Fiducia TogetherPractitioners
Named theatre-makers whose methods you are expected to know and use.
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.
What it is
Practitioners commonly studied include Stanislavski (naturalism, emotional truth), Brecht (epic theatre, alienation), Artaud (theatre of cruelty), Frantic Assembly (physical theatre) and Berkoff.
Where it applies
GCSE and A Level drama.
How it works
Each has techniques you can name and apply. Stanislavski's given circumstances, emotion memory and objectives; Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt, placards, direct address and breaking the fourth wall; Frantic Assembly's building blocks and chair duets.
Brecht wanted the audience thinking rather than absorbed; Stanislavski wanted them believing. Those aims produce opposite choices.
How to use it in your work
Apply the technique and name it. "We used Brechtian direct address so the audience judged rather than sympathised" is the shape.
Do not mix aims without noticing — using Stanislavskian emotional truth to serve a Brechtian aim needs explaining, not ignoring.
Where to get help
Your teacher and your board's assessment criteria — these subjects are marked against four or five stated objectives, and reading them is the single most useful hour you can spend.
Revise this with a song
These are ours. We write revision songs because a lot of people remember a tune when they cannot remember a page, and because revising out loud in the kitchen beats staring at a highlighter.
- The Drama Song The GCSE drama topics and terminology, set to music.
Where to read more
Last reviewed 2026-08-28 by Fiducia Together · Next review due 2027-08-28
Please note: This page explains a word or a process in education. It is general information about the system, the law and the guidance in England — not advice about your child, your school or your exam. If a decision is going against you, get advice from one of the free services we link to before you agree to anything or miss a deadline. If you are revising, check your own exam board's specification: boards word things differently and yours is the one that marks you.