Module Information

Module Identifier
TP33940
Module Title
ADVANCED PRODUCTION PROJECT
Academic Year
2011/2012
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Other Staff led Rehearsal: 4 days intensive (9-6 - 27-30 September); 14 hours per week staff led rehearsal time x 10 weeks; 6 hours student led rehearsal time per week (2 x 3 hour slots); 20 hours independent preparation for rehearsals; 30 hours of independent research; 34 hours Rehearsal time during production week; Performance and feedback time: 12 hours; 76 hours: research for and preparation of written essay. 400 hours
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Rehearsal Process and Performance  60%
Semester Assessment 3000-word essay plus supporting analytical documentation  40%
Supplementary Assessment If a student is unable to complete his/her participation in the prodcution and/or workshops for accepted medical or other valid reasons, then an essay (maximum 6000 words) may be set instead. The scale and nature of this essay will be determined by the Chair of the Examinations Board according to the percentage of work missed.  100%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

A grounding in key theoretical and practical issues involved in researching, rehearsing, and staging a performance event; An understanding of compositional and rehearsal methodologies appropriate to the execution of the particular event

The ability to work towards the collective presentation of a project

Critical engagement with the production/performance process through a developed and sensitive understanding and analysis of appropriate performance theories, vocabularies, working methods and relevant models of practice

Brief description

Students will work on a Departmental project during the first semester of year three. They will be involved in the development and delivery of an original piece of theatre making, and will be allocated to roles integral to the performance and/or production team. the project will be directed by a member of Departmental staff or other experienced theatre practitioners. He/she will construct the rehearsal and performance processes to give students opportunities to investigate, reflect upon and evaluate critically their experience of working on a project of 90-120 minutes' playing time or less where appropriate. The project will be performed in one of the Departmental performance venues, Aberystwyth Arts Centre or an appropriate site-specific location.

Students following this module will be engaged in rehearsing and staging a performance event for a public audience. The staff director will nominate a series of specific performance challenges and performance research questions for the students to investigate. These may include, exploring the specific conventions of a dramatic text, or mining the complexities of a moment of theatre history, or elaborating imaginatively upon a theme for a devised theatre. S/he will also guide students through appropriate research and rehearsal strategies, and develop their ethos of a production that makes demonstrable and effective critical engagement with the tasks and challenges set.

During the rehearsal and production processes, students will be required to compile analytical documentation in which students will contextualise their experience through a developed and sensitive understanding and analysis of appropriate performance theories, compositional vocabularies and methods.

Content

Students will be allocated roles appropriate to the theatre making project, for example, as actors, members of the technical management or scenographic team and/or assistants to the staff director (or any combination of the above). There will normally be four public performances.

During rehearsals and workshops for the project, students will experience appropriate compositional strategies and exercises and will encounter the work of relevant theatre practitioners.

An integral part of this process will be to encourage student-centred learning. Students will be expected to lead weekly seminar discussions reflecting on the progress of the project and several rehearsalswill be devised and led by student directors. they will also be expected to work responsibly, constructively, creatively and safely with fellow students on solving problems as they arise and on specific challenges set.

Students will be advised to keep a working notebook documenting significant developments and challenges they have encountered in the process.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number N/A
Communication The development of communication skills is intrinsic to all aspects of performance. The ability to interact effectively with members of the company and other people encountered during preparation process is a fundamental subject specific skills
Improving own Learning and Performance Students are required to analyse and reflect critically on their own work and progress throughout the rehearsal and performance processes and analyse the effectiveness of the group's and directors' ethos and method
Information Technology Students may choose to make use of on-line materials to locate data and documentation relevant to their research, but this skill is not necessarily assessed
Personal Development and Career planning Personal development and career planning will not be explicitly developed through this module. however, many of the generic skills developed through the practical work of this module will have significant transferability to a wide range of contexts
Problem solving These skills are developed as the students respond to the different challenges that emerge during the rehearsal and performance processes for the project
Research skills These skills are developed through preparation for rehearsals. Each student will also draw upon on-going reserach as they prepare their analytical documentation
Subject Specific Skills See QAA Dance, Drama and Performance Subject Benchmark Statement (Version 2007)
Team work The development of team working skills is intrinsic to all group performance situations. An integral part of this process will be to encourage student-centred learning. Depending on roles, team leadership skills may also form an important part of the learning experience for this module

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6