In solo performance, production areas play a critical role in compensating for the absence of an ensemble — they extend the performer’s capacity to create environment, atmosphere and meaning. However, production area choices for the solo examination are also constrained by VCAA’s requirements regarding what the student may use.
Students should check the current VCAA Drama examination specifications for the production area parameters. Generally, solo performances allow:
- Costume: one or more costumes, or a base costume with transformable elements.
- Props: a limited number of hand-held objects.
- Lighting: use of available theatre lighting (though students may specify particular states in the performance preparation document).
- Sound: pre-recorded or live sound used with VCAA-approved equipment.
- Minimal set: a single furniture item (e.g., a chair) may be permitted.
Costume
In solo performance, costume is a primary characterisation tool. A single base costume with a transformable element (a shawl, a jacket, a hat) allows transformation of character while maintaining visual coherence. The choice to retain a costume element across characters can signal connection or contamination between them.
Props as symbols
In solo work, every prop carries significant weight — there are few objects and each one is noticed. A prop should:
- Be integral to the character or story (not just decorative).
- Have the potential to function symbolically (carried, refused, destroyed — each action is legible).
- Be returnable — its use more than once builds symbolic meaning.
Lighting
Even without a full lighting design, the available lighting can be manipulated to create:
- Time of day: warm amber vs cool white vs harsh white.
- Psychological state: low, shadowed side-lighting for interiority; full front-lighting for direct address.
- Transformation markers: a light shift can signal a shift in character, time or place.
- Isolation: a tighter focus on the performer in key moments amplifies their significance.
Sound
Sound design in solo performance is particularly powerful because the absence of other performers’ voices means that sound fills the space distinctively:
- A soundscape can establish place (traffic, birdsong, industrial machinery) without any mime.
- Music can establish mood, era or cultural context.
- Silence as a punctuation: switching off an established soundscape creates sudden, charged stillness.
- Pre-recorded voice can create the illusion of other characters or past moments.
The sustainability principle (see KK8) applies equally to solo production:
- Use existing, repurposed, or borrowed costume and props.
- Minimise single-use production elements.
- Choose production areas that do maximum dramatic work with minimum resources.
- Minimal, sustainable production is also aesthetically consistent with many performance styles (physical theatre, Brechtian work).
For the solo examination, students provide a written statement of intentions that includes discussion of production areas. This document should:
- Describe each production element that will be used.
- Explain why each element was chosen (its function and meaning).
- Describe how each element will be manipulated across the performance.
- Note sustainable choices where applicable.
REMEMBER: In the solo examination, the examiner reads your statement of intentions before watching your performance. Production area choices that are clearly explained and then effectively executed will strengthen the overall assessment. Production choices that contradict the stated intentions, or that are stated but not evident in the performance, will weaken it.
EXAM TIP: Less is often more in solo production. A single well-chosen prop that carries multiple meanings is more powerful than three props each used once. A single costume element that transforms the character’s identity is more effective than a complex costume change that takes time and draws attention away from the performance.
