Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 2 x 2 Hour Lectures |
| Workshop | 20 x 2 Hour Workshops |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | [1] Performance Project (30 - 40 mins) [A formative assessment, assessing students' practical contribution throughout the project, both during the rehearsal and devising process, as well as during the final performance]. | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | [2] Illustrated Essay (2,500 words) (A written account that critically reflects and evaluates the practical project. It may also include supplementary materials, exercises and other documentation that students will have been encouraged to complete and collect throughout the process). | 50% |
| Supplementary Exam | 7 Hours [1] Performance Etude 5 minutes presentation followed by 5 minutes of questions. (This will be a brief solo performance in which the student will be required to demonstrate some of the historical, aesthetic and practical concepts explored durung the module) | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | [2] Illustrated Essay (2,500 words) (A written account that critically reflects upon and evaluates the etude. Itmay also include supplementary materials, exercises and other documentation that the student will have been encoraged to complete and collect throughout the devising process). | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Develop and apply the basic skills necessary to work effectively and collaboratively as part of an ensemble in a studio working environment.
Identify and explore ways of responding to and embodying text by combining textual analysis with practical explration.
Organize and realize performative practices in the exxposition of conceptual, dramatic material.
Demonstrate evidence of research into historical, socio-political, cultural and aesthetic parameters relatoing to the text.
Document and critically reflect on the theatre making approaches and methodologies encountered in the module.
Brief description
This module provides students with a foundation of core practical skills in theatre making with an emphasis on creative processes and an examination of approaches to working with text, bodies and the material conditions of a studio environment. Accompanying and informing the creative process will be a critical engagement with relevant historical, cultural and aesthetic contexts and historical and contemporary practitioners.
Aims
This module aims to introduce students to core theatre and performance skills through the creation and preparation of small group performances. The module requires students to contextualise and develop their work in relation to the wider field of theatre and performance, while also focusing on skills necessary to working as part of a collaborative team under the direction and/or facilitation of a member of staff. This module is intended to prepare students for site-based work in TP11420 Production Project in the second semester and for practice-based and production-oriented modules in part two.
Content
Working in small groups under the guidance of a member of staff, students will develop and prepare a short performance (30-40 mins) for presentation to the year group at the end of the module. Each group will be supplied with a selected range of scenographic and technical elements and will use these to explore historical and contemporary approaches to theatre-making. As a Part 1 module, emphasis will be placed on working within a group, exploring the performance possibilities offered by a supplied text (or texts), and utilizing the body, the voice and technical equipment within the material conditions of a studio environment to realize a performance. As an integral part of the module, students will be required to reflect upon their own experience and contributions to the workshop process and moment of live performance. This reflective requirement will also necessitate an engagement with a range of critical perspectives, built around directed reading. In doing so, students will be expected to begin to locate and contextualize their own work within past and contemporary practice.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | |
| Communication | The ability to communicate ideas effectively is developed in the seminars and assessed directly through Assessment 1 and 2. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Self-regulation, motivation and time-management skills are developed through the module and are demanded for the successful completion of its assignments. These skills are directly assessed through Assessment 3. |
| Information Technology | The ability to utilize information technology both in the research for and delivery of written assignments is assessed directly in Assessments 2. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Transferable skills (managing personal workloads and meeting deadlines, designing and realizing research project) are developed through the completion of assessment tasks. Career’s awareness does not of itself constitute an assessed element of this module, however. |
| Problem solving | Analytical problem solving, outcome recognition and the identification of appropriate strategies and procedures are encouraged and assessed across the duration of the module. |
| Research skills | Appropriate personal research and the development of effective personal research practices are directly assessed through Assessments 1 and 2. |
| Subject Specific Skills | See QAA Dance, Drama and Performance Subject Benchmark Statement (2007). The following subject specific skills are developed and partly assessed: An understanding of: a. histories and theoretical explanations of forms and traditions of theatre, scenography and performance; b. historical and contemporary contexts of production, circulation and reception of theatre; c. key practitioners and practices, and/or theorists, which may include writers, actors, composers, critics, dancers, directors, choreographers, designers, and producers; d. cultural and/or historical contexts of such practitioners and practices; e traditional and contemporary critical perspectives on theatre, and of relevant theories, issues and debates relating to the subject; f. a range of key components of theatre within the disciplines: text, movement, aural and visual environment, the performer; and, g. significant sources and critical awareness of the main research methods used to collect and analyse data; |
| Team work | Effective group work through negotiating ideas and opinions is addressed through the seminars. Seminar discussions demand the application of skills necessary to conduct collaborative activity. These skills are directly assessed through Assessment 3. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 4