Redirection Acting - Duo Competition: What It Is, Where It's Run and How It's Judged

A two-person acting class in which a prepared scene is performed, the adjudicator gives live notes to the pair, and the scene is performed again, with marks for the first performance and for how well the pair take the redirection.

Redirection Acting - Duo is the partnered version of a redirection class. Two actors perform a prepared scene together, the adjudicator then gives notes in front of the room and asks for a change, and the pair perform the scene again. The audience sees two people take direction at once and have to adjust to each other as well as to the note.

In the festival syllabus this class is built from, the duo class runs on the same pattern as its solo twin: a prepared scene is performed, the adjudicator redirects it, and it is played again, with marks for the original performance and for the response to the redirection. It is a separate class from the ordinary Duo Acting class, and the syllabus does not allow the same scene to be entered in both.

An entry on paper is a pair of named performers, the title and author of the scene, and the school year or tier. The syllabus offers the duo class at three tiers only - Year 7 & 8, Year 9, 10 & 11, and Open - with one flat limit of three minutes per entry, in English, for boys and girls together. In eTalenter's template the entry is a team of two and is scored on a nominal ten-point scale, because the syllabus prints mark bands (Developing through Exceptional) rather than a points table.

Organisers run it because a duo shows something a solo cannot: whether two young actors can listen together, agree a change in the moment and keep the scene alive between them. For teachers it is a practical lesson in ensemble work, where one partner changing pace or status forces the other to respond.

Where Redirection Acting - Duo is run

In eTalenter's data Redirection Acting - Duo appears on one template, the acting section of an English town arts festival in the south-west of England, next to the matching Solo class. It is far rarer than ordinary duologue classes, so read the syllabus of any event you enter before assuming the format.

• United Kingdom - England (competitive festival acting sections)

Key facts

• Team entry of two actors, boys and girls together, performed in English.
• The same prepared scene is played twice: once as rehearsed, once after the adjudicator's notes.
• Marks cover both the original scene and the pair's response to the redirection.
• Source syllabus tiers: Year 7 & 8, Year 9, 10 & 11, and Open; no younger or Sixth Form tier in this class.
• Flat maximum of 3 minutes per entry in the source syllabus; the same scene may not also be entered in ordinary acting classes.
• Idea starters, not rules: a bus-stop argument first played as old friends then as strangers, a job interview where the power swaps, or a two-person secret played first whispered and then openly.

On eTalenter, Redirection Acting - Duo is filed under Action and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.

Across the templates that use it, Redirection Acting - Duo is most often entered as an Team competition, typically scored out of 10, commonly time-limited to around 3 minutes where a limit is set.

What judges look at in Redirection Acting - Duo

What a Redirection Acting - Duo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:

• The original performance: a secure, memorised scene with two clear characters and a shared purpose, since it is marked before any redirection.
• Response to redirection: whether the second run shows a real change from both actors, not one partner adapting while the other repeats the first version.
• Partnership: eye contact, shared pace and handing the scene to each other, so that the change feels agreed rather than improvised by one voice.
• Listening: calm, quick understanding of the notes by both performers, without debating them on stage.
• Discipline: keeping both runs within the time limit and making a clean reset between them.

Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Redirection Acting - Duo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full drama & skit judging criteria guide.

How to prepare for Redirection Acting - Duo

How entrants and their teachers usually get Redirection Acting - Duo right on the day:

• Choose a scene with room to play it differently; a scene with one fixed mood gives the adjudicator little to redirect.
• Learn lines fully so that both partners can spend the second run thinking about the note rather than the words.
• Rehearse with a teacher giving one note at a time - slower, warmer, more guarded - and replay at once.
• Agree a quiet routine for resetting positions so the second performance starts cleanly.
• Practise changing one thing together: who leads, how close you stand, how fast you speak.
• Time both runs so the whole entry stays inside the limit, leaving a little room for the notes.
• Keep the scene different from any entered in ordinary acting classes, as the syllabus does not allow the same piece in both.
• After a loss, ask whether marks went on the first scene or the change, and drill the weaker half as a pair.

Frequently asked questions

Is Redirection Acting - Duo judged individually or as a team?

Across eTalenter's templates it's most often run as an Team entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.

What happens in a Redirection Acting Duo class?

In the syllabus we build from, a pair performs a prepared scene, the adjudicator gives notes and redirects it, and the pair perform it again. Marks are given for the original and for the response.

Can we use the same scene in Duo Acting and Redirection Acting - Duo?

The source syllabus says performers may enter both kinds of class but must not perform the same scene in both. Check your own event's rules.

How long is a Redirection Acting Duo entry?

The source syllabus sets a maximum of three minutes per entry for its drama classes. Other events may differ, so read the rules before preparing.

Is it judged as a pair or individually?

As a pair. It is a two-person team entry ranked within each tier, with boys and girls competing together.

Want the full judging picture? Read the full drama & skit judging criteria guide, or browse every action competition item.

Try Redirection Acting - Duo in eTalenter

See every ready-made template that runs Redirection Acting - Duo, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.

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