DESIGNERS — create the visual and aural world:
– SET (space, levels, entrances, materials, scale)
– COSTUME (period, character, colour, texture, silhouette)
– LIGHTING (intensity, colour, angle, focus, transitions)
– SOUND (music, effects, silence, volume, source)
– MAKE-UP, PROPERTIES (props)
• Other roles: dramaturg (research and context), stage manager, producer.

Planning, development, presentation

PLANNING — reading the script, research (context, previous productions), concept and design ideas, sketches, mood boards.
DEVELOPMENT — rehearsals, prototypes, design meetings, refining choices, technical rehearsals.
PRESENTATION — the performance for an audience, where all choices combine.

Strong answers track a single decision through all three phases: e.g. a lighting designer’s research (planning) → testing colour washes in tech week (development) → the final cold-blue wash during the storm scene (presentation).

Worked example (Medium)

Trace a costume designer’s work on a period play through the three phases.

1. Planning. Research 1920s silhouettes and fabrics; sketch designs linked to each character’s status.
2. Development. Fittings with actors; adjust hemlines for movement in a dance scene.
3. Presentation. Costumes communicate era and status under stage lighting.

Answer: Research and sketches (planning) → fittings and adjustments for movement (development) → costumes communicating era and status in performance (presentation).

Common mistakes

• Describing roles in isolation Theatre is collaborative. Fix: Show how one role’s decision affects another (e.g. lighting and set colour).
• Skipping the development phase It is where choices are tested and refined. Fix: Include at least one change made during rehearsal.

Practice questions

1. Testing lighting states during a technical rehearsal belongs to which phase?

   1. Planning
   2. Development
   3. Presentation
   4. Evaluation

   (1 marks)

2. Explain how a director and a set designer might collaborate in the planning phase.

   (3 marks)

Summary

• Roles: actor, director, designers (set, costume, lighting, sound, make-up, props), dramaturg.
• Phases: planning, development, presentation.
• Track decisions across phases.
• Show collaboration between roles.