PAU Catalonia Performing Arts II

It is a written paper mixing shorter objective or semi-open items with longer open-ended tasks. Expect at least one commentary on a dramatic text or excerpt and questions asking you to apply theory, history or performance-analysis concepts. The official body publishes the current model, structure and instructions each year, so confirm the exact format there before relying on any description.

Most candidates find the historical and theoretical content manageable but lose marks on application: naming a concept without showing how it works in the specific text or production. Precision and evidence matter more than volume. If you can write a short, well-argued commentary with correct terminology and concrete examples, you are generally in good shape.

Those details change and are set by the official body, so this page does not state them. Check the current PAU calendar and exam model on the official Catalan university-access website. In practice, plan your practice sessions around the published timing so your pacing matches the real paper.

Retake and resit arrangements are governed by official PAU regulations and vary by call and cohort. Consult the official body for the current rules rather than assuming a fixed number of attempts. If you are resitting, focus on the specific skills that cost you marks, usually commentary structure and evidence, not on rereading everything.

Start with dramatic theory: structure, genre, character, conflict and space, because that vocabulary is reused everywhere else. Then build the history timeline, adding contemporary and Catalan theatre once the periods are secure. Finish with performance analysis and society questions, practising full timed commentaries that combine all layers.

Retelling the plot instead of analysing how the text works; dropping terms like 'conflict' or 'diegesis' without applying them; ignoring staging dimensions such as light, space or sound when the question invites them; and writing generic history essays that never mention a specific author, work or production. Weak time management in the commentary section is also frequent.

It helps considerably. Performance-analysis questions reward concrete observation of direction, acting, scenography, lighting, costume and sound. If live venues are inaccessible, recorded productions and published production material are useful, but always describe what you actually observed and separate it from what you infer from reviews.

Enough to discuss representative playwrights, companies and staging trends with specific examples, and to place them in the wider contemporary landscape. You do not need exhaustive lists; you need a few well-understood cases you can analyse in depth and connect to themes, period and staging choices.

Only the official body publishes current figures for fees, calendar, scoring and pass requirements, and they change between calls. This page deliberately omits them. Go to the official Catalan university-access website and your school's coordinator for the authoritative, up-to-date information.