This module is a core requirement for full field Drama students and an optional module for students taking Drama as a major field. It provides a preparation for DA6002 Production Projects B. Major Drama students opting to do Production Projects must take both A and B. However, it can be taken as a stand-alone module by study-abroad students.
Building on students' studies at Levels 4 and 5, this module explores in depth and detail how theatre productions are made. At its heart is an advanced examination of dramaturgy - the relationship between form, structure and meaning in performance - as it has been conceived of in different time periods and contexts and as it relates to both process and performance. The module begins with an exploration of different dramaturgical perspectives, ranging from the 'well-made-play' to the post-dramatic. Following on from this, through a series of linked presentations and workshops, including workshops offered by visiting theatre professionals, students investigate the roles played by contributors to both devised and script-based theatre production, such as actor, deviser, director, designer, writer and dramaturg. These workshops are related in concrete ways to texts, themes and approaches students might employ in creating their own production and lead to the group-based presentation of a 'pitch' for a devised or scripted theatre production which they then have the opportunity to carry through to fruition in DA6002 Production Projects B.
This module aims to:
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
This module is delivered through a variety of lecture-presentations, seminar discussions and workshops. Lectures are designed to introduce students to key concepts, theories and approaches and may include the presentation of relevant examples of performance and production. Seminars enable students to consolidate their understanding of the concepts and theories presented, while workshops introduce them to different practice-based approaches and methodologies and allow them to experiment with ways in which these might help them to develop their own ideas. Professional practitioners of various production roles may be invited to deliver lecture-presentations and/or workshops, in which they can offer concrete examples of how their own modes of working and their approaches to rehearsal and performance relate to their dramaturgical aims. Independent study becomes increasingly important within this module as students form groups, choose roles, share ideas and consolidate production aims.
Definitive UNISTATS Category | Indicative Description | Hours |
---|---|---|
Scheduled learning and teaching | 8 x 2hr lecture-seminars | 16 |
Scheduled learning and teaching | 8 x 2hr practical workshops | 16 |
Scheduled learning and teaching | 6 x 2hr supervised groupwork sessions | 12 |
Guided independent study | Group-based independent work | 156 |
Guided independent study | Individual independent study | 100 |
Total (number of credits x 10) | 300 |
Summative assessment is through: an individual research essay of 2500 - 3000 words worth 60%, and a group-based production pitch (15 minutes) worth 40%. The essay requires students to engage in depth and detail with concepts and theories related to dramaturgy and/or a specific production role in the context of the script, theme or mode of practice they have chosen. The production pitch draws on this individual research, utilising it in a group-based context which requires students to communicate effectively with each other in agreeing their production aims and objectives and to articulate these clearly in a form based on professional theatre practice.
Formative assessments include a dramaturgical critique of a professional production to be completed by mid-teaching block and an in-class practice pitch several sessions before the summative one where students gain feedback from staff and from each other.
Learning Outcome | Assessment Strategy |
---|---|
The ability to identify and critique relationships between form, structure and meaning in performance in the context of a specific dramaturgical perspective (KS: Research and Information Literacy) | Formatively in dramaturgical critique; summatively in research essay |
The ability to articulate their understanding of a given production role in relation to relevant production contexts and methodologies (KS: Communication, Research and Information Literacy) | Formatively in dramaturgical critique; summatively in research essay |
The ability to recognise and interrogate links between processes of historical, contextual and methodological research and effective theatre production (Research and Information Literacy) | Formatively in dramaturgical critique; summatively in research essay |
The ability to contribute effectively to the formation of a production team based around shared dramaturgical aims (KS: Interpersonal, Management and leadership) | Formatively in practice pitch; summatively in production pitch |
The ability to present those aims and the methods by which they intend to achieve them in the context of a group-based 'pitch' for a theatre production (KS: Communication) | Formatively in practice pitch; summatively in production pitch |
Description of Assessment | Definitive UNISTATS Categories | Percentage |
---|---|---|
CWK | Essay | 60 |
PRC | Group-based production pitch | 40 |
Total (to equal 100%) | 100% |
It IS NOT a requirement that any major assessment category is passed separately in order to achieve an overall pass for the module
Luckhurst, M. (2008) Dramaturgy: a Revolution in Theatre. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Turner, C. and Behrndt, S K. (2008) Dramaturgy and Performance. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan
Recommended reading will vary depending on each students' choice of performance mode and genre and their choice of role, thus the selection of texts below below is merely a suggestion of some potentially useful texts
Alfreds, M. (2007) Different Every Night: Rehearsal and Performance Techniques for Actors and Directors. London, Nick Hern Books
Harvie, J. and Lavender, A. (2010) Making Contemporary Theatre: international rehearsal processes. Manchester, Manchester University Press
Larmann, R. (2007) Stage Design. Cologne, daab
Lehmann, H-T. (2006) Postdramatic Theatre. London, Routledge
Mermikides, A. and Smart, J. (2010) Devising in Process. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan
Mitchell, K. (2008) The Director's Craft: a Handbook for the Theatre. London, Routledge
Whitmore, J. (1996) Directing Postmodern Theatre: shaping Signification in Performance. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press