Module Information
Course Delivery
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Group-devised Presentation Group-devised Presentation 20 minutes followed by Q&A 10 minutes 30 Minutes | 50% |
| Semester Assessment | Written Essay 2000 Words | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Written Essay Essay to a different question if one was attempted first time round. 2000 Words | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Solo-devised Presentation Group-devised Presentation 10 minutes followed by Q&A 10 minutes 20 Minutes | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Locate new media performance within the historical trajectory of experimental and avant-garde theatre and performance.
Read analytically the presence of new media within/as forms of contemporary theatre and performance practice.
Articulate critically the impact of new media on key concepts such as space, text, narrative and the body.
Begin to develop critical and practical strategies for making use of new media forms in performance.
Brief description
This module examines the growing and diverse field of new media performance to question how the presence of new media and digital elements (such as virtual environments, hypertexts and avatars, as well as projected film) might lead us to reconsider key concepts within theatre and performance studies, including space/place, narrative, text and body/performer/character. The module engages in the critical analysis and study of the presence of new media and digital elements within the work of British and international practitioners, including Blast Theory, Katie Mitchell, Imitating the Dog, Robert Lepage, The Builder’s Association and Stelarc. This module is taught through lectures and mixed-mode seminar/workshop sessions. A key part of the module’s assessment will involve an investigation of one of the themes encountered on the module through the creation and presentation of a devised fragment incorporating elements of new media.
Content
Lectures: 10 x 1 hour
Seminars: 10 x 2 hour seminar/workshops
This module will be taught through a series of
lectures and seminar/workshops led by
departmental staff.
Lectures and seminar/workshops will explore
the following topics:
1. Introduction to New Media Performance
2. Liveness and Remediation
3. Screen and Space
4. Audio Theatre
5. Audio Theatre Workshop
6. Interactivity and Participation
7. Mixed-Reality Performance
8. Games as Performance
9. Post-Cinematic Performance
10. Posthuman performance
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Adaptability and resilience | The exploration of possible uses of new media and digital technologies will aid students to identify possible career avenues presented by digital literacies, though this skill is not directly assessed. |
| Co-ordinating with others | This skill is indirectly addressed on the module and will be evaluated and assessed in the creation/presentation of a fragment of new media performance. |
| Creative Problem Solving | The identification of problems, the development of creative approaches to solving problems, and the evaluation of potential solutions is a central element of this module. Students will be engaged, through seminar/workshops, in the question of how new media and digital practices might inform traditional performance conventions. |
| Critical and analytical thinking | Students will develop critical and analytical thinking. They will also develop research skills will be developed in preparation for, and as a result of, lectures, and workshops, and assessed as part of the essay and the creation of the performance fragment. |
| Digital capability | This is not directly taught on the module, though the performance forms and theories explored demand the engagement with various new technologies (including social media, wikis, blogs etc.) contributing directly to digital literacy. |
| Professional communication | Each student’s ability to articulate and communicate their ideas to one another and to specific audiences is developed throughout this module. All forms of assessment include a consideration and evaluation of effective communication. |
| Real world sense | There will be a specific reference to the funding and practicalities of staging new media performances in a real-world setting. This will give students a sense of how their proposed project may function in different economic contexts. These areas are not directly assessed. |
| Reflection | The exploration of possible uses of new media and digital technologies will aid students to identify possible career avenues presented by digital literacies, though this skill is not directly assessed. |
| Subject Specific Skills | See QAA Dance, Drama and Performance Subject Benchmark Statement • describing, theorising, interpreting and evaluating performance texts and performance events from a range of critical perspectives • reading the performance possibilities implied by a script, score and other textual or documentary sources • engaging in performance and production, based on an acquisition and understanding of appropriate performance and production vocabularies, skills, structures and working |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6