Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

This module is designed to examine the relationship between the actor and the director when working on classical texts.

During the weekly workshops for this module, students will work with an experienced theatre director who will introduce them to acting exercises and techniques which are commonly used in the creation of characters from classical texts. In particular, students will be asked to consider the challenges and difficulties of performing characters selected from Shakespearean and/or Greek or Restoration Drama. The choice of texts will be determined by the Course Tutor and may differ from group to group.

Students will examine rehearsal approaches to characters from classical texts suggested by contemporary theatre practitioners, include Max Stafford Clark, Cicely Berry, John Barton, Kristin Linklater and Peter Hall. Students will also be required to select and apply key acting exercises advocated by Stanislavski and test for usefulness and validity.

In the final session for the module, students will perform a selected scene from one of the plays studied for their practical examination and reflect upon and analyse their work.

The workshops will focus on the following:

• Performing in verse: the structure, scansion and rhythms of the language: 'heightened language': the iambic pentameter: monosyllables, caesuras, and shared verse lines: working on the prose: Shakespeare's hidden clues for the performer: marrying the two traditions of contemporary and classical acting.
• `Actioning the text': Restoration theatres and their play texts: archetypes and stereotypes - the rake, the fop, the heroine, the cast-off mistress: seventeenth century etiquette and manners.
• Working on the text through improvisation.
• Approaching classical texts through Stanislavski.

Students will be allocated to small groups and be expected to organise their own rehearsals to work on approved scenes from the play for their practical examination. When working in pairs the maximum playing time of the scenes should be six minutes. If students work in groups of three, then the maximum playing time should be nine minutes, i.e. approximately three minutes per student allocated.

After the practical examination has been completed, students will participate in a group oral examination during which they will reflect upon and appraise their experiences of the module from a range of critical perspectives. This examination must involve contributions (of approximately 4 minutes) from all students allocated to the module and should be organised by the group independently. Students should refer to the Departmental Guidelines for Generic Modes of Assessment to ensure that their critical analysis meets the requirements set for level 2 work.


Criteria for Assessment

In assessing the class work (10%) the examiners will refer to the following criteria:

• The ability to work conscientiously and responsibly with other group members on a chosen extract within the timescale and guidelines of the project.
• The ability to apply the methods introduced during the classes to the chosen extracts.
• The 'partnership': listening, responding and communicating with other actors; exploring the 'given circumstances'; structure and rhythms of the text through the partnership; making shared artistic choices and decisions.

In assessing the oral (40%) the examiners will expect to see the ability to articulate:

• An objective self-assessment of personal contribution to the process and the performance.
• The ability to analyse the effectiveness of the group's ideology and method from a range of critical perspectives.
• Evidence of appropriate reading and research.