You have already seen a staged performance with your class: a school show, a trip, or a recorded performance watched in class. Today you turn what you saw into structured notes. They are not the banked KA3 piece: next lesson you write them up as your KA3 review or report.
If you missed the viewing, tell your teacher today. You can write your notes after the catch-up they arrange, or on another staged performance you really saw and can show evidence for. Never write notes on a show you did not see.
You will glance at a short sample under the five-part review framework, then fill that same framework for the performance your class attended.
A useful performance note is not a plot retell. It is a set of observations you can still trust a week later. Use these five headings every time.
| Heading | What you write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Story | What the piece was about, in a few sentences. Name title, venue or setting, and roughly when you saw it. | A one-act drama about two brothers waiting for a late bus after a family funeral; almost nothing happens on the surface. |
| Production choices | Staging, direction, blocking (where the actors stand and move), how moments were shaped. | When the older brother finally spoke about their father, he stayed standing while the younger sat. That height difference made the apology feel unfinished. |
| Technical elements | Sound, lighting, costume, props, scenery: name the tool and what it did. | Lighting stayed street-lamp yellow until the final minute, then shifted to cold blue. |
| Audience response | What you noticed in the room or among viewers. | The hall went quiet in the last exchange; nobody clapped until the lights came up fully. |
| Personal response | What landed on you, and why. One honest reaction beats a vague compliment. | I expected a big row. What landed instead was the silence after the apology. |
The production choices example names the choice, then what it did. Your notes need that shape under Production choices and Technical elements.
The sample in the activity is a quick model only. Your notes on your own show come in the next step.
Write your KA3 working notes in the activity below, on the staged performance your class attended or watched. It saves as you go.
When you are done, press Copy for my portfolio and paste your notes into your Communication Portfolio as m4_l114_performance_notes_<your-initials>.
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