Selecting pieces for your Acting for Screen exams

Our Acting for Screen exams have free choice of text, meaning candidates have the freedom to select pieces that they enjoy and connect with, as long as they meet the syllabus requirements for the level, rather than selecting from a repertoire list. However, some candidates and teachers might welcome a little extra guidance when it comes to selecting their performance pieces. In this blog we will explore how you can select pieces for your Acting for Screen exam with confidence.

When they come to select their performance pieces candidates must select pieces that were written for TV/Film not the stage. This is important because screenwriting is all about writing for the camera, so it focuses on visual storytelling, natural and concise dialogue, and a clear structure with well-paced, dynamic scenes. It also leans into subtle, intimate performances that suit close-up shots. Stage plays, on the other hand, tend to have longer, dialogue-heavy scenes and bigger, more expressive performances to reach a live audience.

Some plays may have been filmed for TV/Film adaptations (eg Shakespeare) but this doesn’t necessarily make them a good choice for your pieces. For a stage play adaptation to really count as a screen piece, it would need to be properly reshaped- in particular, cutting, or reworking dialogue. If it is just a faithful filming of the original stage text, it would still be considered a stage work, and so best avoided for this exam.

Candidates should select pieces that are age appropriate, playing characters that are within their own playing age range. This refers to the age that they can realistically portray on screen.

A good starting point would be to encourage your students to think of TV shows/films that they like and select extracts from this, this way they will be engaged with the piece. You could also look at our Acting for Screen programme examples for ideas, these contain examples of popular screen works and could give you or you candidates some ideas.

Another option would be to take a look at our new Acting for Screen anthology which contains specially written scripts that we have commissioned for Screen 1, 2 and 3, and for various playing ages. Again, Acting for Screen exams are free choice, you do not need to use the pieces on the website, but if you are looking for a guide for what makes a script suitable for Screen 1 etc, the anthology makes a really good starting point. But why do these scripts work for the different levels?

Screen 1

The Screen 1 level scripts are generally built around one clear situation and a readily understandable point of view. This makes them suitable for demonstrating the fundamentals of screen acting without requiring the candidate to carry a highly complex dramatic structure.

For example, ‘Trigger Warning’, one of the pieces on the anthology, gives the actor an immediately playable circumstance: Jak has to apologise for their dog. The character has a very clear intention, but the speech gives opportunities for humour, embarrassment, affection and attempts to persuade. The repeated references to loving the dog and the final attempt to win the adults over provide simple but useful changes in thought.

Typical Screen 1 script features:

• Short running times, generally around 1½ minutes for monologues and dialogues.
• A single, easily grasped circumstance.
• A clear objective or point of view.
• Accessible emotional material rather than highly complicated psychology.
• Opportunities for natural reactions, pauses, humour and small changes of thought.
• Situations that allow a young performer to demonstrate personality rather than requiring extensive backstory.
• Dialogue which encourages the actor to respond to the other character, rather than simply deliver lines.

Screen 2

The scripts for Screen 2 start to give the actor more to discover. The circumstances become richer, the relationships more important, and the character's feelings are often contradictory.

A particularly good example is ‘The Engineer’. Cal is writing to a father who doesn't know they exist. The character moves through hurt, anger, vulnerability, hope and an attempt at reconciliation. The physical business-writing the letter, noticing people passing, watching a father with a baby- also gives the actor opportunities to communicate without simply speaking.

Typical Screen 2 script features:

• Longer material, giving the actor more time to develop a journey.
• More substantial relationships and personal history.
• Contradictory feelings
• More noticeable changes in thought or emotional state.
• Characters who aren't necessarily saying exactly what they feel.
• Greater use of physical behaviour alongside dialogue.
• More opportunities for subtext and internal reactions.
• Dialogue that requires genuine listening and adjustment, rather than waiting to say the next line.
• Situations involving a meaningful personal decision, discovery or revelation.

The anthology itself illustrates this progression: ‘Life on Mars’ is offered at Screen 1 or Screen 2, while ‘Life on Mars- One Year On’ is specifically Screen 2. The latter has a more developed emotional circumstance: Robin is excited about life on Mars but increasingly reveals homesickness and a longing for familiar people, places and nature.

Screen 3

The jump to Screen 3 is particularly noticeable. The scripts are not simply longer versions of Screen 1 scripts; they tend to give the actor more complex material to interpret.

The anthology explicitly labels ‘The New Shoes’ as both a ‘character study’ and a ‘study about relationships.’ On the surface, Fly is simply excited about going to a party. But underneath that is the relationship with their shy younger sister, the sister's anxiety, Fly's desire to protect and encourage her, and the revelation that the sister supported Fly through panic attacks during lockdown. The character therefore has a much richer emotional life than the opening suggests.

Screen 3 dialogue is also more demanding

‘In Love With Shakespeare’ is similarly layered: Rupe is auditioning for Shakespeare while simultaneously being in love with him and questioning his work. The actor has to negotiate humour, attraction, embarrassment, ambition and disagreement within the same scene.

Typical Screen 3 script features:

• Longer, sustained performances — e.g. The New Shoes is approximately three minutes.
• A richer backstory that may not all be explicitly spoken.
• Complex or contradictory relationships.
• Subtext
• Significant changes in emotional state or understanding.
• Greater need for the actor to make detailed choices about thought, behaviour and reaction.
• Material where humour and seriousness can coexist.
• Characters with genuine psychological contradictions.
• Dialogue where the actor has to listen, process and respond rather than simply exchange information.
• Opportunities for quiet, understated screen acting, rather than relying on theatrical projection.

The Listening material is particularly revealing at this level. ‘The Best Life’, for instance, requires Jess to receive devastating news about a teacher and then immediately face disappointing exam results. The actor has to listen and process, with much of the response coming through reaction rather than speech. That is a very different skill from simply delivering a prepared monologue.

For more guidance on selecting pieces for your Acting for Screen exam, and how to put together a programme take a look at our programme examples for Screen 1,2 and 3.